I have a cold again #$@! What are some natural remedies I can try to boost my immune system?

Question

I have been majorly stressed and depressed for awhile now(over a year), and probably has caused me to get sick every 3-4 months on average, where I have never gotten this sick so often before. I'm ready to try a natural approach, something like a drink that I would take everyday.

Answer 1

To me,taking garlic is the best thing to prevent yourself from getting colds.

Eating raw garlic if you can stomach it, is much better then taking garlic in capsule form and you can eat some parsley after because of the garlic odour.

If you cant eat raw garlic then look for a supplement like Allimax which has a high Allicin content.

Also,avoiding stress(maybe easier said then done) would be beneficial if you can possibly do it.

Also get lots of sunshine (but without overdoing it) whenever the sun is out whereever in the world your from.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11697022?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=8

Answer 2

Is the hole in his heart something he was born with? If the problem is bacterial not viral then antibiotics would be the thing to use. I understand that you don't like to use drugs and would prefer to use natural remedies, however, it may be that the colds are not fully going away, they are just subsiding, then flaring up again. This back and forth illness is not good for healing. You also said that your kitty does not do well with antibiotics. Have antibiotics been tried, and bagheera had a bad reaction to them? If so, another antibiotic could be tried that may work better for your kitty. Again, I do understand you do not want to use drugs, but in this situation I think that trying to go the alternative is going to cost you much more in the long run, meaning that your kitty's health is suffering each time he gets another cold - it takes his body's healing efforts away from healing the hole in his heart.

Answer 3

Firstly, Gary and Rhianna have given you very sensible answers already. OnlyMatch4u has blathered on for many many paragraphs without really saying anything substantive. Don't be fooled by smoke and mirrors, he doesn't actually have a clue about the immune system.



I would support the other answers that by being "majorly stressed and depressed" could have an impact on your susceptibility to illness. You might want to focus on the cause a bit more.



Also....getting sick 3-4 times a year is about average for most people, so I'm not sure what you mean by "never gotten this sick so often before". Viruses are ubiquitious and we are constantly being exposed to them...without a functioning immune system we would all be sick and dying all the time.



Another possibility to consider however, is allergies. Whenever I hear a story of a person who "always has a cold", that makes me suspect there is something else going on, and you should maybe talk to your doctor about that.



There really is no such thing as a food or supplement that "boosts" the immune system. That is a meaningless phrase as others have pointed out. Everything you eat and drink contributes to a healthy immune system, there are no magic foods. Regular exercise, avoid smoking, wash your hands, get enough sleep, deal with your stress and eat a balanced diet from all food groups with an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Answer 4

I'm going to give you a list of over the counter meds and some natural home remedies for cold symptoms.



But you hit it on the head. You're stressed and depressed. You need to also address that issue to boost your immunity. I use a homeopathic remedy for anxiety and insomnia and it is amazing. I take 1 or 2 for nerves and 3 to sleep. It's so safe even babies can use it. It's not expensive and it doesn't make you feel "hung over."



Here are two sites for homeopathic natural remedies I like for myself:

www.calmsforte.com/home

www.hylands.com (the maker of Calms Forte)

www.rescueremedy.com



COLD REMEDIES:



take a sinus decongestant containing Phenylephrine 5mg. you don't necessarily need all the extras it's often mixed with.

but if you want some extras, here you go: Guaifenisen (Mucinex is the brand name, but it's way cheaper at dollar stores. always read ingredients!!) liquefies your mucus so it's much easier to expel. But you have to drink TONS of water or it won't work, and you must be near a bathroom because it makes you pee a lot.

Ibuprofen is an excellent anti-inflammatory, but it's strong, so alternate it with Acetaminophen as needed for pain, pressure, and headaches.



first your sinuses get inflamed, then you get post-nasal drip going down your throat and it aggravates your throat. it hurts to swallow because your glands swell when they have to help fight infections. it's a lousy feeling, i know!



ESSENTIALS:



stay home. (even one day can make a difference. plus, you'll keep your germs to yourself.)

sleep. (bolsters up your immune system)

drink plenty of water. (pee out those germs and flush 'em away!!)

take vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea. (also strengthen the immune system)

eat too much garlic. (sorry, but it really is great for your health! and it will give you a good reason to stay home. :) )



avoid milk and chocolate. dairy foods will thicken your mucus and make your fight that much harder.



the meds and garlic are harsh, so don't take them on an empty stomach. i hope you allow yourself some time to feel better soon! take care.



also i just learned a new tip from JOHN POPPER of BLUES TRAVELER: very hot water, cayenne pepper, white vinegar, and honey. GROSS!!! he gargles it and spits up all kinds of nasty crap. might be worth a shot, but don't hurt your vocals! to be safe maybe just do hot water with lemon and honey. that works too, and it's much more pleasant.

