The common cold is so common because it has not been cured yet and it probably never will be. It’s not a serious condition and most people will have a cold without even noticing they do. It’s rare that a cold will get to the point where you need to take any time off to recuperate and though it might seem desirable to, you know you don’t actually need to.
Over the years the world and a kitchen sink have been suggested for treating the common cold and yet nothing really does. This is because the virus which causes it is actually different each time. It mutates and changes so quickly that by the time we cure one strain there’s an entirely new one. Scientists don’t bother doing this because it’s in no way deadly and there are more important illnesses to focus on. All of the cold and flu medicine you’ll buy over the counter are actually designed to treat the symptoms and done kill the condition itself. IT’s better to just wait for it to pass.
There’s been a lot of hype in the past for vitamin C and probiotics in terms of curing or at least protecting against the common cold. This is because both of these things can be used to help boost the immune system and if your immune system is up to scratch then you should never suffer from the condition in the first place!
Vitamin C is more hype than reality, it might work partially but living on orange juice while you’ve got a cold hasn’t been shown to get rid of that cold any faster than not doing so. Probiotics however, have shown some promise. They’re the good bacteria which live in our guts and they’ve been shown to boost the immune system enough to lessen the risk of contracting the cold.
So, if you want to limit your chance of contracting a cold then fill up on probiotic yoghurts and similar. Be aware that this won’t make you immune to cold! A lessened chance isn’t the same thing as no chance.
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