Preventing Colds, Coughs, 'Flu, Influenza ...

Most people are careless about a "cold". But Influenza can actually kill you! So take care!

On the other hand, colds can be EASILY avoided (I have escaped colds for some 43 years by taking the following SIMPLE steps).

1. At the VERY FIRST sign of a cold (sneeze, cough, "feeling chilly"), IMMEDIATELY do as many of the following as possible:
- wear as many warm clothes as possible, particularly make sure that
every part of your body that is feeling cold is kept warm: cover your
head, wear a scarf, put on an extra sweater...
- lie down for as long as possible (even 10 minutes!)
- drink as much as possible - ANYTHING will help, but preferably as hot as
tolerable, and preferably lemon or lime (nimboo paani), honey, tahini, Vitamin C, ginger tea (or Masala Chai or boiled water poured over very finely sliced fresh ginger root OR over a very small quantity of Carraway Seed or even fresh Thyme), and the Indian
preparation called "rasam" (available at most South Indian restaurants)is excellent!
- eat as much as possible of whatever you like, but the following are the
most helpful and can be taken in any shape or form and in any
combination: sesame seed (but if possible the brown variety which you get from Asian shops, rather than the "white" variety which you get from most "normal European" shops), garlic, honey, lemon, ginger (Migros' Chinese Section has sweet Crystallised Ginger - Indian shops have this too)

2. Till you are sure that you have COMPLETELY got rid of the threat of a cold/'flu, continue the attack on the cold/'flu by keeping your whole body as warm as possible:
- keep yourself as warmly clothed as possible (specially those parts that
are affected - e.g. throat or head)
- take as much rest as possible
- every half hour, drink something hot (even a few sips if you dislike drinking so often!)
- make sure you are eating the key things above as much and as often as possible.

3. IF you start SWEATING, this is an excellent sign, but be careful: do not suddenly throw off your clothes - your body may cool down too quickly and your cold may actually get worse! So take off one layer of clothes at a time and make sure that you cool down gradually.

The "formula" above is a TRADITIONAL INDIAN one. Regretfully, too few Indians know it now...so they too run after expensive chemicals instead, and these are (in my experience) anyway much less effective than the traditional remedy. The only exception that I have found is the UK's "Fishermen's Friend" products which are aimed at sore throats rather than the 'Flu in general - though these are too strong for some people, they are certainly worth trying if your throat is suffering.

Keep Healthy!