Originally published February 7 2006
Building up natural immunity with vitamins and herbs can help fight off the flu
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Japan Times provides information about how to build up your flu and cold immunity with special herbs and supplements, including zinc, vitamin C, echinacea and garlic.
As the temperature dips lower in January and February we often encounter an expected but not exactly welcome house guest -- the winter cold, or the even more demanding and obnoxious visitor, the flu.
These viruses evolve and mutate from one season to the next, which is why it's impossible to develop a single vaccine effective against them all.
Over-the-counter medications can't prevent the common cold or flu either.
Thankfully, there are natural ways to strengthen your immune system and shorten a cold's duration and severity.
Echinacea Echinacea, or purple coneflower, has been used by Native American Indians for hundreds of years.
It lost its popularity with the arrival of antibiotics, which, ironically, only work against infections caused by bacteria -- viruses, not bacteria, cause the common cold.
Echinacea increases the "nonspecific" activity of the immune system; unlike a vaccine, which is active against a specific disease, echinacea stimulates the overall activity of the cells responsible for fighting all kinds of infections.
Echinacea purpurea has the best supporting evidence for effectiveness in treating colds and flus.
Vitamin C Everyone's need for vitamin C goes up dramatically when you get a cold.
Zinc If vitamin C is the "super immunity" vitamin, then zinc may just be the super immunity mineral.
Ginseng For 5,000 years Asians have revered ginseng as a longevity tonic.
An extract of ginseng was given to people who usually suffered colds, and it resulted in significantly less colds, with less severe symptoms, than the placebo group.
Andrographis Andrographis (Andrographis paniculata) is a shrub found throughout India and other Asian countries.
Oscillococcinum Many people swear by the homeopathic remedy "oscillococcinum" for the flu.
Sleep and de-stress Colds and flus strike when people are under stress, overworked or sleep deprived.
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