How To Quickly Cure a Cold

When you are sick with a cold it seems you go through tissue after tissue.  You are constantly blowing your nose!  It's not that you want to, but sometimes you just can't help it.  Well new research is showing that you should try to resist blowing your nose.  The pressure actually sends viruses and bacteria back in to your sinuses which can make it worse for you!  So what do you do?  Research didn't say...lol...but the recommendation is to resist the urge to blow. 

If you do blow however, make sure you wash your hands afterward to prohibit further spreading of the germs.

The oldest trick in the book...Saltwater.  Mix one teaspoon of regular kitchen salt to one cup of very warm water and gargle with it.  The more times you can gargle, the better, but you should aim for a minimum of 4 times a day.  It will help rinse out post-nasal drip.  It's also good if you are getting a sore throat.  It seems it is good for anything inside the mouth.  My dentist always recommends this after major work.  Such an inexpensive item and so helpful! 

Well, I don't know if it really does!  If you are coughing and sneezing, you are sending germs out of your body in to the air.  Breathing them back in is not going to help you get better any faster.  Also, we don't even realize how often we touch our face, mouth and nose and eyes.  This is the quickest way to spread germs, especially cold germs.  So I recommend that you spray the air, spray the furniture you sit on, and spray everything that you might have touched.  You would want to spray toilet seats and handle, faucets, door handles, the handle on the fridge, cupboards, the medicine cabinet, light switches.  I spray any and all hard "touchable" surfaces.  I even go so far as to spray the phones and remotes.  If you don't feel that is safe, you can disinfect them by wiping them down with rubbing alcohol.

Obviously you want to wash your hands frequently when you are sick, and all the time to prevent getting sick. But I think some people don't think anything of wearing the same pajamas or sleeping on the same sheets for three or four days in a row. You are getting germs on them, wash the germs out. Wearing the germ filled clothes and sleeping on germ filled sheets is not going to help you. Think about the pillowcase especially! You lay on it sneezing, coughing, drooling, nasal dripping on it through the night, or the day when you are resting, and then you go back and lay your face right back on that germ filled fabric. And a lot of times, just having clean pajamas and fresh linens will help make you feel so much better!  So wash your sheets, if you are too sick to wash them, at least put clean ones on and put the dirty ones in a plastic bag until you feel good enough to wash them.  Even spraying them down with Lysol will help. 

Most people are so busy they normally skip breakfast.  It's a 'no-no' on a regular basis but a big 'no-no' when you are sick!  The body's top virus fighting compound is called gamma interferon. When you skip breakfast, gamma interferon levels decrease by 17%.  Well that doesn't seem so bad, does it?  Well, compare that to increasing them by 450% by eating a hearty, balanced breakfast...I thought you'd choose the eggs and sausage this morning!

My son loves this one!  There have actually been some studies that have found that 12 minutes or more of good stress, such as that your body experiences while playing video games, will send key immune system protein levels soaring!  Interesting, my son shouldn't be sick at all this winter!

My brother hates taking pills of any kind. He will tell you he has an incredible headache and when you ask him if he wants something for it, he will say no. An hour later you will be able to see the pain in his face, but he still refuses to take anything for it. I know a lot of men, and some women, who are like this. When you are sick, if you are running a fever, take a fever reducer! Your body is already using everything it has to fight whatever germs are in your body. Why make it do it with a fever? Take the fever reducer, get the fever down and let your body use it's energy to work on fighting off the germs.

I believe in taking vitamins every day, but I know there are a lot of people who don't. Vitamins support your body's normal everyday functions. When you are sick, it has extra work to do, which is why you feel tired and run down.  When you are sick, your body is working in over time. Not only does it have to sustain you, now it has to play mortal combat with whatever germ or virus has invaded it. Give your body a little help by taking a vitamin. I up my vitamin C when I am sick, but at the very least take a multivitamin.  Also, if you take vitamins regularly, you can decrease your chances of getting sick in the first place.

You are wondering if I am crazy on this one, right? Your sick! You get sick when it's cold outside, right? Why would you want to let the cold in? Not only that, when your sick you want to stay bundled up and warm! It's comforting and it makes you feel better. So put on your flannel pj's, get out the electric blanket or pile on the covers. Bundle up and open a window! Let the germ filled air out and the clean air in! Even just a crack will help circulate the bad air out. I had a neighbor a few years back, she was originally from Alaska. She slept year round with her window opened about an inch in her bedroom. She swore by it for this very reason and claimed she hadn't had a cold since she was a young girl.

Put down the bottle...I didn't mean hit the sauce! You do want to keep yourself full of fluids when you are sick, but the right fluids. It will help flush out the bad stuff and keep you from becoming dehydrated. When your body is fighting a virus, it builds up toxins. You need to stay hydrated so that your body can flush out those toxins. This goes especially if you are running a fever because you lose extra fluids when you sweat. Things like water, tea and juice are the best.

We have all heard it and there has been controversy that it is just an old wives tale, but chicken soup is good for the soul! The body and soul. A research physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Stephen Rennard, M.D., held studies that proved the theory on chicken soup! He found that both homemade and the canned stuff have substances that will help reduce swelling of the nasal cavities! The chicken in the soup provides your body with necessary protein to produce natural antibodies. Also, if you make it at home and throw in a variety of veggies, you are getting the benefits from the added vitamins and nutrients. Chicken soup is like a cold fighting wonder food!