Wellness Articles
Five fabulous ways to bust that cold out of your body
From the Capital News – Friday, November 22, 2002By Val Berenyi, Capital News Contributor
You’re feeling terrible and, to your horror, realize you have the draded cold virus. Here, courtesy of sister and brother Chantelle and Jeoff Drobot, naturopaths at the Integrative Health Centre in Calgary, are five simple ways to get over a cold and back on the road to health:
Drown your sorrows: Drink up but make sure it’s the right stuff. The only flud that will do is water. Not coffee, not ginger ale, not even orange juice. Your body is in the process of trying to move the cold out, hence the water-works, gushing from your nose. Water helps flush out the virus causing the discomfort sot he more support your body has in the moving process, the faster you’ll be back in action.
Warming socks: Formally called “wet socks,” this simple exercise will convert even the most cynical of dis-believers. Warm your feet in a nice bath before bed. Then take a pair of thin cotton socks and run them under cold water. Wring out the sock and put them on. (This is a lot less uncomfortable than it sounds as your hot feet will enjoy the contrast in temperature.) Pull a pair of wool sock over top of the damp socks. Throw yourself into bed.
While you sleep, the cool socks will encourage the blood vessels in your feet to open up, creating a vacuum-like effect which will pull the congestion out of your head and into the system where it can be moved out. You’ll sleep soundly and wake up with warm feet and a clear head.
Take a body break: Everyone is advised to rest when they are feeling under the weather, but no one heeds it until the body ensures you simply can not get up.
When a cold hits, the body is trying to mobilize forces to attack the virus that sent you for a tumble. This takes quite a bit of effort so give your body a break and take the day off. The immune system does a spectacular job provided it’s allowed to do so. Continuing with your busy schedule quashes its efforts and results in your cold lasting for a month instead of a few days.
Scrap the sweets: Sugar decreases the effectiveness of the immune system for as long as five hours. Given that your immune system is your main defence against a cold bug, this can prove detrimental to recovery.
Candies, ginger ale and even fruit juice contain quite a bit of sugar and, although you are feeling the need for a little sweetness, do your best to refrain. Whole foods and herbal teas or water are much better allies for your struggling, yet valiant, immune cells.
Pump it out: Once a virus has been detected by your immune system, it’s analogous to a car crash on the floating bridge. Not only is all the regular traffic (everything that normally moves around in your bloodstream) trying to get through, but emergency vehicles to the site (your immune cells) jam things up even more.
Alternating hot and cold compresses gets immune cells in and out of the congested area more efficiently. Take a hot facecloth and apply it to the congested area for three minutes, then replace it with a cold facecloth for 30 seconds.
Repeat this cycle three times, It encourages your blood vessels to open and close, literally pumping the immune cells in and out of the area. Good-bye congestion, hello relief.
Too bad traffic can’t be that efficient.