Caught a winter cold? 6 tips to help beat it

Our resident Acupuncturists Gregg Hartnett & Sam Taylor have 6 great tips to help beat those winter coughs and colds.

‘Many of our clients are turning up with colds and flu in the last week. Some of them have an existing medical condition and because of this, it’s even more important to shift these irritating infections quicker. And let’s be honest, none of us enjoy being under the weather.’

Here are 6 practical tips that you can put into practice if you already have the dreaded winter cold!

A Great Recipe For Sore Throats

• Peel, chop and boil ginger with sliced lemon (leave on the skin on the lemon). Boil the ginger until the water becomes golden or the ginger is soft. Remove the bits of ginger and lemon. Pour yourself a cup. When the liquid has gone off the boil add a teaspoon of Manuka honey. The ginger will soothe a sore throat, the oils in the lemon will boost immunity and the manuka honey will help to fight the bugs. Also, it’s a lovely warming drink on a cold winters evening.
• A word about Manuka Honey. This is a special type of honey which is produced in New Zealand and contains bug fighting plant chemicals. It’s graded by strength and gets more expensive as the strength goes up.  If you have very poor immunity, (slow wound healing and always coming down with things), go for as strong as you can afford. Otherwise, 10+ strength is sufficient.
• Regular Vitamin C. Supplementing regularly with low dose Vitamin C is very helpful. 500mg every three to four hours around the days where your cold is coming on can really boost immunity.  If you get cramps or loose stools you know that this is too much Vitamin C for you and you should space out your dosage. There is a very good combination made by Lifeplan that combines low dose Vitamin C with Zinc that can be taken every hour. There are some conditions where this level of Vitamin C supplementation is contraindicated, so as usual if you have an existing condition, check with your Doctor or Pharmacist.

5 Other Helpful Tips

• Echinacea or Astragalus are useful during a cold. There’s lots of research demonstrating the immune boosting benefits of these herbs. You take one or the other for the duration of your cold.
• Ivy thyme is a combination herb that is great for relieving an irritating cough.
• Reduce sugar and alcohol. Sugar and alcohol have been shown in studies to inhibit immune response and so you are best off trying to avoid these when you are trying to shift a cold.
• If you are prescribed an antibiotic it can be helpful to take a probiotic to help protect future immunity and your digestive health. I use Quest tumbiotics and acidophilus. Take it for a full month after completing your course of antibiotics. They are sold on one month’s supply.
• Many clients come for a quick session of acupuncture to help boost immunity when they feel things begin to come on.  It usually only takes one treatment to set them on the right path.

Booking Your Appointment

To book an appointment with any of our clinic’s therapists please call 01 677 9859 or email info@the-elbowroom.com.