With the cold and flu season being in full throttle, many of my clients are asking for natural solutions to fighting viruses this year. So, I’ve put together top five tips for avoiding and fighting colds naturally.
1. Wash your hands. Seems simple right? Well, you’d be surprised at how many people don’t. Furthermore, when you think about how many people, things, hands you touch on an hourly basis, you can imagine how many germs can be spread just by touching an inanimate object. Related to that, keep your hands away from your face. It would make sense not to transfer the bacteria and viruses you pick up to your face, but so many of us unconsciously rest our hand on our face, chew our nails, rub our eyes, and other not so sanitary habits. As for hand washing, good old soap and water is the best, but if not available, hand sanitizers will do.
2. Cover your mouth – If you already have a cold, be sure to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze (then to wash your hands!). Since most viruses are spread by respiratory droplets this is crucial to not getting your family members or co-workers sick. Along the same lines if you are sick, consider staying home from work. Similarly, if your children are sick, keep them home from school. Viruses are highly contagious, and if we want to prevent epidemics we need to start with simple solutions that help prevent or at least minimize the spread.
3. Buy a Neti Pot – Any patient of mine who comes through my office with a cold, gets the recommendation for a neti pot. The Neti Pot looks like a tea pot and is purposed to be filled with a salt water solution (which can be purchased at your local pharmacy or made at home), and irrigated through your sinus cavity. I have written a previous article on the use of a Neti pot on this blog that gives all the details called “Simply Neti”.
4. Give your immune system a boost: Taking Vitamin C and Zinc daily can help boost the immune system.The dosage of Vitamin C is 1000mg daily, and Zinc is 24mg daily. However, when you are sick, you can increase your dosage to up to 3-5 grams (yes grams) a day (that’s 2-3, 1000mg tablets twice daily). Vitamin C is a natural anti-viral and immune booster.
5. Boil some ginger. A great natural antiviral resides right in the produce isle of your local grocer. Ginger root can be boiled or blended and taken as tea. To prepare, cut 1 inch off of the root, peel it, and then boil for 15-20 min. To make it stronger you can blend the boiled solution then strain it. If you choose this option you might want to dilute the strained solution at 1/4 cup concentrate to 3/4 cup warm water. Either way, if you sip this tea at least once daily, it will knock the virus right out of your system. Some people choose to use ginger tea bags, but the potency is not the same, and thus neither are the results.
6. Take virus fighting supplements. Immune boosting herbs like Elderberry, Astralagus, Echinacea, and Goldenseal work in collaboration to help your body fight off the viruses. Vitamin C (as earlier mentioned) 3000-5000mg daily, and Colloidal Silver 10ppm (or 1 tsp) daily are other great antivirals to take if you have a cold. But my favorite on the market by far (and that I PERSONALLY stock up on every winter season) is called ACF Fast Relief by Buried Treasure. This supplement combines all of the aforementioned virus fighting and immune boosting herbs into one liquid supplement. This supplement, if taken within the first 24 hours of symptoms, can prevent a full on attack from most viruses (including the flu). It’s not the best tasting on the market, but it’s results make it well worth the swallow. There is also a children’s version called Children’s ACF. ACF is not to be taken for longer than 2 weeks at a time.
Please remember that if your symptoms are worsening despite using all of the aforementioned methods, or if you fail to improve after 2 weeks of home treatment, you need to see your physician.
To jump start your wellness program, or to learn more about how Dr. Clairborne keeps wellness simple visit: www.backtobasicshealing.com
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