Why Cold Medicine Doesn't Help Much...

By Ralitsa Vatova

We've all had that feeling when we sneeze for the first time, and we know that we are going to be sick. My usual reaction is to run to the pharmacy and buy cough syrup, an acetaminophen hot drink, and something for my throat. And then I take the first dose of medicine. When I wake up in the morning my throat still hurts, my nose is still stuffy. So what happened? Probably I waited for too long to start taking medicine. Yes, I blame myself, and I keep up with all my meds. Next morning I wake up and I am still congested. What do I do now? OK, I haven't been taking care of myself well, so I go to the pharmacy again, and I buy more stuff. I come home and I am excited that I am taking good care of myself. Next morning things are the same if not worse, and the cold stays like this for 3-7 days, regardless of what I do.

I believe you have been there as well, and you have asked yourself the same questions: Why am I not getting better faster, and why aren't my symptoms going away? The answer is simpler than we can imagine. We all have an immune system. Its main job is to fight all the allergens, viruses, bacteria, infections, and anything else that may get us sick. Our immune system is like a call center customer service representative. The rep takes a phone call, fixes a problem, then gets another call, and so on. If there is no supervisor to see that the rep hasn't gotten a break for hours, and to give the rep a break, the representative becomes fatigued, and can no longer perform well. At some point the representative snaps, and insults a customer. The human immune system is like the overworked representative. If the human doesn't notice, the immune system gives up at some point. Getting sick is the immune system's message to us that it can no longer fight all the attacks it gets. There is another secret. By getting us sick the immune system sends a message to the brain that it needs help, so the body starts producing more white blood cells. It takes time, so that is why we get better after a few days pass.

Now that we know that our immune system is sending us a message by getting us sick, what should we do about it? The easiest way to help ourselves not to get sick is to make sure our immune system doesn't get overworked. Stress is the main factor for a weakened immune system. I say "we must reduce stress", even though it is easier said than done. But still, next time when you get pissed off remember this stress actually puts more workload on your immune system. Once we calm down, our immune system relaxes too, and consequently fails us. It doesn't want to go back to the stress so it uses its own tools. Remember that one vacation you got after four years of hard work? Yes, you do. You got sick on day one, and stayed on the beach for five days with a runny nose.

Our immune system is like us; it needs to be nourished in order to keep up. Remember that representative who didn't get a break? Without a break there was no food either, so the rep was getting more and more "h-angry". Nutrition is a key element of good health. Foods that lack actual nutrition do not feed your body, they just fill your stomach. Raw is always better than processed. I still remember that biology lesson about "producent reducent consument" (I learnt it with these words). "Producents" give the most nutrition of all. Vegetables, fruits, plants, grains, nuts, and almost anything that grows in soil is a producent. "Reducents" are the second most nutritious products: milk, eggs, meat, cheese, or anything that comes from animals. "Consuments" are the least nutritious of all. Basically all fungi are consuments, they give pretty much no nutritious value. So what should we do? If we eat healthy food full of energy, we will maintain a strong immune system.

There are many other things we can do to help our body, such as eating garlic, honey, lemons, drinking herbal tea, coffee, cocoa, etc., because these foods and drinks are rich in antioxidants, and are known to help and support better health. Even good alcohol in small amounts is of help to the body. Keep in mind that heavy alcohol consumption actually weakens your immune system; here I am talking about a shot a day, or a glass of wine a day!

With all that said, if we improve the way we live and feed ourselves, we may be nicely surprised that we do not get sick. So grab that asparagus, and start enjoying the taste of it. Just joking! But seriously, chips and soda bring zero nutrition to your body, so please, at least try to eat an apple in addition to that carb fest.

#cold #flu #medicine #sick #healthy #food #stress #immunesystem