Cold Comfort

Rather than rely on cold medicines to suppress symptoms, tune up your immune system and help your body heal itself this winter.

By Angela Pirisi

Every one of these immune-system members performs a vital function in protecting the body—and they depend on teamwork to achieve their individual goals. B cells, for example, require T cells to recognize an intruder and then give them the go-ahead to generate the necessary antibodies. Likewise, just as in a real-life military outfit, a hole in the defense line can lead to a losing battle. For example, if lymphocytes are compromised by stress or a nutrient deficiency, everything else down the immune line can also malfunction.

Each of the resulting symptoms we experience has a healing or detoxifying function. Sneezing, for example, keeps the virus up and out of the lungs, while the increase in mucous secretions carries immunoglobulins to wash out toxins. That's why holistic care practitioners counsel people against cold and flu medicines that work by suppressing symptoms, such as decongestants, cough syrups, and antipyretics (acetaminophen). While alleviating temporary discomfort, they inevitably prolong the illness by tampering with the body's process of self-healing.

Cold & Flu Insurance

If you're looking for a way to bolster defenses, natural remedies are a good place to start. Herbal treatments work as immunotonics to help reinforce, balance, and strengthen the immune system. Some herbs prevent infections while others stop an infection or speed recovery.

For example, a regimen of either Siberian ginseng in doses of 500mg three times a day, or 1,000mg daily of the amino acid lysine, can have a general antiviral, tonifying effect that fortifies the immune system. Chinese astragalus root, recently spotlighted in clinical trials, stimulates every phase of immune function. It increases the number of stem cells (the parent cells of all bodily tissues) and helps them develop into active immune cells, significantly enhancing macrophage activity, and consequently reducing the number and duration of colds.

Other more popularized treatments such as echinacea activate T cells and macrophages, improve antibody binding, increase the circulation of white blood cells, and enhance killer T cell activity. Study findings reported by the Herb Research Foundation show that echinacea can even increase phagocytosis (the consumption of invading organisms) by 20 to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, homeopathy, which is based on the principle of "like cures like," features remedies made of super-diluted extractions from plant, animal, or mineral substances.

This treatment relies on the paradox that many substances, when taken full-strength or in a natural form, evoke the very symptoms they allay in a homeopathic dose. (For instance, a homeopathic dose of poison ivy will relieve the itching and burning caused by contact with the plant.) In the homeopathic view, explains Kathleen Fry, M.D., "Some people are more prone to infections because they are said to have a weak vital force, which is prana in Ayurvedic medicine, or chi in traditional Chinese medicine. In such cases, they need a constitutional homeopathic treatment to fortify their immune system." In terms of individual remedies, though, Fry suggests using gelsemium (yellow jasmine) for flu symptoms, "especially if you're achy, anxious, or have weakness," or a homeopathic dose of the otherwise toxic sulfuric acid for a sore throat. Homeopathic colds and flu kits are also available at health food stores.

Page 1 2 3

See All Holistic Healing Articles »