Winters & Your Cold
How To Feel Better When You Feel Like Crap~
Being from Michigan and knowing what dark afternoons, early nights, zero-degree weather, no sunshine for days on end and blustery snow look like, we Michiganders have some staples always in the cupboard for staying well in the winter months. Since we are all a bit out of our element these days with the Corona Virus, the Omnicron, tension and anxiety, the flu and all-around not feeling well, perhaps a few simple offerings of health might come in handy. While these handy ‘recipes’ are directly for the common cold, they are good for all-around wellness. Perhaps they will help you with yours. Here goes!
Lemon Water – Orange juice is a well-known home remedy for fighting colds because it’s a good source of Vitamin C. But another theory of thought is that people should drink juices but not fruit juices. Orange juice is considerably high in fruit sugar which actually feeds viruses and weakens our immune systems. Instead, add lemon juice and water (I prefer hot when I don’t feel well) to your daily habits because it lacks high levels of sugar that isn’t good for us. Ever.
Green Smoothies – Another good replacement is a smoothie filled with greens such as spinach and kale (all the rage right now!). In your blender, mix the greens with some ice-cold water and berries, blend it up and you have a healthy, filling alternative to that glass of OJ. And to note – those greens have a high degree of B vitamins, including B-12 and fiber. And that fiber helps your liver to detoxify and assists a person’s metabolism. Speeding wellness on it’s way!
Zinc Tablets – I SWEAR by zinc. I take 50mgs a day and quite simply – I don’t get sick. And while vitamin C is very important to fight colds, zinc is more important. And here’s why. Foods high in zinc are not good for fighting colds. Animal protein is a good source of zinc but when you’re sick, you want to cleanse and keep your body in a state of recuperation and healing. You don’t want to put heavy foods into your system. Personally, I eat very little animal proteins, sticking mainly to fish or chicken, so I feel it’s even more important to take a regular, daily zinc supplement. When you have a cold, you want to cleanse and rebuild your system, not overload it with food products that make it more difficult to recover from your cold.
Herbal Teas – Chamomile, green, herbal, whatever, there are lots of choices of teas that host a variety of herbs that cleanse and with tea, you get a fluid other than just “water”. Some people just don’t want to drink a ton of water (I am one of those people), and there are herbal teas that are specially designed for the immune system. And hot tea when you feel like crap is just plain comforting to your soul.
Salad or Quinoa – So, when I was young, we didn’t have quinoa or much in the way of ‘salad’ in the winter. What we did have were frozen vegetables and Rice & Broth soup (as simple as it sounds). Upon some research regarding this topic, I discovered that salads and quinoa are very highly recommended for cold care. It seems that around the third day of a cold, and after you’ve ingested little but lemon water, smoothies, supplements and maybe some toast for those days, you and your tummy might be hungry. Salad or quinoa are apparently an excellent gateway back into a normal diet right after being down with a cold. Quinoa especially belongs to the philosophy of keeping yourself more “alkaline” than “acidic” which is far healthier in the long run. I will trust the experts on that one. I would also say that some Rice & Broth soup is tremendously beneficial. Easy on the digestive tract, warming in a lovely and kind way, and very, very tasty!
We are all in a state of wanting wellness. For ourselves, our loved ones, and each other. Perhaps this little bit of old-fashioned information will help us all to arrive there.
Be well! Live well! Stay well!
About the Creator
Rachael Hughes
However it might turn out, a story is like an old friend that I haven't met yet. Who among us would like to make a new friend before we know the ending? Curious and lively, finding a moment of joy each day is my song and belief.
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