Ok, so you’re starting to feel a little too tired. Your nose is beginning to feel stuffy, and your throat has an ever so slight sense of soreness when you swallow. Is this one of those situations you can simply ignore and hope it passes, or is this your body suggesting impending doom with the first signs and symptoms of a full fledged cold or flu? Either way, do you simply cross your fingers and hope for the best, or do you pull out all the stops and help guarantee it doesn’t get worse? In either scenario, you’re likely dealing with the initial stages of a viral infection. To ensure it doesn’t set in or progress to anything worse, follow these 2 key steps to eliminate your cold before it starts.
1. Reach for the anti virals
Antibiotics used to be the go-to for cold and flu. Thankfully, the medical community has learned that most times, the common symptoms of colds and flu’s are caused by viruses rather than bacteria. Since pharmaceutical medicine doesn’t have a cure for the common cold or flu, or anything to help kill the virus that’s causing it, turning to naturopathic medicine’s array of effective anti virals usually do the trick.
How do natural anti virals work?
Natural anti virals are compounds found in nature, typically concentrated from herbs and plants, that have the ability to reach the level of a virus to affectively target and destroy it on contact. The tough thing about viruses is that they enter into your cells, where they use them as a safe house to divide, replicate, and spread to infect other cells. Typically when you experience the first signs and symptoms of a cold or flu, the virus has already entered into the body and is beginning its infective and replication process. In order to stop the virus in its tracks, natural anti virals have the capability of binding onto the virus and destroying it before it has time to spread. It is at the first signs of a cold and flu that, if used correctly, an anti viral can (and will) kill the virus and prevent you from getting sick. The key here however, is to start taking your anti viral properly, and as soon as you suspect a cold or flu is present. Once a cold or flu has fully set in, anti virals will still control and kill the virus, however it’s a catch up game, so the time to clear it out takes longer, and symptoms of your cold will likely get worse before they get better. Don’t ignore, however, that natural anti virals are extremely powerful, so beginning them late in the game will still significantly reduce the severity and duration of the cold at hand.
A few examples of common naturopathic anti virals include lemon balm, andrographis, echinacea and elderberry.
2. Anti microbial’s to the rescue
In addition to the proper formulated anti viral (one rarely, if ever, works good enough on its own), anti microbial’s are essential in eliminating a cold before it begins. Anti microbial’s are compounds which possess the ability to fight bacteria, viruses and a plethora of other infective organisms that can often be present at various points of a viral infection, while providing the body enhanced defences against the present virus. From treating sore throats and ear infections, to nauseous stomachs and diarrhea, anti microbial’s are key in the combination for nixing that cold.
Of course, in working with the above, you need to know exactly which anti virals and anti microbial’s to use, how much to dose and how often, and exactly what to look for and expect along the way. As a naturopathic doctor, I can confidently state that I have successfully helped patients and family eliminate hundreds of colds and flus, hundreds and hundreds of times, upon the first signs of them being present, and put an end to them before they even had a chance to set in. So if used correctly and early enough on, there’s little chance, if any, that you’ll suffer longer term from a cold or flu ever again. Of course, I often use this in conjunction with other simple anti cold and flu approaches (such as rest, immune support, and hydration) to bring even more confidence that you will continue to stay healthy along the way. But let me state for the record here folks that this is a powerfully effective, safe, and reliable approach to terminating colds and flu’s before they have the chance to begin.