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Common as they are during winter months, colds and flu aren't inevitable. That's especially true once we reach our late 20s or early 30s, when the immune system becomes most effective against these types of bugs. Although resistance starts to drop after age 80, most of our lives should be relatively free of these annoying experiences.
"If you're a 45-year-old and you're catching colds three times a winter, you're doing something wrong in terms of caring for yourself," says Wendy Warner, MD, a holistic physician in Langhorne, Pa., and author of Boosting Your Immunity for Dummies. "So you should stop and think, what could I be doing differently?"
Adequate sleep and good food are the best protection. "If you're eating crap, you can't expect your immune system to work right, and sugar's really bad for the immune system," says Warner. Eat whole foods, especially lots of veggies, and include an orange a day for vitamin C. In addition, she offers the following helpful tips and supplement recommendations.
It's most important to sleep between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. "That's when the immune system revs up, runs around, and cleans up all the stuff you've been exposed to that day," says Warner, "but you have to be asleep for that to happen." If you tend to sleep between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m., for example, your immune system gets short-changed, even though you're getting the recommended eight hours of sleep.
Different mushrooms enhance different parts of the immune system, boosting its ability to resist seasonal bugs and, if you do get sick, speeding recovery. Look for a combination of maitake, cordyceps, and reishi extracts, and take it daily during the winter season.
Studies of more than 11,000 people, from infants to 95-year-olds, show that low levels of vitamin D increase the odds of winter respiratory infections. So make sure you're getting enough of the "sunshine vitamin," especially in the winter when you're less likely to spend time outdoors.
A hot, steamy shower or bath with some herbs is a pleasant and relaxing way to decongest sinuses and lungs. Take fresh rosemary or oregano, or dried eucalyptus, into a hot shower. Get the herb wet, squeeze or stomp on it to release its oils, and inhale. Or, put essential oil of eucalyptus on a hot, wet washcloth and squeeze it to release more active components. An alternative to flushing sinuses with a Netti Pot, taking herbal showers or baths can be effective for all ages, including kids.
"Echinacea is great, but you have to take it the minute you get a sniffle if it even crosses your mind that you're getting a scratchy throat," says Warner, adding that you need to take about four times the dose recommended on most products. That way, she says, whether you are getting a cold or the flu, "It will knock it out really quickly."
Andrographis will work even if you start taking it a day or two after symptoms strike. It may also be effective for prevention, especially if you're exposed to bugs from sick coworkers, family, or a sniffling passenger sitting next to you on an airplane.
Viruses are continually mutating, and it's getting more difficult to tell whether symptoms indicate a cold or flu. For example, says Warner, "sniffles could be either one." Unlike flu vaccines, which aim to target specific viruses (and may not work because of incorrect predictions on which flu virus will be active in a given season), natural remedies help the immune system knock out any virus. Consequently, Oscillococcinum, a popular homeopathic remedy for flu, can also work for colds.
A moderate amount of exercise—the kind that leaves you less stressed and revitalized—makes you less susceptible to seasonal bugs. However, cautions Warner, "When you overdo exercise, you increase your cortisol, your main stress hormone, and that negatively impacts the immune system." If you're always trying to push yourself past the limit, winter is a good time to try yoga or Pilates.
If a fever or achiness makes you want to hide under the covers, that's the best thing to do. Aches and fever aren't actually caused by cold or flu viruses, but by inflammatory chemicals released by our immune system, indicating it's fighting the virus—a good thing, under the circumstances.
Don't take an aspirin to suppress the bug-fighting process. Rather, take natural remedies that enhance your ability to beat the virus, and get some rest. "If you don't rest when you need to," warns Warner, "it'll take longer to recover."
Colds and flu are viral infections, but once they strike, a bacterial infection—a "secondary" infection in medical terms—can also develop. A wet cough or yellowish-greenish nasal discharge may be symptoms. Because natural remedies enhance our immune system's ability to knock out all types of pathogens, they can work on both, and herbs that contain berberine, such as Oregon grape, yellow root, and barberry are especially good at knocking out bacteria.
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