Most people have heard that Echinacea, Vitamin C and Zinc lozenges are useful natural remedies for colds and flus. Naturopathic Doctors also feel it's important that people know how to prevent colds, and not just treat them. Diets that have too much sugar, not getting proper sleep, or improperly coping with stress are just three ways that your immune system can become overwhelmed. This leaves you susceptible to catching a cold. It's important to find a healthy balance, and not just rely on "medicines" to keep you well. Keeping yourself healthy also gives you the option of saying "No" to a flu vaccine.

Please read on to learn more about naturopathic approaches for staying healthy, boosting your immune system and treating the nasty sneezing, coughing and runny nose when they do come around. A combination of the following treatments will have you well again in no time - or better yet, prevent the occurrence entirely!

Wash, slice, chop or grate all the vegetables into even sized pieces. Place root vegetables into a large pot. Fill half full with water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add all of the other ingredients and season to taste. Return to a boil and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, uncovered. Cover and simmer for a further 40 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve hot or cold. The broth improves with age. Cool rapidly and keep refrigerated or freeze serving portions for future quick meals. Add brown rice, barley, noodles, canned beans or corn if you want to add "carbohydrate" energy to the soup.

Other Nutrition Tips

Avoid or minimize sugars, since they suppress the immune system. Use juices cautiously (because of natural or artificial sugars), and dilute them 50:50 with spring or filtered water. The best fluids to consume during colds and flu are water, soups and herbal teas. If you like to eat your medicines, add fresh garlic and onions to soups for their antimicrobial activity. Vitamin A stimulates production of white blood cells called neutrophils, and B vitamins are useful too. When buying Zinc lozenges, look for Zinc gluconate or picolinate: they are the readily absorbed forms, will help boost the immune system and soothe a sore throat. Take them with food to prevent nausea.

General Tips

1. Avoid over-the-counter medications like Neo-citran or Nyquil that are popular because they suppress cold or flu symptoms. You might rely on them to continue functioning during a cold, to go to work or keep up our routines around the house. However, when we get sick we are already overworked and run down. Our defenses are working hard just to get us through the day as opposed to trying to protect us from the opportunistic viruses around us. At this time, some of the best "medicine" we can "take" is a dose of bed rest, away from work, to let our bodies recuperate.
2. Reduce (and preferably avoid) coffee, colas, sugar foods, and alcohol. These deplete the immune system and make it harder to recover.
3. Sleep when your body tells you it's tired.

Herbs
Botanical medicines offer a variety of actions. They can be blended on the basis of their primary and secondary actions, to suit the needs and tastes of the patient.

• Immune stimulating herbs: Wild Indigo, Lomatium, Astragalus, Osha, Licorice, Echinacea
• Coughs: herbs can be selected for their action (e.g. antispasmodic, demulcent). Wild cherry, Elecampagne, Thyme, Coltsfoot or White Horehound should be considered
• Runny nose: Eyebright, Goldenseal or Elder
• Fever is a natural response of the body to kill viruses or bacteria. Promote this response with herbs such as Ginger, Cayenne or Cinnamon to kill the "bug", instead of trying to suppress it.

Homeopathy
Several prophylactic (i.e. preventive) preparations are available for cold and flu season. A well-known product called Oscillococcinum has been quite effective in clinical trials in Europe, compared to vaccines. Its preventive action is achieved when taken 1 time per week in the fall or early winter. Similar products are Dolicoccil, Homeococksinum and Mucococcinum. Euphorbium nasal spray by Heel offers relief for blocked sinuses.

Single homeopathic remedies can be prescribed for specific symptoms. For example, Gelsemium is given for colds that come on gradually, with irritating watery nasal discharge, great tiredness, feeling of heaviness, and chills running up and down the back. Natrum muriaticum suits colds with copious, clear nasal discharge that is slightly thicker than water, plus when the person has sneezing spells and loss of sense of taste and smell. Other cold remedies are: Allium cepa, Aconite, Belladonna, Ferrum phosphoricum, Nux vomica, Kali bichromate and Bryonia.

Hydrotherapy
Using water in various forms (ice, cold, steam) to stimulate the body's natural healing ability. Placing Eucalyptus oil in a vaporizer or boiled water, and inhaling the vapours with your head under a towel, can relieve congestion and has anti-septic action in the mucous membranes. If you're not sleeping well, try a tepid bath (temperature of 100-101 F) for 15 minutes to promote a soothing, relaxing sensation to induce sleepiness. Warming sock treatments also promote a good night's sleep, helps drain sinuses, quells headaches, and artificially induces a fever that warms the body to kill viruses.

Suggestions and Cautions

1. Keep a thermometer handy, and use it several times per day that you suspect someone has a cold, flu or other infection. Note: Units that take temperature from the ear canal (great for kids) can be inaccurate if aimed incorrectly in the ear; oral (mouth) thermometers are preferred.
2. What if my cold/flu worsens? See a medical or naturopathic doctor as soon as possible. Secondary bacterial infections can complicate a bad cold or flu, and if untreated can result in serious complications later on.
3. Don't take antibiotics as an initial defense. Most colds and flu's are viral infections, not bacterial and antibiotics therefore have no effect on the virus, but will upset the digestive tract.
4. Don't take an antibiotic if you haven't had a sample taken for a culture: Doctors may feel it's unnecessary and wasteful to culture for most infections. However, this ambivalence has been a factor in the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that we've been hearing about. You want to be sure that if you take an antibiotic, it will work the first time (& confirming you have a bacterial infection).
5. Flu vaccines: there is continued debate over the benefit of flu vaccinations and more importantly, the negative impact they may have on our health. Do your research or ask us for references before making your choice this year.