When you are feeling miserable with a cold or flu, sometimes it is all you can do to just survive the day. Even though I am a trained naturopath, when I am ill, I notice myself slipping into doing nothing to help myself, just because I feel miserable.
In fact, there is a lot you can do to reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms, especially if you start in the first few hours of noticing those cold symptoms. So gather these things together and have them ready for next time you feel a tickle in your throat and the sneezles coming on:
1. Vitamin C
2. Immune support - echinacea root
3. Liquids: Herbal hot toddy & chicken broth
How to take them and why they work
1. Vitamin C
The medicinal dose when you have an acute illness is far more than is listed on the label.
I recommend that you find yourself some 1,000mg tablets and suck up 8 over the course of the day (ie 8,000mg), whilst your symptoms are severe. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and is key in helping your white blood cells to fight off the unwelcome invaders. Let your body tell you when the doseage is adequate -because it eliminates the excess. In a bowel motion. A rather loose and possibly explosive one! Don't worry, you are not getting worse. This is known in the trade as achieving "bowel tolerance" with vitamin C! Just take a little less vitamin C tomorrow and you will avoid reaching bowel tolerance. And you will soon be feeling much better.
2. Echinacea To Boost Your Immune System
Echinacea root has been repeatedly shown to increase the strength of the immune system and shorten the duration of symptoms.I consider it essential to boost the immune system, either using liquid or tablets. Taken at high doses for 48 hours, along with vitamin C, you will be amazed at how quickly you can recover.
If your symptoms have been hanging around for a while and you just can't seem to get rid of them, this is a sign that your body is needing help to overcome the bugs. Do yourself a favour and take some echinacea - with or without olive leaf extract- to enable your immune system to fight the infection -and get well fast!
3. Liquids - the right ones!
Make a herbal hot toddy
Firstly make a herbal tea in a teapot with medicinal herbs that fight cold symptoms (eg: sage, yarrow flowers, peppermint leaf, catmint, marshmallow leaf), let it infuse for 10 mins. In the meantime put into a large mug; 1 tbsp honey, cinnamon, juice & rind of half a lemon, 2 tsps of liquid echinacea. Add herbal tea and sip. Feels really soothing and comforting.
Chicken broth
Research has shown that chicken soup contains significant amounts of cysteine - an amino acid that boosts immunity. Make a stock with any left over bones after roasting a chicken. Strain and add to a soup base made with immune boosting leeks or onion, garlic and any nurtient-rich fresh greens you have on hand. Blend it until smooth and consume. Or freeze in portion sizes for future nutritional bursts in winter.
Follow this link for more information, on how to make a healing soup.
In fact, there is a lot you can do to reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms, especially if you start in the first few hours of noticing those cold symptoms. So gather these things together and have them ready for next time you feel a tickle in your throat and the sneezles coming on:
1. Vitamin C
2. Immune support - echinacea root
3. Liquids: Herbal hot toddy & chicken broth
How to take them and why they work
1. Vitamin C
The medicinal dose when you have an acute illness is far more than is listed on the label.
I recommend that you find yourself some 1,000mg tablets and suck up 8 over the course of the day (ie 8,000mg), whilst your symptoms are severe. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and is key in helping your white blood cells to fight off the unwelcome invaders. Let your body tell you when the doseage is adequate -because it eliminates the excess. In a bowel motion. A rather loose and possibly explosive one! Don't worry, you are not getting worse. This is known in the trade as achieving "bowel tolerance" with vitamin C! Just take a little less vitamin C tomorrow and you will avoid reaching bowel tolerance. And you will soon be feeling much better.
2. Echinacea To Boost Your Immune System
Echinacea root has been repeatedly shown to increase the strength of the immune system and shorten the duration of symptoms.I consider it essential to boost the immune system, either using liquid or tablets. Taken at high doses for 48 hours, along with vitamin C, you will be amazed at how quickly you can recover.
If your symptoms have been hanging around for a while and you just can't seem to get rid of them, this is a sign that your body is needing help to overcome the bugs. Do yourself a favour and take some echinacea - with or without olive leaf extract- to enable your immune system to fight the infection -and get well fast!
3. Liquids - the right ones!
Make a herbal hot toddy
Firstly make a herbal tea in a teapot with medicinal herbs that fight cold symptoms (eg: sage, yarrow flowers, peppermint leaf, catmint, marshmallow leaf), let it infuse for 10 mins. In the meantime put into a large mug; 1 tbsp honey, cinnamon, juice & rind of half a lemon, 2 tsps of liquid echinacea. Add herbal tea and sip. Feels really soothing and comforting.
Chicken broth
Research has shown that chicken soup contains significant amounts of cysteine - an amino acid that boosts immunity. Make a stock with any left over bones after roasting a chicken. Strain and add to a soup base made with immune boosting leeks or onion, garlic and any nurtient-rich fresh greens you have on hand. Blend it until smooth and consume. Or freeze in portion sizes for future nutritional bursts in winter.
Follow this link for more information, on how to make a healing soup.
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