Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly wish that this post was a ‘how to guide’ to curing the common cold but it ain’t. As someone who is regularly in the firing line for the next instalment of the nursery plague, I wish I had those answers myself.
However, I can advise you on the natural ways you can protect your body from the lurgy and natural treatments that will kick it in the bumcheeks as quickly as possible.
You’ve got a raised temperature; you are ball of snot and a coughing mess. What can you do?
Declare war on inflammation
Illness causes inflammation, something which I will hark on about A LOT. The best way to stop or reduce inflammation is to follow an anti-inflammatory diet which I will cover at a later date. The truth is, you are poorly now, you are full of snot, coughing and generally a gross human being, so we want to know what we can do here and now to feel some ounce of human once again. Below I’ll discuss some of the effects of inflammation on the body, when experiencing the common cold.
Fever – support, not suppress.
A fever is the body’s natural immune response in action. The body knocks up its temperature to make the environment unfavourable for the nasty germs, in attempt to kill them right off. That being said, if my little one’s have a fever, I would probably Calpol them, but there are ways to help support the body’s immune function without paracetamol/ibuprofen or any over-the-counter funsies. We need to enhance the immune system using vitamins, herbs, and homeopathy to support it’s self-healing mechanism (watch out, hippie on the loose!). It’s true that illness will pass much more quickly if you don’t interfere with a fever, however that being said, high grade fevers must be taken seriously and medical attention sought if beyond the parameters of a ‘mild fever.’
Herbal teas such as peppermint, chamomile and ginger have soothing properties that can help a fever. Ginger especially is a great addition to your cold and flu remedy arsenal.
Other helpful tips to support (and survive) your fever are:
- Taking a bath in lukewarm water will make you feel cooler.
- Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water.
- Eating immune boosting foods.
- Wearing loose light clothes.
Eating right
Firstly, as much as carbs are the path to happiness for most of us, try not to reach for the beige goods. Chips, crisps, white bread, a cheeky Maccies or a sharebox of flipping chicken nuggets (drools) isn’t going to be your friend. 70% of our immune system is in our Gastrointestinal tract (digestive system) so feeding it full of crap will not help. Trust me, I’ve been there my friend. You need to be filling your tum full of nutrient dense foods that are going to give you the very best chance to kick this cold in the butt.
What should I eat?!
Eating clean, raw, organic, whole foods is best regardless of whether you are poorly or not and is something I will cover on another blog. As a general rule, processed foods, highly refined, sugary, salty foods and dairy are a sure way to cause inflammation in the body.
Foods rich in vitamin C and Zinc will boost the body’s immune function as well as a cheeky bit of vitamin D3. I take my D3 in supplement form, because winter sunshine is not our friend in the UK.
Make the gut bacteria happy!
We need happy gut bacteria in our tummies if we are going to stand a chance at fighting off illness. Probiotic and prebiotic foods really are the shizz for this.
Probiotic foods – contain beneficial bacteria (probiotics)
Prebiotic foods – feed the probiotics
Prebiotics include garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions and oats. I wouldn’t recommend all of those together though – I’d personally go for a nice bowl of porridge (prebiotic) with a big ol dollop of Greek yoghurt (probiotic) mixed in. Job done. If you really want top marks chuck in some raw Vitamin C rich fruits such as blackcurrants or kiwis (raw is important so it doesn’t mess with the nutrient value of the food) and a sprinkling of some zinc packed chia seeds or pumpkin seeds give you a blooming great immune boosting breakfast for the morning.
Move that body!
I’m sorry to say but exercise really is the best medicine. Support the body’s immune response. In fact, exercise needs to be a staple in our every day lives.
Getting your body moving engages the immune system, it gets it working. If you haven’t heard of the lymphatic system – look it up. The best way to get it going is to MOVE.
I know you don’t feel like it… you and the chicken nuggets just want to be left alone with a box set of Bridgerton but trust me, a little work out will do you good.
I am currently pushing through the Joe Wicks body coach plan. High intensity workouts aren’t for the faint hearted, but they are over in a flash and weirdly, after that, that left nostril that has been blocked all day has unblocked and I feel a bit better!
Here’s a link to Joe – he’s the only workout I’ve managed to maintain within my own busy schedule and he also offers nice short sessions for when I REALLY don’t have the time. It doesn’t really matter what your preferred method of exercise ism walking, running, swimming, HIIT, space hopper bouncing down the road – just move.
We’ve got to deal with stress.
Chronic stress suppresses the immune system. You know all the insta reels that are banging on about cortisol levels being high and screwing with us when we want to lose weight. It’s true. If you are in a state of stress, this cortisol is creating a body response which suppresses the immune system. I’m going back to GCSE human biology here, but have you heard of the fight or flight response? Well that’s your body in stress – it’s the body saying ‘something is causing me danger and I might have to flipping leg it’ (I mean, it’s probably having kids that is doing it but we can discuss that later…)
We need to find your inner calm and put your body in ‘rest and digest’ mode – (the parasympathic nervous system) not fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system). Go for a walk, curl up with a good book, have a nice warm bath before bed – try and ease some of that tension so we can fight these germs!
Sleep
I’m going to write a great bit fat article about sleep. It’s SO important to get your 7-8 hours undisturbed sleep per night. It’s nails when you have small children and it’s taken me 4 years to get to a point where 80% of the time I can get 7-8 hours sleep without being woken up, but we have to make it happen – or at least built the foundations of better sleep hygiene so we reach the desired sleep destination.
Your body undertakes the most amazing processes when you sleep – and that includes its ability to fight illness. Trust the process and rest as much as you can.
Oh wait, what’s that? You are trying to get the sleep but you can’t stop coughing. Girl, I’ve got you.
Cough cough cough cough….
Personally, I would avoid cough medicine – full of random rubbish and they don’t really work. The only thing that seems to ease my cough is a hot honey and lemon. I have a nice hot cup of this before I go to sleep.
Honey is anti-bacterial – great to rough up those nasty germs in your mouth and throat, and it’s anti-inflammatory.
Lemon is high in immune boosting vitamin C and can reduce inflammation.
Also secret option 3 – add turmeric, ginger and a bit of black pepper (black pepper helps with the absorption of turmeric in the body) into your hot honey and lemon…
Let’s all bow down to turmeric and ginger…
Both turmeric and ginger have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Turmeric contains vitamins and minerals and can help with circulation. Get that shit in your diet: curry, seasoning on your chicken – I don’t really care how. I take mine in supplement form every day and when I have a swollen throat with coughing, I take some more of those than reaching for the ibuprofen to reduce the swelling in my throat.
Herbs you say?
Echinacea. Echinacea. Echinacea.
Take that shit as soon as you have a tickle in your tonsils. Its anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, an antioxidant, it supports the immune system, it supports would healing, its may offer pain relief, it has anti-carcinogenic properties and is anti-fungal.
Taking this will cut your illness time down. Honestly, even with Covid I found that I was only bedraggled for a day or 2 and then back to an acceptable level of parenting in no time at all.
Honestly, there is so much more I could add, but with fear of overloading you. So here I summarise my top tips for fighting off a cold and cough.
- Support your fever
- Keep hydrated
- Eat right, include immune boosting foods, anti-inflammatory foods and feed the beneficial gut bacteria
- Move the body
- Reduce stress
- Get enough sleep and rest
- Sooth a cough with hot honey and lemon before bed
- Take echinacea as soon as possible to try and reduce illness time
There will be more to add, but that will do us for now.
Here’s to surviving another round of the nursery plague,
Tiff out. x
Fresh Perspective health coaching 
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