Best Way To Fight Common Cold/Sickness

12:59:00 AM cc 0 Comments

Its winter time which means people are going to get sick. The most common method is usually take a lot of vitamin C, medicine, and some hot liquids like tea or chicken noodle soup. Welp, this stuff doesn't really work that well. This year I haven't gotten sick at all. When I see signs that I may be getting sick there are some simple things you can do to fight it and prevent it from getting worse, and it has helped me tremendously! When everyone gets sicks in my house I'd be the only one who didn't get sick thanks to this method.

First off, I don't take medicine. Why? Because they're not going to make me get rid of the cold faster. If you read the boxes of over the counter medicine it just says it temporarily relieves you of cold symptoms. That's it. Orange juice? The stuff is full of sugar plus its cold and doesn't help me at all. Soup or tea? While both are quite comforting it doesn't help combat the virus, but its still good to keep you hydrated.

So what does work? SLEEP. Its the only time when your body goes into healing. When you feel your forehead getting warm, maybe a bit light headed, or that lump or itchiness on the back of your throat its time to go to bed as early as you can.

Drinking herbal tea like peppermint, ginger, chamomile, etc are great to help combat getting a cold. Its important to be as hydrated as you can. But what works better to fight the cold is capsaicin, a chemical compound found in chili peppers. Its what makes chilis spicy. Yes, spicy food. Capsaicin boosts your metabolism which is crucial to fighting the common cold. Other benefits of capsaicin is that its anti-flammatory, analgesic, and antioxidant properties. It will help build your mucus membranes which is your natural defense against viruses and bacteria. It also has high amounts of Vitamin C and beta-carotene both are known for help your body's defenses against viruses and infections. This doesn't mean getting a bunch of buffalo wings is going to make you feel better. The best way is spicy soup. You can even just add hot sauce to soup to make it spicy. Avoid sugar and creamy (milk/dairy products) foods as well as bacteria seem to thrive in them. Usually I have pho with sriracha sauce, spicy kimchi ramen, or spicy tofu dishes like mapo tofu or korean tofu soup (soondubu jjigae). Adding citrus juice like lemon or lime sometimes intensifies the spiciness but the juices have some antibacterial properties. Adding vegetables chop full of vitamins and helpful properties is important to fight off a cold the fastest. If your lips or tongue do not at least feel a bit of burn its not spicy enough! But its ok if you can only take a little spiciness.

To summarize: sleep early and a lot (healing), eat spicy soups (boost immune system), and drink lots of herbal tea and water (hydrate and flush out your system). If you do all these well that little itch in your throat won't turn into coughs. Good luck!