It’s cold outside. You’re spending more time indoors. It’s this time of year when it seems like everyone around you is getting sick. You wash your hands, wipe down the seat on the airplane and stay away from the guy with the dirty hanky on the subway. But every now and then … you catch a cold.
You’re not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American adults get two to three colds each year, on average, and kids get even more. Colds are one of the leading causes of doctor visits and missed time from work and school.
Few things are as annoying as the common cold, and experts agree there’s no cure for it. You just have to go through it. Still, how you treat your body and what you put in your body in the days that follow may determine just how long you’ll suffer through the congestion, coughing and sneezing.
In a perfect world, you’d never have to fight a cold. In reality, we have to work at staying healthy. To decrease your chances of catching a cold:
— Wash your hands regularly, and try not to touch your face — especially if you’ve been around someone who’s sick.
— Limit stress. This is easier said than done, but well worth the effort. Stress can negatively impact the immune system, making you more susceptible to illness.
— Get enough sleep (seven to nine hours for most adults). Sleep can help keep the body’s immune system charged and ready to fight. If you already have a cold, getting proper sleep can help your body recover.
If you do get a cold, try these remedies to soothe the symptoms:
Chicken Soup. Grandma was right: Chicken soup may help you feel better when fighting a common cold. Research regarding the exact mechanism that makes this homemade remedy work is still unclear. However, this nostalgic and hydrating soup will warm you up, while possibly helping you get well quicker.
Honey. Honey is a sweet way to suppress coughs. Try it in a warm beverage, or take a spoonful straight up. Remember: Honey should not be given to children under age 1 because of the risk for botulism poisoning.
Vitamin C. Long lauded as the way to prevent a cold, the strength of this vitamin is actually in its ability to reduce the severity of a cold once you have it. And if you’re thinking more must be better, don’t. Because it’s a water-soluble vitamin, once you have what you need, any extra vitamin C you take won’t stick around. It will just be eliminated in your urine. So that doesn’t help anyone — unless maybe you own stock in the supplement company.
Though supplements are often the first way people tend to think of getting vitamin C, you can easily get your daily vitamin C from food. This time of year, citrus fruits are in delicious abundance. Try oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, kiwi, berries, peppers, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and other greens and many more.
Zinc. Zinc is possibly effective against the common cold. While the research examining zinc’s ability to prevent colds is less convincing, the majority of studies show that zinc lozenges appear to reduce the length of the common cold in adults by one to two days. This doesn’t sound like much, but think about this next time you have a cold. If a little lozenge can give you a day or two back, it may be worth it.
The research on zinc and the common cold has primarily studied the impact of lozenges and nasal sprays — which are controversial — versus food. But it’s a good idea to make sure you’re getting zinc-rich foods in your diet daily, since your body does not store it. Zinc is a key nutrient in wound-healing, immune function and your sense of taste and smell among other functions. You can get adequate zinc by eating a variety of foods, including beef, chicken, beans, cashews, oatmeal, yogurt and crabmeat. The highest food source is oysters.
In addition to these food-related remedies, when used correctly, neti pots and humidifiers may also be effective against nasal congestion and sore throat.
Though fighting the common cold may seem like a futile battle at times, eating well, getting proper sleep and adding some of these options to the mix may tackle the symptoms and help you feel a little better. Rest is essential. In addition to helping you heal, it also keeps you from passing the misery on to family, friends and co-workers. Taking time to away from your normal busy routine will allow your body to recover and get the sleep you probably need anyway.
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Drug-Free Ways to Prevent and Fight the Common Cold originally appeared on usnews.com