This last week, I felt a cold coming on. It was inevitable, as both of my co-workers in my immediate office area were sniffling and blowing their noses, not to mention the general office area filled with sneezes and coughing.
When I catch a cold, it’s more of a flu, with body aches and attacks most of my muscles. I hate it. So I do what I can to fight getting a cold.
Grapefruit Seed Extract pills
I started taking these daily [two a day] about three years ago and since then, the number of colds and other sicknesses have been significantly reduced. When I feel a cold coming on, I take six of these pills a day – two in the morning, two at lunch and two at dinner. They are non-toxic and taking a lot of them doesn’t do any harm. Only good.
Green Tea
I’ve been a green tea drinker for over 10 years now and while I only have a couple teas a week when I am well, I drink two a day when I am fighting a cold. Like the pills above, this acts as an antioxidant to cleanse the system. I’m sure there are healthier teas out there, but the goal for getting rid of a cold is quick and easy and available at your local grocery store.
Water
I refill this water bottle three times a day at work. Water is a natural hydration method and just increasing the amount of water I drink by one more of these per day while in cold fighting mode is a no brainer.
It takes me about three days of doing the above increased items to feel like I am winning the battle. I get some congestion hanging on for a couple more days, but normally by the 5th day, I no longer have any major cold symptoms.
I got tired of taking all of the OTC cold medicines that made me feel like I had done a small mountain of cocaine. Plus, the no breathing at night, the tiredness that sets in. I don’t like to deal and live through any of it. And what I do above works very well for me.
I know they say you are supposed to get a cold to help your antibodies fight off any sickness. And I’m sure at some point, I will need to let a cold run it’s course. But not before Christmas and the holidays.
Do you have any cold remedies that work for you?
The How I Fight A Cold by Banal Leakage, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
If I feel myself starting to get sick I load up on vitamin C and start taking zinc tablets. A lot of times I can stave it off that way. I have some medicinal teas that I take, too, for specific symptoms.
Neti pot and tea with Echinacea.
The neti pot cleans out the mucus, etc. in your nose and sinuses and flushes out the virus. I do it a couple of times a week for allergies, but when I feel a cold coming on I do it daily. I haven’t have a proper cold in several years. Usually just a bit of congestion for a few days, then back to normal.
I used to do what Vahid said, but stopped for whatever reason. The last cold I had was AWFUL, too. I do drink grapefruit juice daily, though. I love that shit. I could drink it all day, if I didn’t eventually need some caffeine to wake up!
Grapefruit seed extract, eh? I may have to check that out.
I don’t have any remedies.
I usually just battle through, it is usually gone within 2-3 days. However, the worst part is trying to sleep with a blocked nose and a heavy chest. It sucks.
Spirulina. I take it a couple times a week at home, then really load up when traveling. I honestly think that it saves me from all kinds of trouble.
Like Vahid, I overdose on vitamin C if I do end up feeling a cold coming on.
i’m a HUGE fan of the vitamin c!
i take cranberry pills daily (great for urinary tract; high in antioxidants and vitamin c). also do a mushroom supplement called “immunity” by nikken because they are so damn good for you (and i HATE mushrooms so i never eat them). once a day for a cinnamon pill as they are said to be a natural antibiotic (could be bullshit, don’t ruin my placebo if it is!). my multivitamin says to take several a day, but i only take one so if i start to feel sick i add a few more.
i really need to drink more green tea. gonna go make a cup now!
oh, before i go make the tea….i forgot to say that if i do get the dreaded kuck, i have a friend in vick’s vaporub. shit is a miracle in a bottle!
I think a while back you told me about Grapefruit seed extract. I think I might have to take you up in this advice because I’m starting to feel under the weather.