Unless you are living in a bubble or are living the life of the unabomber, you are exposed to sickness or someone who is sick most everyday. It isn't practical or desirable to isolate yourself from most human (source of most sickness) contact in an effort to never be exposed. What is practical and doable is to strengthen your immune system so that you are immune to most of the disease-causing critters. The most common ones to protect yourself against are, of course,
cold and flu bugs.
However no matter how good you are at keeping your immune system robust, there are still times when something will get by your defenses and you will come down with the dreaded cold or flu. At that point it is becomes an issue of how quickly can you get over it. If you have been paying attention to news reports, you realize that the research shows the vast majority of over the counter cold and flu remedies not only don't work, but they actually impede the healing process. With that in mind I would like to share natural recommendations I have found to be helpful in speeding up the recovery time for colds and flu.
1. Wash your hands regularly with regular soap, not antibacterials as they are toxic and promote super bugs.
2. Wipe down surfaces that are touched regularly (car and house door knobs, phones, steering wheels, etc.) with hydrogen peroxide, avoid toxic cleaners.
3. Avoid antibiotics unless absolutely necessary (drainage or sputum is non-clear, very fast or high fever) as disrupts bacterial balance you need to be healthy and again promotes super bugs.
4. Get as much rest as possible.
5. Immune enhancing herbs (turmeric, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, echinacea, goldenseal), and supplements (vitamin C, Vitamin A, garlic, olive oil extract, bee pollen) can be very helpful, especially the vitamins.
6. Starve the fever by taking in mostly fluids like teas, water, broths, etc. because it tends to shut down your digestion.
7. Feed the cold. Soups seem to work the best particularly with mushrooms (immune enhancing) and chicken which has cysteine and helps to thin mucous.
8. A honey and lemon mixture can soothe a dry cough, honey kills bacteria and lemon alkalizes your system.
