Best cold prevention remedy/potion?

[Mistman]

Search Elderberry.

The last few years I gather the berries and my wife makes 'medicine' to distribute amongst the tribe. This year I gathered enough berries to make 5 gallons of juice. We also make elderberry jelly and syrup. Once you've gone elderberry nothing else quite hits the mark. This year we are going to start propagating more on our property so I don't have to scour the woods as much, there are only 3 good bushes/trees on my place. Have lots of red elderberries but only 3 good blue ones so far. Our older daughter gave my wife a bunch of starts she got on-line for x-mas, waiting for the weather to turn so we can put them in the ground.

I'm sort of on an elderberry kick if you haven't figured it out yet One of God's more thoughtful gifts.

 

[Hop Sing]

Search Elderberry.

The last few years I gather the berries and my wife makes 'medicine' to distribute amongst the tribe. This year I gathered enough berries to make 5 gallons of juice. We also make elderberry jelly and syrup. Once you've gone elderberry nothing else quite hits the mark. This year we are going to start propagating more on our property so I don't have to scour the woods as much, there are only 3 good bushes/trees on my place. Have lots of red elderberries but only 3 good blue ones so far. Our older daughter gave my wife a bunch of starts she got on-line for x-mas, waiting for the weather to turn so we can put them in the ground.

I'm sort of on an elderberry kick if you haven't figured it out yet One of God's more thoughtful gifts.

We swear by elderberry extract and always have three bottles in the house. Tastes great too!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Choad leaches is where it's at.

 

[jbett98]

About once a week I get a call to drive a couple of miles from my home to repair something damaged in a large daycare center.
There's always a warning taped to the entrance door about some contagion or another infecting the kids inside.
Pink eye, head lice, ring worm, foot & mouth, you name it.
Anymore I've started to gown up like I'm entering a surgical room just to fix a broken toilet.
I raise my hourly rates depending on what's posted.

 

[albin25]

There are more than 100 different cold viruses so it stands to reason that there is more than one way to try to avoid catching one, and no one way to avoid catching any particular one.
On the bright side....every cold you've ever had, has been added to your body's storehouse of colds that it will be immune from ever catching again..(technically....but, there may be some exceptions, although they will probably be much weaker than the first time)

If you change jobs, re-locate, change schools, etc... you will tend to get more colds until you become immunized to the new (to you) strains found in your new locale.


Can you catch the same cold twice

 

[PNWguy]

Search Elderberry.

The last few years I gather the berries and my wife makes 'medicine' to distribute amongst the tribe. This year I gathered enough berries to make 5 gallons of juice. We also make elderberry jelly and syrup. Once you've gone elderberry nothing else quite hits the mark. This year we are going to start propagating more on our property so I don't have to scour the woods as much, there are only 3 good bushes/trees on my place. Have lots of red elderberries but only 3 good blue ones so far. Our older daughter gave my wife a bunch of starts she got on-line for x-mas, waiting for the weather to turn so we can put them in the ground.

I'm sort of on an elderberry kick if you haven't figured it out yet One of God's more thoughtful gifts.

My grandma used to make elderberry wine...

Down at our cabin in Idaho, there are elderberry trees everywhere. Lots of blackberries and thimbleberries as well.

Nothing ever tasted as good as fresh picked blackberries mashed up with some sugar and poured over some Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream.

 

[Stomper]

Speaking of elderberries...

 

[bolus]

That's not what a cursory internet search revealed...

Conflicting evidence and basically not good enough for me to bother.

Another study (copied from uptodate, a physician online resource)

"Vitamin C is often touted as a natural remedy for the common cold. A 2013 meta-analysis of 29 trials (n = 11,306) showed a small but significant 8 percent reduction in the duration of cold symptoms in adults regularly taking vitamin C supplements (at least 200 mg/day) [30]. This reduction was of uncertain clinical relevance. The meta-analysis also showed that vitamin C given therapeutically after symptom onset did not reduce symptom duration or severity."

8% reduction in a cold that lasts 7 days? That's 12 hours. I'm too lazy to take vitamin c every day to reduce a cold by 12 hours. Taking it at the start of the cold is too late.

"Post-hoc pooled data from 9 of 10 echinacea prevention trials (1167 patients) showed a 10 percent absolute risk reduction in cold incidence, which was statistically significant although of questionable clinical significance."

Again, I'm too lazy to take echinacea for an entire season to lower my risk of 10% at best. Hand washing and not touching the face is more effective.

"Experimental studies have also generally not found that echinacea is effective in preventing URI after challenge with rhinovirus "

Giving echinacea and then purposefully infecting the subject with rhinovirus does not prevent infection.

So that may mean that people who take echinacea to prevent a cold my be a little more fastidious with hand washing?

 

[raindog]

Zinc, vitamin C, etc. - all seems like hogwash to me. Lots of anecdotal evidence ("mom swears by it!") and nothing that stands up to scrutiny.

With those things, at least there's a theory of how it could work. Homeopathy is straight up lunacy. I enjoyed James Randi's talks on homeopathy, where he starts the lecture by drinking an entire bottle of homeopathy sleep medicine (something like 200 doses) and then an hour later he's not even drowsy, much less being rushed to the hospital. Homeopathy = overpriced H2O.

 

[66PonyCar]

I like a hot toddy when I catch a cold. Whiskey, lemon juice, honey, and hot water.

 

[Stomper]

I long for the days of good old-fashioned homemade chicken-noodle soup, just like mom used to make!

 

[pharmseller]

I'm so rich I pay people to get sick for me.

 

[308]

Choad leaches is where it's at.

You put leaches on your choad?

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Thanks for the tip!

I generally just try to avoid other people all together.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I don't know about preventing a cold via treatments or remedies or any other chemicals, but I do know of a hand full of things that help lessen the effects and duration! a tooth pick dipped in Mint Oil and put it in your mouth and let it sit until the flavor is gone ( Pure, candy grade, non diluted) it's difficult to find and spensive, but this is a case where a little goes a very long way. Alternate is to use raw mint leaf and grind to a pulp in a highball glass, add a chute of sugar cane and a shot or three of good strong Bermuda Rum and sprite or seven up, and heat on low for a few min to emulsify, add a half teaspoon per 4 oz serving of pure lime juice, and let cool and drink! Replete as needed until cold is gone or you no longer care!

Serious safety note here in regards to Pure Mint Oil, Do not ever take more then one small drop per hour, it can stop your heart and cause other nasty side effects! It is that strong!

 

[Kid@Heart]

Liberally apply internal quantities of Maker's Mark on a daily basis.

Since I began this regimen, I have not contracted any form of illness that I cared about.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Liberally apply internal quantities of Maker's Mark on a daily basis.

Since I began this regimen, I have not contracted any form of illness that I cared about.

A-men! Preventive maintenance, if ya pickle yer innards, there is no virus that could survive that!

 

[tourproto]

I am sure it is just "in my head", but I love Airborne. When I start to get a sore throat or stuffy head, I drink three glasses of water with their tablets and never get sick. I am sure it is just some sort of placebo effect, but hey it works...

 

[RicInOR]

Zinc is best if it is dissolved in the mouth. The zinc inhibits the cold virus ability to reproduce. Choose accordingly.

Zinc - Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects

 

[clearconscience]

This stuff works great for flu symptoms