›› Remedies for Cold
As the single most
common viral affliction that strikes people today, the common cold is
always looking for new victims. If you are ten years or older
and have never had a common cold, I’d say it’s a
small miracle. Most people get them once or more a
year. Because there is no ‘cure’ for the
common cold, remedies for colds are a booming industry across the
world.
I’m sure you’ve already noticed this fact for
yourself. There are entire shelves devoted to remedies for
colds in supermarkets and pharmacies everywhere. Most of
these products aim at treating what specific symptoms you are
having. Because each and every cold virus is unique, which is
why a cure is impossible, the symptoms of the common cold vary a
lot. Fortunately, there are a lot of general and common
symptoms that can be treated. Coughs, sore throats, sinus
congestion, watery eyes, dry eyes, runny nose, and headache are among
the more common symptoms.
Some of these cold remedies are pretty effective, but none of them will
completely make you feel better. I get annoyed when I see
commercials showing some poor woman lying in bed debilitated by a cold,
only to suddenly bounce out of bed and tackle the day smiling like a
loon the whole time the moment she takes a pill. Even the
best drug remedies for colds will only help you go from feeling like
you’ve been hit by a truck to feeling like you’ve
been hit by a car.
While the symptoms of a cold are hard to alleviate completely, I have
found some remedies for colds that help reduce the longevity of the
virus. Most doctors will tell you drink plenty of fluids, and
this definitely helps. In addition, I’ve found that
zinc lozenges are an excellent remedy for colds. They taste
bad, and leave a funky feeling along your throat, but if my colds tend
to go away much faster when I use them regularly. Even
better, my colds never seem to get as bad if I use zinc lozenges right
after noticing symptoms.
A lot of interesting research has been done recently showing that zinc
is in fact a proven remedy for colds. Zinc tables
don’t seem to do it for me, it’s the lozenges that
really help. My favorite brand is
‘Cold-Eeze’; they seem to have at least found a way
to make them taste tolerable. If you have recently been
exposed to someone who is sick, taking zinc lozenges may in fact help
prevent a cold as well.
››
A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
