You hate getting sick. Who doesn’t? Cold and flu season isn’t over yet, and there are a lot of bugs going around. While you may have heard the best option is to get a flu shot, the reality is that vaccines only work against viruses that are the same, or very similar to the vaccine. So, if you get vaccinated against one strain of influenza, you’re not protected from a rhinovirus – not good. Here’s how to deal with colds this year so that doesn’t require you to take crazy risks and rely solely on flu shots.
Stock Up On Ginger
Ginger is an under-appreciated root. Go to the store and stock up on fresh ginger root. Buy about a pound or two when you first feel the effects of a cold come on. Don’t stall with this remedy or it may not work – mince the ginger, process it in a food processor, or just try to get it chopped up as finely as you can, and throw it in a pot of water that completely covers the ginger.
Boil it for about a half hour, and keep an eye on it, adding water to the pot periodically to account for evaporation. When you’re done, you’ll have authentic ginger tea. Strain the water and sip it throughout the day. It’s pretty intense, so be prepared.
Alternatively, you can juice the ginger is you have a juicer, or you can blend it in a Blentec or Vitamix-style blender – something that will essentially pulverize the root.
Squeeze out the juice from the ginger and ditch the pulp. Drink cold or hot with a dash of cayenne pepper and a pinch of cinnamon – make sure you’re just sipping on it throughout the day. A pound of ginger should last you a couple of days.
Ginger that is juiced is even more intense than the ginger tea, but it’s also a bit more effective. Raw, fresh, ginger is a potent tonic that knocks out nausea within minutes (sometimes seconds), aids in digestion, and can even shorten the length of a cold or flue.
Get Plenty of Vitamin C and Zinc
You can get vitamin C from sports drinks that contain it, or look for deals for supplements or drinks on SportPursuit.com, but it’s also easy to just squeeze an orange, lemon, or lime, eat lots of strawberries, broccoli, and sweet peppers. All of these foods are extremely high in vitamin C – especially mini sweet peppers.
Zinc is another important mineral that’s crucial for your immune system. Foods that are rich in zinc include meats of all kinds, spinach, nuts, beans, and mushrooms.
Actually, it’s a good idea to get loads of other nutrients like calcium and magnesium, also found in nuts and almost all leafy green veggies.
Drink Lots of Bone Broth
Get back to basics. Go to the store and buy ox tale, cow hoofs, or marrow bones (sometimes called “soup bones”). Sometimes, these bones are sold at pet bones, but they’re actually really good for making homemade bone broth (AKA soup stock). Knuckle bones, marrow bones, and ox tale and hooves are an extremely rich source of gelatin (important for soothing your stomach, and a rich source of glycine, which can help stomach inflammation) and nutrients like magnesium, potassium, sulphur, and phosphorous.
Throw bones in a crockpot, a tablespoon of vinegar, a tablespoon or so of salt, and enough water to cover the bones. Toss in rough chopped onions and celery, and cook them overnight and you’ll wake up to one of the most nutritious cold fighters known to man.
Nancy Rider is a retired nurse. When not blogging about basic healthcare, she enjoys babysitting her grandsons and tending her vegetable garden.
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