Try these quick natural remedies to prevent a cold.

1. Vinegar-  Viruses do not like acidic environments.  Vinegar is somewhat acidic, so eating foods with vinegar can help prevent the flu.  Another low pH food is wine.

2. Garlic-  Eating garlic, especially raw, has a lot of antimicrobial effects on the body.  A clove a day keeps the doctor away!

3.  Vegetable soup-  Soup is a great and delicious way to eat a lot of vegetables and get a lot of nutrients.  Using aromatic vegetables, like onions, garlic, scallions, are very helpful to prevent the common cold.

4. Seasonal vegetables from the farmer’s market-  It is remarkable how seasonal foods give us the right nutrients at the right time of year.  At the moment, squash and potatoes are coming into season.  In Chinese medicine, we say that these are warming foods, which help to boost our energy as the weather becomes colder.  Buying local food is fresher and helps to retain the nutrients.

Read more about Chinese medicine and colds

• Preventing Colds with Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and other tricks
• How to Kick Your Cold
• A Rainy Day Ginger Beef Soup

Natural Cold Remedies is a post from:

There are two good ways to prevent getting a cold.  The first is the kill any incoming viruses before they get too bad.  Like I said in my last post, one way to do that is gargling with salt water.  The other and far more powerful way is to boost your immunity.

And here are some tips to boost your immunity.

1. Soup: What your grandmother told you is true.  Soup is a great way to boost you immune system to prevent or treat a cold.  Countless studies have proven this for chicken soup.  I also think vegetable soup works well because it is jam packed with nutrients.

2. Reishi and Cordyceps:  Reishi and cordyceps are two mushrooms that have long been used to to boost energy and immunity.  I take reishi in the winter to prevent getting a cold.  It works great because even though my patients are sick, I stay healthy.  Cordyceps are better for those with chronic asthma and allergies.  For these herbs, be careful to purchase from a reputable vendor who sells organic products, because there is a lot of counterfeit out there.  And who wants pesticides in their herbs.

3. Acupuncture: Acupuncture is a treatment within Chinese medicine.  It is based on stimulating the body to heal itself.  And science has recently theorized that it also stimulates the immune system in the body, which can help prevent and treat colds.

4. Chinese herbs:  Chinese herbs have long been used to prevent a cold.  Many herbs have shown the ability to boosting your immunity and also kill any lurking viruses and bacteria. Huang qi, or astragalus, is a powerful immune booster.  This herb is in the common formula Jade Wind Screen, which is for those who frequently get colds.  Not all formulas are good for every person, so it is important to see your acupuncturist or Chinese medicine doctor for some herbs when there is a cold going around.

5. Qi gong: These are slow moving exercises that build up you energy, or qi. I won’t go into the details about qi now (I’ve written about qi before),  but qi gives us energy to fight off colds.  Through breathing and focus, you can actually improve you energy.  It is best to find a class in your area.  Check back next week when I talk about a basic exercise for you qi.
Now, go out and build your immunity.  Good health to you all!

Prevent a cold with Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, and other Tricks is a post from:

I think this changing weather does not allow your body and your energy to adjust.  So your immune system is unprepared for the bugs.

There are things you can do to prepare.  Don’t get caught without knowing what to do when you have early signs of a cold.

What to do when you start feeling sick

1. Gargling with salt water:  We all know that salt has long been used as a preservative for food.  This is because it prevents the spread of bacteria by dehydrating them. We can do the same in your your body.  If you feel a tickle in your throat or a sore, fight off that early infection by gargling twice a day. Gargling with salt water is also great way to fight off early infections in your throat and prevent a cold before it happens.  I recommend using kosher salt, which is very affordable, because it doesn’t have any additives that normal table salt does.

2. Ginger tea after a cold rain: After you get caught in a cold rain, we know it is easy to get sick- you get a headache, sniffles, a sore neck, and your body gets achy.  Fresh ginger tea is an ancient remedy from Chinese medicine to beat this oncoming cold. A cup is a great way to warm up and give you system a boost to fight off that cold.

3. Soup with fermented soybeans and scallions:  An ancient Chinese medicine recipe for early stage colds is a soup of scallions and fermented soy beans with noodles.  It works because it combines aromatic vegetables and helps you sweat it out.  For those of us not living near Chinatown, fermented soybeans may be hard to come by, so you can substitute other aromatic foods, like miso, garlic, and basil.  Use vegetable or chicken stock as a base.

4.  Acupuncture: Acupuncture helps boost your immune system to get rid of that pesky cold that won’t go away.  Yes, of course I am going to acupuncture, I love acupuncture, it is my passion, and it is my job.  But it also stands up to modern research. So if you have a cold that you can’t kick, go see your acupuncturist.

5. Chinese herbs:  Chinese herbs can work by both boosting your immunity and through anti-viral and anti-biotic properties.  Of course, I love and am passionate about Chinese herbs too.  They are very powerful to stop the common colds and flus when they happen.  In fact, on of the first books of Chinese medicine, called Shang Han Lun, or in English On Cold Damage in Chinese, focuses on how to treat colds and other infectious diseases.  So if you have a cold that you cannot kick, see your acupuncturist or Chinese medicine doctor for some herbs.

Now you know ways to treat a cold when you have it.  Check back in next week to see how to prevent a cold.

How to Kick your Cold is a post from: