By Martha S. Benedict

As published in Body Mind Spirit, Feb/March, 1995

If you feel chilled or have a hard time breaking a sweat, make your hot tea, take a hot bath or shower, dress very warmly, hop into bed and drink your tea until you sweat. Afterwards you'll probably feel drowsy and fall asleep. Upon awakening, you will feel much better.

For fevers (which are part of the solution, nor the problem), keep the lower two-thirds of your body very warm. This helps keep the head/brain relatively cool. My favorite remedy is to use hot-water bottles on feet and stomach, thus allowing thermal circulation to enhance the blood's ability to carry off toxic waste of inflammation and infection. Heating pads are useful, but hot-water bottles are safer and do a better job. Some people use enemas, especially for children who have high fevers or ear infections. My experience is that an enema will drop a fever one to two degrees in 30 minutes and ensure a good night's sleep for both child and parents.

Soups and gruels are also very good to eat when you are catching cold, but only if you are hungry. Try vegetable, chicken, or barley soup broth. Ingredients to include are: onions, garlic, barley, rice, mushrooms, grains, leeks, scallions, and pastina (even egg drop as you begin to recover). Applesauce with cinnamon is often appealing to the cold sufferer.

VITAMINS AND HERBS

Vitamin C is a must. I prefer a degraded form that bypasses the digestive system, doesn't irritate the kidneys and stays in the bloodstream four days (plain, chemically-derived vitamin C stays about four hours).

Lactobacillus acidophilis in generous quantities is a MUST. I used to recommend any kind of brand. However, recently researchers have examined many different brands and found some to be missing the claimed L. acidophilis ingredient. Therefore, ask your supplier for a lot of substantiation before purchasing. General speaking the brands that cost more than the others, are refrigerated, and claim they have billions of bacilli present are the best ones.

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