Sniffles, Cold, What to Do

When I feel the instance of the cold coming on I immediately take 2000mg of Pure Vitamin C/ and Echinacea , I repeat this every 4 hours for the first day, usually it last no more than 2 days. For sore throats hot drinks are beneficial with fresh lemon and rubbing tiger balm onto the throat, forehead and upper chest is also wonderful for easing congestion.

I do not go the doctor with a sore throat or a cold. In fact I have not been to the doctor in over 5 years (thankfully) with any kind of cold, flu, infection or anything like that. I recommend alternative therapies first and then if you feel you are unable to fight it off or feel it may be something more serious, of course you should always get a second opinion.

I feed the cold with plenty of fresh fruit, e.g punnet of strawberries, or blueberries, bunches of grapes, apples.. have a  Good breakfast e.g this morning I had porridge with 1 dessertspoon of mixed seeds(pumpkin/sunflower), later on I had tomato and basil soup with wheatfree crackers, this eve I had a salad of beetroot/apple/red pepper/chives/cucumber diced and mixed up with a little olive oil/splash of lemon juice and served with some baked sweet potato chips.

When you have a cold you need to boost the immune system with a good mixture of hot foods to soothe the system and raw foods to stimulate the system…along with getting plenty of rest, herbal teas, and 2litres of water too to flush everything out.

Are you Prone to constant colds, respiratory/chest infections, flu like symptoms, sore throats, coughing, sneezing, ear infections, tiredness, lacking motivation, slow healing? This could be as a result of a weakened immune system. Your immune system may not be functioning well if you are recovering after a serious operation or illness, been through radiation, chemotherapy and so on. The elderly and very young are most at risk of picking up colds and infections. A young child’s immune system does not start to fully function until they are two years old or so. What is your immune system?

It is a complex system within the body with many different mechanisms, which it uses to protect your body again disease. In a simple explanation it is the bodies natural defence forces. Once an infection invades your body such as fungus, bacteria, viruses, parasites and so on your body will protect you by recognising the infecting cells or organisms. It will distinguish them from your own naturally occurring healthy cells and try to fight them off.

If you have a strong robust immune system your body will do this without you even knowing it. You may just feel a little under the weather for a few hours or a day, nothing an early night wouldn’t not sort out. However if your body is already weakened or under par and an infection invades your immune system may be unable to fight off the infection resulting in it really taking hold and illness resulting. The result is one infection after the other, each one weakening the system even further. Depending on what the infection is, unfortunately antibiotics/steroids are not always helpful and can further deplete the whole system.

When the mind and body are under stress the body has to work harder to keep everything going and functioning correctly. Over prolonged periods of stress the body may suffer due to lack of sleep, poor nutrition, working long hours, burning the candle at both ends, making it susceptible to infection. This can deplete your system of potentially vital nutrition needed to fight off the infections.

To sum up I recommend you continually work at boosting your immunity with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, a balance of protein and complex carbs too…along of course with some good fats. Reducing stress is a must and getting sufficient sleep too is essential.