So I woke up this morning with that feeling where you know you are getting a cold. I don’t really have it yet, but that ‘itch’ in the back of the throat tells me by tomorrow it will be here. Just thought I would ask what other people’s cold remedies are. Here’s what I do; drink water and green tea all day. Lots of Vit C and Zinc lozenges. Try to eat a lot of veg and fruit and sometimes it works. My Scots/Irish grandmother would have you mix whisky and honey and do a shot before bed. Not sure about that one. How about exercise? Yea or nay?
A doctor once told me that you can treat a cold and it will only last 7 days, or just let it run it’s course and you’ll be over it in about a week.
That said, the zinc lozenges seem to help me if I catch it in time, but I’ve seen studies that indicate that they’re pretty ineffective.
My dad was Scots-Irish, and the wiskey/honey thing was a standard remedy when I was little. Not sure if it helped the colds, but it did let me get some sleep.
See this post.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=544535
There have been other prior posts on this topic as well…
Exercise, yes but at reduced volume and intensity. It actually helps your immune system, probably due to circulating blood bring more nutrients and the body’s little “soliders” to places. Get enough sleep. Cut out refined food stuff. You will be fine. If it’s flu, that’s another story…
Dr. Michael’s cold prescription:
- Don’t ever take “symptom reducers”. That runny nose is your body’s effort to flush out the bad stuff; stopping it up just prolongs the cold.
- The fix for that is: Posh Puffs Plus with lotion. Seriously. You can blow your nose all day with these things and not get sore.
- The exception to rule #1 is bed time. Sleep is more important than anything else. Nyquil should help you get quality sleep.
One other exception to #1 might be for a very specific important meeting of some sort. But if you take a Contact or Sudafed, take it only for that specific meeting, and stop taking it after.
Oh yes, also, moderate excersise does seem to help, sometimes quite a bit. But don’t over-stress your system.
I read somewhere (think it was Mens Health) that the morning you get the symptons, the trick is to eat a very big breakfast (1200 cals I think it was)
They claimed that by doing so, you would turbo charge the immune system by 400%, and squash the virus
Haven’t ever tried it, but it could be something worth considering
fragfeaster777
[quote]BradS wrote:
So I woke up this morning with that feeling where you know you are getting a cold. I don’t really have it yet, but that ‘itch’ in the back of the throat tells me by tomorrow it will be here. Just thought I would ask what other people’s cold remedies are. Here’s what I do; drink water and green tea all day. Lots of Vit C and Zinc lozenges. Try to eat a lot of veg and fruit and sometimes it works. My Scots/Irish grandmother would have you mix whisky and honey and do a shot before bed. Not sure about that one. How about exercise? Yea or nay?[/quote]
Go to
It has some pretty good info, including debunks on some myths some of the replies above touch.
Diet-wise there’s nothing like refined sugar to supress your immune system so stay away from this especially.
Well, nothing but alcohol. I would avoid both like the plague. They’ll both do a nasty number on your body’s ability to fight back.