I used the term ‘art’ in the title of this post because I don’t want to pretend to be a doctor, or a scientist, or some homeopathy guru, or even someone who has any kind of experience helping others get over colds. I just want to detail some personal observations I’ve made over the years in my own personal battles with the occasional minor illness. I am currently getting over a cold now, and it never really got that bad. Compared to a lot of the people around me, who seem to turn to complete shit when the cold virus hits, I feel I must be doing something right.
First of all, and I feel this is the most important thing – the thing to do if you can only do one of the things I’m about to describe – is to drink tons of water. Water cleanses. There’s something in your body that needs to be cleansed away. Drink water. Pretty obvious.
Almost as important, in my opinion, is to avoid harsh, deleterious over the counter cold remedies like nyquil and robitussin. These things only temporarily mask the systems of the cold, while weakening the body, thus weakening the body’s immune system. We need to be strengthening our bodies’ defenses when we’re sick so that they do what they need to do to get rid of the sickness. The garbage in those OTC products does harm while offering a fleeting dose of mild comfort, and really, I feel this comfort is illusory because they make us drowsy and kind of ‘cracked out’, loopy and weird. They’re pure garbage. Avoid them.
As an alternative, I recommend two products that really seem to work for me. The first, and I swear by this stuff when I start to feel a cold coming on, is Zicam throat spray. I use it throughout the day. Whether the claims Zicam makes about it somehow being more effective than regular zinc supplements are true, the fact is that it is giving you zinc in a convenient, instant manner multiple times a day, and zinc is a known cold fighter. From my experience, Zicam helps, and it provides some temporary minor relief to sore, scratchy throats. The other product is Ricola original flavor throat drops. I don’t think they do much for you in terms off fighting the cold, but they certainly soothe the throat, and I love how they taste, so they keep my spirits up.
As far as what to eat, I have something I make that I honestly believe helps me get over colds and remain energized while fighting a cold. What I do is chop up a generous amount of fresh garlic and onions and sautee in olive oil until they’re a bit soft, but not quite carmelized, then I cut half a lemon and squeeze some into the sautee. Then I sautee fresh baby spinach, a generous portion, and add a small amount of salt and a decent amount of dried cayenne pepper and sautee until the leaves wilt and turn that dark green color while squeezing the rest of the half a lemon into the mixture. I make sure I eat it all. It tastes amazing, and is something I eat even when I’m not sick, but I use more cayenne when I’m sick. It clears the sinuses. Personally, I think this combination of ingredients is just about the best thing you can eat if you have a cold.
Finally, and this pretty much is a no-brainer, but get more sleep/rest than usual. I am good with 5-6 hours throughout the week, but I try to get an extra hour or even 2 when I’m getting over a cold.
Follow these simple steps, and perhaps you’ll have the kind of results I do, or maybe not. All I can say is that I rarely have had colds escalate beyond anything more than a minor inconvenience.
