Cold and Flu Remedies

[Jax]

I was at the GP's this morning (they were just checking how the knees are doing), and was stunned by all the bunting, balloons, cardboard cutouts, leaflets and handwritten notices about getting the flu jab........there was even a sign at the door saying 'Please do not enter if you are coughing and sneezing'! Talk about pressure, but then an old chap walked in and checked in for an appointment and was immediately jumped on my the other receptionist to try and book him in for a flu jab, so there's actually even more pressure.

Anyway it all got me thinking to what's the best alternative to the common flu jab? Surely natural prevention and not jabbing yourself with the virus to over work your body to try and fight it? And then Patrick Holford's newsletter arrived in my inbox with tips on preventing colds and flu http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon10.gif So I've replicated his tips here, and if anybody has any other tips for prevention etc please post away, I'll add a bit about Vitamin C as well.

Here are six easy steps you can take now to support a healthy immune system:
1. Load up on fruit and veg – aim for at least five portions a day and pick a rainbow selection of colours to get a good range of nutrients.
2. Have a clove or two of garlic a day – this is naturally anti-viral and anti-bacterial.
3. Eat sufficient protein – aim for lean (preferably) organic meat, fish, game, quinoa (a South American grain), eggs, pulses combined with grains, dairy foods or tofu.
4. Herbs and spices contain immune-supporting nutrients – for example, add turmeric to rice; grate ginger into stir fries or on to vegetables; make tea from the Cat’s Claw herb; add aloe vera to drinks.
5. Avoid sugar – it can suppress the immune system.
6. Supplement a high-strength multivitamin and mineral complex and an antioxidant formula containing vitamin C, zinc and immune-boosting phytonutrients such as bilberry or bioflavanoids.

[Jax]

I was told this by my chiropractor as she's very holistic! If you have slight cold symptoms coming on, take 1000mg of vitamin C every hour until you reach bowel tolerance. Now when I did this I thought I'd heard her wrong that it should be bowel intolerance!! :hand: I'll explain - when you take the 1000mg Vit C every hour you reach a point where your bowels decide to release everything (diarrohea) http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon11.gif After that you take it every 2 hours until the symptoms subside, it's meant to drive the cold out. The body will excrete any excess Vit C.

If you want to learn more about this technique there's quite a nice little study here (http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm). And you can use this method apparently to roughly estimate how much Vit C you need to take - see here (http://www.kitchentablemedicine.com/bowel-tolerance-and-vitamin-c-supplementation/).

[Shmi_Skywalker]

Jax, I remember reading in Adele Davis "Let's Get Well" that the reason we can't tolerate large amounts of vitamin C in supplement form has nothing to do with the vitamin C itself, but rather the rubbish they add to it to put it in a tablet form. I think that still stands, unless you know of supplements that use organic wholesome ingredients? If you're getting vitamin C from natural sources, your body can cope with it much more easily. But I'm sure that bowels would react similarly anyway! :o)

[sharonjones]

my dad always told me about eating a clove of galric every day to prevent a cold.

he explained this worked because no-one would come close enough to you to pass the cold on :D :D:D:D:D:D

[Jax]

Jax, I remember reading in Adele Davis "Let's Get Well" that the reason we can't tolerate large amounts of vitamin C in supplement form has nothing to do with the vitamin C itself, but rather the rubbish they add to it to put it in a tablet form. I think that still stands, unless you know of supplements that use organic wholesome ingredients? If you're getting vitamin C from natural sources, your body can cope with it much more easily. But I'm sure that bowels would react similarly anyway! :o)
I know what you mean with regards the weird and wonderful chemicals that they put in VitC products. Many years ago I used the effervescent tablets to get it in quicker, but then started on my purge of aspartame and saccharin etc, and found an effervescent product without them in. Unfortunately I've completely forgotten what it was, so have found Holland & Barrett's Pure Vitamin C Powder that just says Ascorbis Acid in the ingredients, which I'm assuming is far better than what we consumed before but I assume it's not organic :confused2:


my dad always told me about eating a clove of galric every day to prevent a cold.

he explained this worked because no-one would come close enough to you to pass the cold on :D :D:D:D:D:D
Aw I love his explanation! I've heard that too and seem to have had less colds since eating a lot more garlic, I've been shoving a clove in the Vita Mix raw soups lately ;)