Answer 5

vitamin c rich foods an juice, stress can take a toll on your immune system so get some rest an have a few friends over i'm sure that will make you feel better. good luck hope you feel better soon an happy holiday! XD

Answer 6

My oh my - look how they flocked to tell you that nature has no answer for you. Do YOU really believe that? After all, mankind has only been using nature for nourishment and healing ever since we began putting down footsteps in the sands of time. If nature did not boost the immune system or have any effect, you should be perfectly healthy just drinking water.



The immune system is your natural first line of defense against infection and illness. People with strong immune systems get sick less often than those with compromised immune. That is not only a proven fact, it is simple common sense. Otherwise, what purpose does an immune system serve, pray tell?



No such thing as boosting the immune system? I guess that explains why maimstream medicine has patented immune stimulators. Will those who deny nature tell you those are worthless too? Or would they tell you that all the vaccines to boost the immune system by producing antibodies against specific diseases are also worthless? I don't think so.



If you can get all the nutrients you need from diet alone, why is it that 90-95% of us are deficient in magnesium - a vital mineral for many areas of health, including the immune system. And that is just one single nutrient. If it still is possible to get all the nutrients you want in today's over-farmed mineral depleted soils and processed foods, it surely is not working for the vast majority of people is it?



I apologize for what you have had to experience here. You came to the Alternative Medicine section and simply asked for natural ways to boost your immune system. Instead of getting answers to your question, you got an avalanche of blather attacking nature. It is an unfortunate pattern we see over and over and demonstrates the lengths that some people will go to in order to put down any alternative to mainstream medicine.



To answer your question appropriately, here are some of the very best natural immune boosters:



• Echinacea (Forget the flawed mainstream studies!)

• Pau d’arco

• Suma

• Astragalus

• Medicinal mushrooms

• Beta glucans

• Aloe vera

• Alkygycerol

• Lactoferrin

• Bovine colostrums

• Glutathione

• Mangosteen



Some of the best anti-virals which will also boost your immune system:



• Garlic

• Olive leaf extract

• Oil of wild mountain oregano

• Grapefruit seed extract



Other recommendations:



Vitamin C helps prepare the body for an aggressive attack of influenza of any type. If vitamin C levels are low, the body will be more vulnerable to complications. Also, an attack of the flu will lower already dangerously depleted vitamin C levels. Whole food vitamin C is often better tolerated than pure ascorbic acid in addition to the fact that whole food vitamin C comes with the necessary supporting compounds that are missing in simple ascorbic acid.



Magnesium (again), curcumin and blackseed oil (Nigella sativa) are all potent immune modulators, which will keep your immune system operating optimally and which, along with the natural anti-virals, could be important in the event of an influeza which we do not have any natural anti-bodies for (such as the H1N1 flu, which contains strains of avain and swine flu).



Just remember, no matter how many gang up to post their denials and vote against those who honestly answered your question, no one has ever gotten ill from a deficiency in unnatural drugs.



All the best!

Answer 7

Hey



Try some hot black tea(with no milk) with ginger and lemon in it. Also try getting a bucket(or just use your sink lol) of hot steaming water, and put your face over it so that the steam can unblock you nose and get to your head, and that will relieve your headache. Rub vix onto your head...that will relieve you headache as well. Also wet a cloth with REALLY cold water and put that on your forehead...that will make you feel heaps better. if you have paracetomol, take that every 4 hours.

Also take alot of fluid like water and juice.



Hope this helps!

xx

Get well soon

Answer 8

You can't boost your immune system, that's a lie designed to make money for peddlers of nonsense. One key to keeping yourself from getting sick that simple is to keep yourself well hydrated. When you get dehydrated your mucus membranes dry out and can't trap microbes as well and you are more likely to get sick. This is actually the real reason that we get sick on airplanes a lot, not the recirculated air.



Also, "stuff made up for your blog" doesn't qualify as "advanced nutritional research" so you should ignore Onlymatch4u.

Answer 9

Good grief! Someone can't manage basic human biology or chemistry. We can tell when you're lying about your qualifications you know?



"Staying away from buying things like ascorbic acid that some call vitamin C will help you as well. That depletes your body of nutrients trying to compliment the true vitamin C complex."



lol! Vitamin C is vitamin C, wherever you get your ascorbic acid from it is the same thing. There's so much wrong with that guy's grasp of reality I really don't know where to start.



Ignore him.

Answer 10

You can't just 'boost' your immune system, it doesn't work that way. "Boost your immune system' is a marketing gimmick only. The immune system is not like a muscle that you can just make bigger and stronger. It is an extremely complex series of interactions. Also, you can't build immunity to a pathogen until you have been infected by it.



If you are otherwise healthy, but perhaps don't look after yourself, are overworked, stressed etc, then yes you can improve your immune 'function' to its optimal baseline by making the appropriate changes, but you cannot make it function any better than that.



