Cold Flu Busters Winterize Your Medicine Cabinet :: Health and Disease

> Health and Disease > Colds, Infections, and Viruses

Cold Flu Busters

Winter’s here and we’re all racing around like mad—socializing, shopping, skiing—and trying to avoid getting sick. Fortunately, the cold and flu season doesn’t have to be spent sniffling. Winterize your medicine cabinet with a few natural health must-haves.

Echinacea

At the first sign of a cold, take echinacea in tincture form, preferably mixed with goldenseal root, according to the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing. As additional preventives, take 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C twice daily, and drink one to two cups of ginger root tea a day.

If a cold or flu has taken hold, Dr. Terry Willard of Wild Rose College advises upping your vitamin C intake to 1,000 milligrams every two hours. He also advises taking two capsules of garlic every three hours, drinking two to six cups of ginger root tea a day, and taking one teaspoon of echinacea/goldenseal tincture every two hours.

Oil of Oregano

A couple drops of this potent essential oil will send wimpy bugs running scared. Oil of oregano possesses antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, antiparasitic, and anti-inflammatory qualities. It boosts the immune system, eases sore throats, relieves congestion in the lungs and sinus, and suppresses coughs. In vitro studies have shown that oil of oregano is as effective as antibiotics against bacteria.

Red Reishi

An ancient staple of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), this mushroom modulates the immune system and improves liver function and detoxification. It also helps the body cope with stress, which can depress the immune system. Red reishi is absorbed better when taken with vitamin C.

Astragalus Root

Another TCM favourite, this root is used to prevent and treat viral infections, including the common cold. It stimulates the immune system’s white blood cells to destroy invading germs while enhancing the body’s production of interferon (a compound produced in the body to fight viruses). Astragalus root is often combined with other herbs such as echinacea or reishi.

Tissue Salts

Gentle yet effective, and especially good for children, the elderly, and pets, tissue salts are homeopathically prepared remedies of the 12 vital minerals found in the body. Minerals are easy to assimilate in this form; they pass rapidly through the bloodstream into cells to promote normal cellular function. For coughs, colds, and congestion, Kali Mur is recommended on its own or in combination with Ferr Phos and Nat Mur.

Zinc Lozenges

Feeling a cold coming on? Stock up on a supply of zinc lozenges. They’re a popular remedy used to reduce the severity and length of colds.

Dr. Michael Murray, author of numerous books on natural healing, recommends taking lozenges that contain 15 to 25 milligrams of elemental zinc. When you feel a cold coming on take a double dose, then take a lozenge every two hours during the day for up to seven days.

With the help of a few natural health products, you can help your immune system ward off colds and flu. If bugs do gain control you can reduce the severity of the symptoms.

Source: alive #314, December 2008

Special Advertising Feature

Take natural preventive action against the health miseries of winter - Special Advertising Feature provided by A.Vogel
You can take natural preventive action against the health miseries of winter. Exciting new research on Echinacea purpurea shows it can very helpful for winter cold and flu prevention. Start taking it in October and by the time the sun warms up in March you might be wondering why you still have so many boxes of un-used tissues around the house!

Stop the Colds and Flu Virus from Attacking You
Scientists have found a link between the cause of the common cold and stressors in our lives. We all know that continual stress can have a negative impact on our healt.

Nature's Virus Killers
Centuries before the first caveman, viruses existed on eart.

Fight the Flu
Influenza can make you feel as though you've been hit by a truck. Headaches, chills, fever and a body that hurts all over are tell tale signs that you've been struck.

Herbs Soothe the Savage Throat
Modern science tells us that the flu and the scratchy throat that accompanies it, are caused by a virus that renders antibiotics useless. Aspirin and Tylenol-type drugs are no cure-all either.

Farewell to Flu
Prevent and treat flu naturally Cough! Hack! Sniffle! It is estimated that at least 50 million people in North America get the flu each year from November to March. Children are two to three times more likely than adults to get sick.

Cold Comfort
Practitioners of alternative medicine have crusaded for a long time against the overuse of decongestant cold remedies. Their argument is that elevated temperatures and mucus production are the body's own ways of dealing with the cold and should not be interfered with if they are not excessive.

