Best Cold Remedy

There is no cure for common cold and the best cold remedy that claims to make you feel better will not cure your cold but will be able to ease your symptoms. It will also help your cold last shorter than it normally would.

• An average person catches two to four colds per year and preventing a cold is always better than trying to cure it. Symptoms include coughing, sore throat, headache, blocked nose, fatigue and sneezing.

• When you actually have the cold, drink plenty of liquids, eat soup and avoid heavy meals and especially those junk foods and sweets. Your body will have a hard time digesting solid foods when you have a cold- extra burden and sugar in sweets will decrease your immunity.

• Get plenty of sleep every night, take naps and stay well rested and keep the air in your room moist.

• Use tissues and hand sanitizer for when you sneeze and cough, wash your hands frequently.

• Salt water gargle– plenty of salt in luke warm water provides great temporary relief from sore throat.

• Drink lots of water, soda, teas, warm lemon water with honey and fruit juice and not soft drinks, coffee, alcohol or high sugar drinks to help prevent dehydration. Liquids can help flushing toxins and waste products out of your system, although not completely.

• Make a habit of eating foods from a whole and healthy diet that is low in sugar and high in fiber, low in saturated fats, whether you have a cold or not. Avoid junk and processed foods.

• Keep in mind that many over-the-counter-drugs come with side effects, some of them being very serious if taken more than the recommended amount and especially risky for children under the age of two.

• Antibiotics kill bacteria and help with sore throat relief but they are no good with cold viruses.

So What is the Best Cold Remedy?

• Good old chicken soup does usually help relieve cold and flu symptoms by acting as an anti-inflammatory and by facilitating the movement of mucus.

• Studies on the effectiveness of zinc seem to give mixed results and it is believed to be effective if taken within 24 hours after the first appearance of cold symptoms. Zinc is an essential mineral that is naturally found in red meat,oysters, nuts, chicken and eggs.

• Vitamin C or echinacea aren’t the best cold remedies around as they don’t seem to help prevent common colds but may shorten the duration of symptoms. Echinacea is also known to be a great blood cleanser. It is best to take vitamin C through eating fruits and vegetables and drinking orange juice.

• Onion offers antibacterial chemicals, similar to garlic. So try and use onion in your cooking as much as you can.

• Ginger is also nice to use in cooking as it tastes good. It is an antioxidant, helps prevent colds and sore throats and relieves pain.

• Liquorice with its anti-viral components is another one to treat colds, coughs, throat problems and lung infections.

And last but not least, here is my favorite as the best cold remedy: Garlic!

• Unlike echinacea and vitamin C, garlic is packed with anti-bacterial properties that help your immune system fight infection. I have been taking garlic tablets for a few years now and will rarely catch a cold and when I do, cold will be with much lighter symptoms,.

• Fresh raw garlic is your best option but because of its notorious bad smell, you can either cook it or take an odourless garlic tablet every day like I do.

• But the best cold remedy garlic comes with certain side effects other than body odour and bad breath, such as dizziness, headaches, runny nose and beware of garlic supplements if you are suffering from bleeding disorders or taking them with blood-thinning medications.

 

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