A normal, healthy balanced diet, a healthy lifestyle with plenty of exercise and rest, will provide the immune system with all the 'boosting' it needs.



When you see something advertised that proclaims to "boost the immune system" it's clear that you have a scam on your hands.



To avoid colds, avoid crowds and sick people, and wash your hands frequently.



I would seriously suggest you get a check up from a GP.





EDIT: onlymatch4u - No, a vaccine is not an 'immune system boost'.



Five questions for you, If you can't provide decent answers for them, then I don't want to hear your immune system boost rubbish ever again:



1) What part of the immune system are you "boosting"? The humoral immune system, the cellular immune system, the innate immune system, the adaptive immune system?



2) What is the mechanism of this "boost"?



3) Is the "boost" a general increase in immune activity, or are certain targets of the immune response "boosted" more than others?



4) How is the "boost" regulated?



5) What keeps the "boost" from activating parts of the immune system that are harmful to the host (autoimmunity or hypersensitivity)?





EDIT: onlymatch4u - vaccines cause the development of a specific antibody against whatever you are immunizing against. That is not 'boosting' your immune system. It won't do squat for a cold.



I didn't think you'd answer my questions. Instead I get detox nonsense, another meaningless term outside of the clinical treatment for drug addiction or poisoning.





EDIT: Tony - ok, can YOU answer my five questions?

Answer 11

Herbal immune system supplements and remedies have been used to build immune system health for thousands of years. Natural immune boosters are renowned for their antiviral and anti-bacterial properties, as well as their excellent ability to strengthen and build immune system health.



For a natural immune system booster through an herbal immune system supplement, visit the below cited webpages. Additional Tips:



Eat Plenty of:



* Fruits and leafy vegetables for vitamins A and C

* Wheat germ and fortified cereals for vitamin E

* Fatty fish and vegetable oils for omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids

* Shellfish, low-fat red meat, fortified whole-wheat bread and cereals, and legumes for protein, zinc and iron



Tips to Help Build Immune System Health



* Get enough sleep - Sleep helps maintain a healthy immune system.

* Consume a healthy diet - Fresh fruits, vegetables and whole-grains are natural immune boosters.

* Exercise - Regular exercise helps optimize immune functioning.

* Reduce Stress - Prolonged stress depresses the immune system.

* Avoid smoking and secondhand smoke - Smoke chemicals depress the immune system.

* Reduce germ exposure - Practice good hygiene habits, such as washing your hands often.

* Avoid excessive use of antibacterial soaps - Long-term use contributes to resistant bacteria development.

* Avoid the antibiotic cycle - Explore natural immune boosters and herbal immune system supplements for immune system support.

Answer 12

Water is a drink that you can safely take every day.

Answer 13

Orange Juice

Answer 14

basically, what you gt in your paracetamol or flu medicine is 60& vitamin C and 40% paracetamol/ibruprofen, so eat lots of citrus fruits,eg an orange at breakfast, grapefruit for pudding at dinner. vitamin C is needed to keep your immune system up and to battle away infections

Answer 15

It doesn't work like that. Why are you assuming your immune system needs boosting? This is an altie marketing ploy. We all get up to 7 viruses a year, so that's one every 7 or so weeks. Sometimes we are not even aware we have them.



Providing you are not immunosuppressed through certain drugs or serious illnesses, your immune system is functioning perfectly well. The immune system is a complex combination of proteins and cells. There are antibodies with different subtypes etc, what exactly are you trying to boost and how? B cells, T cells? which one exactly?



Just ensure you are eating a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep and taking regular exercise. The alties think that because vitamins are needed by the body for certain processes, taking more of it will make the body function better. Your body doesn't work like that, it will use what it needs and store or eliminate the rest.



In the last decade, health care workers have been promoting a healthy diet more than ever. The alties have now come up with a new theory (even though there is no evidence to support it), they are claiming it's almost impossible to get all the nutrition you need from your daily diet, they also claim that your immune system has been compromised by vaccines and other 'big pharma' poision....hence the need to use their detoxes, flushes and in some cases buy their books instructing you how to do it.... Apparently eating a balanced diet is quite an art!



wooooooo!



EDIT

And didn't OnlyMatch4u demonstrate my point well?

Answer 16

Red bell peppers and vitamins. May also have something to do with where you are in the world. May be an allergy.

Answer 17

Fish oil and vitamin C.

Answer 18

I see the "medi-nerds" are out in force on this issue. I also notice that they say the immune system needs no boosting, but why then do they claim that vaccines give you immunity? If it doesn't need "boosting," why does a person need more immunity? Isn't that "boosting?"



They keep touting this age old thing about eating a "balanced diet" will give you all the "boost" your body needs. I notice they never tell you what their "balanced diet" consists of, just that it needs to be "balanced." When someone gets dialysis to "clean their kidneys" I'm wondering why they feel the body needs help cleansing the kidneys? Isn't that detoxing the kidneys?



