Everyone knows what is feels like to start coming down with a cold. Symptoms like a tickle in your throat, a dull headache or just a slight feeling of not being well is usually where it all begins.

If you don’t fight these early symptoms swiftly then your health can go downhill very quickly and what you thought was just a cold could turn into something severe.

We have put together some ways to best fight a cold, shortening its duration and severity and hopefully allow you to beat the common cold at the early stages.

Supplement Smart

Evidence suggests that consuming nutritional supplements when your cold in the early stages can shorten the duration and reduce its severity. These supplements include vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea.

• Vitamin C: When a person takes large doses of vitamin c at the early stages of a cold then it is proven that this essential antioxidant vitamin will reduce the length of a cold. According to the NIH, there is evidence that shows by consuming one to three grams of vitamin C daily can reduce the length of a cold by 1 to 1.5 days.
• Zinc lozenges: A zinc lozenges can be effective in reducing the cold severity and the duration of colds when consumed in the first twenty-four hours of the onset of symptoms.
• Echinacea: Some evidence shows that taking the herbal supplement echinacea is effective at fighting off colds when taken in the early stages.

Stay Warm

Rug up and stay warm at the start of a cold. Your body generates heat to fight off the virus which is called a fever. The fever doesn’t allow for the bug that is in your body to thrive or propagate. To help your body fight the cold it is a great idea to stay warm at the beginning of a cold.

Eat (and Drink) Up

Keeping your fluids up and eating healthy food will help your body fight a cold. Trying to consume a large amount of fluids, calories, protein, vitamins, and antioxidants will offer your immune system the defenses it needs to keep fighting off the cold. There are foods that are especially great at fighting a cold which are:

• Spicy foods
• Fluids in general
• Protein-rich foods
• Chicken soup
• Green tea

Rest Up

This sounds easy enough but many people don’t give their bodies the rest it needs to recover from a cold. Having plenty of sleep, not drinking alcohol, alleviating stress not doing anything strenuous will help your body recover quickly from a cold.

Treat Your Symptoms

There are some things you can do that may not necessarily make you recover from your cold quicker but make your cold less of a pain. These actions will make your cold tolerable.

• Saline sprays
• Steam

• Saltwater gargle

   

• OTC meds

Prevent the next one

Now you have the tools to best fight off a cold now we can share with you the best ways to prevent one from attacking you.

• Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose.
• Avoid excessive stress – running yourself ragged, for example, by working late every day and taking on more responsibilities than you can comfortably handle, suppresses your immune system and almost guarantees that you will get sick.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Wash your hands regularly – 80 percent of diseases are transmitted by touch.
• Protect your immune system with good nutrition, adequate sleep, and regular exercise.