Introduction: 5 Tips to Beating a Cold
Cold and flu season is here, and sooner or later, you or someone you know will get it. Use these tips to speed your bodies natural healing qualities!
Step 1: Drink More Liquids
When you are sick your body produces more mucus. That's what makes you all stuffed up. When you increase the liquids you intake, it makes the mucus flow better causing you less problems.
Get a good herbal tea and sip on that. It will get more liquids into you and make your throat feel better.
Step 2: Take Vitamins
Your body can use a bit of help when fighting off a cold, so its a good idea to take a few vitamins containing zinc and vitamin C to give your white blood cells what they need to beat up the virus.
Step 3: Use a Neti Pot
If you are congested, a neti pot can spell ultimate relief. Using a neti pot twice a day will clean out your sinuses and make breathing a lot easier.
For more on neti pots check out How To Clean Your Sinuses
Step 4: Eat Soup
Mmm Soup, the cold's worst enemy. Soup allows you once again to intake more liquids but is also warm so it can act as a way to burn off those viruses.
Check out this link for some good soup recipes.
Step 5: Sleep
Ultimately whatever you do, you're going to need time to heal. Your body will be working overtime to kick out the cold virus, so its always a good idea to get a whole bunch of restful sleep.
I hope this instructable finds you well and that you heal quickly this cold season. Got any cold remedy tips? Post them in the comments below!
8 Comments
10 months ago
I would strongly recommend to add vitamin D3 to the list, it greatly affects immunity! There are a lot of different products on the market, so it`s easy to find.
What is more important is to take vitamin K2 along with D3:
https://zdrowersi.pl/suplementy-witamina-k-204
D3 regulates a lot of important processes in the body, including calcium absorption. As calcium needs to be transported to bones and teeth, for this task a vitamin K2 is also necessary - thanks to it, calcium goes where it should be.
7 years ago
This year I tried an old remedy - but be careful - it is tough!! but certainly cleans out not only your sinuses, but your chest, etc etc. - RECIPE: freshly grated horseradish root (grate smallest size) - get about a teaspoon - add pure honey in roughly same amount and eat. May I suggest you first take a minute amount to see if you can survive the overwhelming sharpness of the horseradish. But it works for me.
7 years ago
Eat less dairy foods, should help too
11 years ago on Step 3
Since there's been a couple deaths using a neti pot, it would be good to have this:
"If using a neti pot or other nasal irrigation device, use distilled or filtered water. Keeping the device clean is crucial, too, Ratard says. A neti pot, which looks like a small genie lamp, can be safely washed in a dishwasher, but squeeze bottles and other devices need to be scrubbed. All need to dry between uses. "If you let them dry completely, the amoebas are not going to survive long,"
source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/12/19/143960631/second-neti-pot-death-from-amoeba-prompts-tap-water-warning
12 years ago on Introduction
Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa (ninjiom-hk.cwahi.net) may be another choice. i know alot of people use it, its also non alcoholic, though it's effectiveness is not as good as alcohol based cough medicine, but it's still good to use on not so serious scratchy throat.
12 years ago on Step 5
Very often, just before i get a cold, i noticed my throat feels "dry" or "scratchy." Especially at night while sleeping. Whenever I feel this dry throat , I gargle with a few drops or teaspoon of mouthwash.Then back to bed i go. Next morning the throat dryness is gone!... and cold averted! Sometimes.. about once a year... that method fails and the cold gets me. Once the cold gets me, I sleep with an electric blanket to get my body temperature up. Kind of like the American indians used to have "sweat-lodges" to sweat out the sickness. Doing the electric blanket I can almost always kill a cold in just a couple days. KEEPING warm... especially my feet... stops me getting "chilled" and so I DONT wakeup sneezing every half hour when staying warm with electric blanket! I believe the elevated body temperature simulates having a "fever" and the body defenses kick-in. I like your idea of taking zinc and vitamin c. I will try that also. Great instructable.
12 years ago on Introduction
Good stuff! Thank you!
I've heard that we tend to want not to exercise when we have a cold but actually, it doesn't hurt and can help. I suppose it shouldn't be super-vigorous, but in any case, we shouldn't stop exercising just because we have a cold.
I have found that some strong foods such as hot peppers and raw garlic help. Take as much as you can tolerate. Push yourself to the limit taking these.
Most of these remedies and measures work best at the beginning of the cold. This goes for echinacea etc, too
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Anything that raises your heart rate a bit is good when you're sick. It helps push all that fluid and those vitamins around. Heck, just play some FPS's, those can get your heart going if your immersed enough.