Today I am wrapping up the week talking about the battle against the cold and flu, I couldn’t forget to mention these two additional players in the vitamin/mineral world. It amazes me sometimes that if we will just take a break from our busy lives and consider the land and all that it brings to us, we might recognize some of the things that we most need are what’s in season during that time of the year!
Vitamin C……..
All of the wonderful citrus trees are producing its sweet fruit right about the time our immune systems could use that extra boost of Vitamin C. If you’ve never given a Meyers Lemon or a Tangerine a try you’re missing out on some “C-packed” goodies! Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant and one of the three major ones which also include beta-carotene and Vitamin E. Antioxidants are capable of deactivating or in some cases stabilizing free radicals before they attack our cells which can cause damage.
Vitamin C usage for a cold, while it doesn’t hurt anything to take has been controversial because of a study that was done that showed it made minimal difference in the duration and severity of a cold. The study included giving the person 200 mg of of Vitamin C and evaluating them. I’ve said before that I am no medical practitioner at all and I am not giving any medical advice only sharing my story and my experience in the hopes that you will find some sort of value in reading. In my own experience, I have literally turned a cold around by taking high doses of Vitamin C myself. At the first sign of a cold on several occasions I have started taking lots of Vitamin C like along the lines of a couple thousand milligrams and my sore throat dissipated and the cold disappeared. So for myself, I get a big box of tasty oranges and lemons in the early winter and enjoy them throughout the long cold months. I would rather get my Vitamin C from foods over supplementation but when I feel a cold actually coming on I will supplement as well. Vitamin C is also very good at helping the body absorb iron so eating it with iron rich foods might help to raise iron levels as well, an added perk!
Zinc………
Zinc is actually a mineral and has been found to help cut down on the duration of colds. In a clinical study that was conducted it was found that zinc could actually cut the duration of a cold down by about a day. The study also found the zinc must be started within 24 hours of the onset of the cold. It is uncertain how zinc actually does this but scientists believe that it could be stopping the virus from actually adhering to the mucous membranes, see yesterdays post for more about that. Most of the time you can find this in lozenges or supplemental form but there are also some high zinc foods to eat on a regular basis as well since it was also discovered that taking zinc on a regular basis could actually prevent colds too! Nuts, especially cashews are high in zinc. Seafood, beef, lamb and wheat germ are other examples of high zinc foods. This is one I have not had a lot of personal experience with since I never remember to take it the first 24 hours but it’s one I intend to start implementing with my next possible go around with the rhinovirus!
You should be armed with some tips now to help cut down on your colds this winter from herbs, to prevention to vitamins and minerals! Getting good sleep and keeping stress down as much as possible can also go a long ways toward your overall health and immunity. Here’s to a healthy “cold-free” winter!
More on colds: cold busting herbs
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