You are on the right tract wanting to resolve your problem by boosting your immune system into high gear. Drugs, vaccines, etc. will only tear down your immune system and make you more vulnerable to getting really sick. All those "cold remedies" do nothing but extend your cold. They are designed to "relieve" symptoms, not cure anything or make you healthy by any means. All junk and they all damage the body.



Natural immunity is by far greatly superior to anything medical science can provide. When you understand the immune system, it is easier to see what to do. It is relatively complex, but there are many things you can do.



The first thing is to look at people that do not get as sick as Americans and realize that in America our health abuse system is atrocious and built around high profit legal drug pushers. Drugs and surgery are their only answers, not building a healthy body with a strong immune system. Also realize that vaccines, like the swine flu vaccine tear down the immune system and even the manufacturers of that garbage tell you that you need to get a "booster" shot 2 months after getting the first shot. It's because it only gives you temporary immunity (if that) and the toxins stay in the body as a result of the toxins being injected directly into the blood stream without going through the natural process where the body can get rid of the toxins naturally.



Vitamin D3 is a very important element that is found in many healthy people around the world that are very resistant to many things Americans get all the time like cancer & the flu. If you have adequate vitamin D3 in your body, your chances of getting cancer and the flu will reduce by over 75%. You can look at statistical records, as I have done, that show people living at the equator rarely get cancer or the flu and their vitamin D3 levels are much greater than the average American. The farther north you go, the more flu and cancer happens.



Vitamin D3 is made in the body as a combination of UVB rays from the sun and cholesterol in the blood. Going out in the sun and getting good exposure stimulates this to happen naturally. The blood carries the cholesterol to the liver where it converts the vitamin d form into another form and then sends it to the kidneys where it becomes vitamin D3 that your body utilizes in so many ways to create good immunity.



Drinking vitamin D milk is one of the worst things you can do, so don't think that will help you build good immunity or those so called "fortified garbage foods" that say, "contains vitamin d and builds immunity" because it does nothing of the kind. Those products contain "chemical activators" not vitamins at all and that garbage damages your DNA.



Building your intestinal flora is another great way to support good immunity. That comprises over 3/4 of your immune system. So eating lots of fermented foods, high quality probiotics, sauerkraut, kefir made from RAW MILK is an excellent thing to do.



Nucleotides are resident in your small intestines in the peyers patches, but any infection in your body will deplete these from your body quickly, so replenishing them will greatly improve your immunity. In fact, if you have an adequate supply of nucleotides, it gives a huge boost to your immunity. These contribute to about 10% of your immunity.



Staying away from buying things like ascorbic acid that some call vitamin C will help you as well. That depletes your body of nutrients trying to compliment the true vitamin C complex. Avoid getting drugs that contain zinc because taking too much zinc will deplete your body of copper that your adrenal glands need. This can cause dehydration of your intestines.



Drink lots of water and keep well hydrated with good electrolytes. Take your total body weight and divide by 2. That is the number of ounces that you need to drink each day. Make sure you get about 1/4 tsp. of air dried sea salt for every 32 ounces of water you drink to give you good electrolytes in your body for proper hydration.



If you drink any diuretic drinks, like sodas, alcohol, commercial fruit juices, tea, coffee, etc., you will have to add more water because these things deplete the water from your body. Take the total amount of these drinks and multiply that by 1.5 and add that quantity to the total.



Then, make sure you get 8 hours of sleep each night.



Doing those things will do more for your immune system that you can every imagine. It will far better than getting vaccines that are simply very bad science, etc.



EDIT: GARY, so you want an education on the immune system i c in a small space we have here, not a chance. However, I want to know if vaccines are not an immune "booster" what do you say they are? What do vaccines do if not boost the immune system? It seems we have a disconnect with your peers because I am constantly told by doctors that vaccines "boost" the immune system.



The humoral immunity is very dependent upon the lymphatic system. If that is not working well, how do you expect it to work? If it gets clogged, doesn't it make sense that it won't get rid of the garbage? So detoxing that system would help the humoral immunity, right? Taking an herb, like devil's claw will really move the lymph. That is a form of detoxing and that will boost that system.



I'm not going to get into a full on discussion to educate you on the problems with "B" cell & "T" cell reciprocation and how the humoral immune system is stifled with drugs, etc. and how allopathic medicines are creating so many problems with the immune system today. You tell me why chronic illnesses are on the massive increase since modern medicine has tried to "fix" the immune system. lol. Since you are so big on finding scams, why don't you expose the Cholesterol myth and the antacid myth that are being promoted by Big Parma today that are damaging people all over the place to the tune of many billions of dollars instead of trying to impress us with your obvious lack of knowledge about the immune system?



good luck to you