Flu Prevention
We're only one month away from the beginning of flu season. Like any household with lots of kids running in and out, my home is not spared from cold and flu viruses. However, my family is rarely waylaid by viral infections when flu season comes around.

Coughs and Sneezes Cause Diseases
The cold and flu epidemic hits every year without fail. Lucky you if your immune system is strong enough to ward off a viral attack, which can put many people out of action for days.

Citizens' Group Calls for Awereness: Sutures Suspected in Post-Operative Infections

Powerful Immune System Beats Scary Viruses
Upon discovery of a virus, the war to annihilate it begins.

Viral Infections: A Prevention Plan
If you've watched TV or read the newspaper lately, you've probably noticed headlines about viral infections such as the flu, West Nile virus, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).

Battling the Bugs
It's October, and the season of sickness is well underway-kids are back at school, adults are in full swing at work, and the weather.

Head Colds
A friend of mine told me recently that her boyfriend had come down with a col.

Homeopathy For Infections
Using antibiotics for infections has its downside; antibiotics don't fight viruses, which account for 70 to 80 percent of infections. If a bacterium causes an infection, then killing the bug alone does not address the predisposition that led to the infection in the first place.

Flu Vaccines
"I had a flu shot last year and I've never been sicker in my life, my Aunt Margaret told me recently. Conversation at our family reunion had taken a medical turn, as it often does, and Aunt Margaret wanted to tell me about her flu shot experience..

Escaping Colds and Flu
It's that time of the year again-cold and flu season. While some families are preparing for the holidays, others are stuck at home with stockpiles of decongestants.

Flu Fighters
Every flu season I brace myself for the onslaught of pharmaceuticals around me: fever suppressants, painkillers, and decongestant.

West Nile Virus
West Nile encephalitis has no consistent symptoms, and no guarantee of diseas.

Spreading the Truth, Not Germs
As the resident homeopathic doctor and clinical nutritionist on one of Toronto's most popular morning TV shows, I am frequently stopped on the street by concerned parents with questions about their children.

Stop colds short
We all know the knock-you-off-your-feet misery of colds and flu: the aches, chills, fever, dry cough, and lingering exhaustion. And with the winter season fast approaching chances are many of us will feel it again sometime soon.

Don't Get Caught By a Springtime Flu

It's Sniffle Season
The discomfort of sinus congestion and colds is rampant this month. To the rescue: the 200-year-old homeopathy system of medicine, which uses microdoses of natural substances...

"You Have West Nile Virus
August 29, 2003 was the day the world fell apart for my husband Jim and me. Because he was experiencing weakness, dizziness, fever spells, and severe headaches, I had taken Jim to the emergency ward twice, but we were sent home with a diagnosis of the flu and vertigo.

Homeopathic Rescue for Bladder Infections
Susan felt a familiar tugging, burning sensation while urinating and felt like she had to go again just minutes later. Having suffered through bladder infections before, she knew how to treat herself naturally.

Homeopathic Ammunition to Fight Flu
Many people fear the flu and are turning to yearly flu shots in record numbers despite conflicting evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of such measures. Homeopathy uses an age-old principle to boost the immune system: a similar, but smaller and weaker dose of the actual disease (a remedy) is administered in order to prevent that same disease.

Virus Protection

Manuka Honey

Six Deadly Bugs

The Chickens Fight Back
Veterinarian and epidemiologist Dr. Waltner-Toews leads a fascinating life. As professor of population medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario, he is also founder of Canada's Veterinarians Without Borders (www.vwb-vsf.ca).

Coughing Kids
In October 2007 Health Canada posted a press release on its website warning parents and caregivers about the dangers of giving children cough and cold medicines. Health Canada had received reports about serious life-threatening events, including unintentional overdose, associated with over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products.

Four Strategies to Beat Colds and Flu
You're surrounded. The guy sitting next to you on the bus is sneezing-repeatedly-in your direction. The receptionist at work coughs and blows her nose as she hands over your messages.

Are Cough Medicines Doing More Harm than Good?
Health warnings about the damaging side effects of cough medicine for young children have made many parents concerned about the safety of common medications-for anyone. The cold and flu season is almost upon us, so here are some herbal and homeopathic approaches that boost immunity and beat viruses faster.