How to Get Rid of a Cold Fast: Natural Cold Remedies That Work

The fastest way to get rid of a cold is to help your immune system finish the job it has already started. Within the first day, begin zinc lozenges, elderberry and hot fluids like chicken bone broth, and give your body extra sleep. A cold usually clears in less than a week, and across 7 trials, zinc lozenges started early shortened colds by about a third.12

That's how to get over a cold fast, and it works because a cold is a virus meeting a run-down immune system. The runny nose, the sore throat, the aches and the low fever are mostly your immune response at work, so you feel lousy because your body is fighting back. The goal is to back that fight up, then fix what wore you down in the first place.118 That's the root-cause approach I teach, and it's why food, rest and prevention sit right alongside the remedies on this page.

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Timing matters too. You're most likely to get sick from late August all the way until March,8 and that stretch runs right through the holidays, with their flights, late nights, crowded rooms, sweets at every gathering and kids carrying colds home from school. Each of those wears your defenses down a little more.81213

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How do you get rid of a cold fast?

Start the moment you suspect a cold is coming, whether someone in your house is getting sick or you feel that first scratch in your throat. You can lessen your symptoms greatly if you catch a cold on the front end rather than the tail end.8 The zinc trials were built around that window, enrolling people within 24 hours of their first symptoms, and when researchers pooled the individual data from three of them, the lozenges helped young and old, with or without allergies, smokers and nonsmokers alike.315

How to stop a cold when you feel it coming on

Here's your day-one kit, and it pays to keep it ready, so you're not hunting for lozenges once you already feel awful. You'll find each remedy's evidence and dose in the ranked list below.

1. Zinc lozenges. Let one dissolve slowly in your mouth every 2 to 3 hours while you're awake.

2. Elderberry or echinacea. Syrup or tincture, several times a day for the first days.

3. Hot drinks all day. Ginger tea, thyme tea and chicken bone broth, with honey stirred into the tea.

4. Salt water. Gargle, then rinse your nose, morning and night.

5. Sleep. Go to bed early, sleep in and cancel what you can.

When I'm sick, my own doses run higher than everyday amounts for a few days: I take 60 mg of zinc twice a day for the first three days, and at least 1,000 mg of vitamin C three times a day for the first few days.8 I also eat chicken broth or chicken vegetable soup at every meal, breakfast included, four or five days straight, until I know I'm finally over it.8

What causes a cold, and why do some people catch every one?

Every year, adults in the U.S. average two to three colds, and children often have more.1 Yet two people can breathe in the same virus, and one gets sick while the other doesn't. Why does that happen? As I see it, the difference tends to come down to the strength of the immune system.8

The people who get sick most are those low in nutrients such as zinc, vitamin D, vitamin C, selenium and vitamin A, and those who are stressed, sleep-deprived, over-trained or traveling. Spending your days indoors, close to other people, adds to the risk, while time outdoors with fresh air and sunshine lowers it.8 Nearly everything on that list is something you can change.

Sleep is a big part of that list. In a virus-challenge study, where volunteers were given a cold virus on purpose, short sleep raised the odds of catching a cold more than fourfold,12 and you'll find the full picture in the rest section below. Stress counts too. When 394 healthy adults were given cold viruses in quarantine, the share who developed a cold rose from about 27% to about 47% as their stress levels climbed.13 Everyone faced the same setup, so the more stressed people were, the more often they got sick. Two later virus-challenge studies, of 276 and 79 adults, pointed to why. In your body, cortisol works as the brake on inflammation, and long-term stress leaves your immune cells less responsive to that calming signal, like a brake pedal that's gone soft, so inflammation runs unchecked and colds take hold more often.16 (Our guide to chronic stress has ways to bring it down.) That's why rest and calm come up again and again on this page.

How your body fights a cold, and how to help it

A simple cold can leave you feeling wiped out, and the reason starts once the virus gets in. A cold virus settles in the lining of your nose and throat,1 and your immune cells answer by releasing cytokines, chemical messengers that call in reinforcements. Those same messengers help explain the fever, chills, aches, headache and tiredness of a cold, while the inflamed lining brings the congestion, sneezing and sore throat.11 So much of what you feel is your body fighting, and even a low fever is part of the defense, because fever-range heat helps immune cells reach an infection and fight it. Animals have kept that response, warm-blooded and cold-blooded alike, for more than 600 million years,17 so when you run a low fever with a cold, your body is using one of its oldest tools.

That's why I treat a cold by supporting that response. Warm fluids and salt water help your mucus carry the virus out, like a conveyor belt running toward the exit, while zinc, elderberry and echinacea send in backup, and sleep and calm decide how well the whole effort runs. Your body knows how to clear a cold, and these remedies give it what it needs.

Natural cold remedies that work

Here are the best remedies for a cold, ranked by the strength of their human research. Several are in my Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils guide, and each card tells you how I use it. If you only pick one, start at the top.

Cold pattern or heat pattern? Match your remedies to your body

One cold can leave you shivering under a blanket while the next has you flushed and burning up, and Chinese medicine pays attention to that difference. It looks at the person as well as the virus, and so do I. In my book Ancient Remedies, I describe how Chinese medicine sees a cold taking hold through wind, dampness or excess cold.35 Wind means a pathogen, usually airborne, entering your body, so the patterns are cold wind or heat wind: a cold virus or a heat virus. Different herbs and foods suit each one.8 That's why it helps to know which kind of cold you have before you reach for an herb.

Your tongue gives the first clue, and you can check it in the mirror right now by sticking it out. If it's pale or white or has a coating, that tends to mean cold has entered your body. If it's red, especially at the tip or edges, heat has entered your body, and a yellow or orange coating with the redness points to damp heat.8 If you can't tell, an acupuncturist or a practitioner of Oriental medicine can usually read it quickly.8

If you feel chilled: the warming super six

Start with ginger, which warms up your body to improve circulation, and I recommend it as an herbal tea, as a supplement or grated into chicken vegetable soup.8 Chinese medicine reaches for fresh ginger, called sheng jiang, at the first chill of a cold, as our ginger guide explains, and in lab tests, an extract of fresh ginger, though not dried, kept a common respiratory virus from taking hold in airway cells.40 So the form the old healers chose for a cold is the form that worked in the lab.

For cinnamon, stir a full teaspoon of it, or of pumpkin pie spice, which adds ginger and clove, into a little applesauce at breakfast.8 Garlic and cayenne are warming too, and oil of oregano is very good when a cold virus has settled into your system. For a cold, take 1 or 2 drops for no more than 10 days.835

Horseradish comes next, and if you've ever taken too big a bite, you know how fast it opens up your nose. It clears mucus and is especially helpful when your sinuses and lungs are congested. I use about a teaspoon or two with meals: on chicken, stirred into hummus or soup, or straight from the spoon.8

Gentle heat helps a cold pattern as well, the way sitting by a fire takes the chill out of your bones. When a cold or flu comes with that coldness in your system, I use an infrared sauna, or an infrared heating pad on the feet, belly, chest and upper back. Keep sessions to about 20 minutes, stopping at a light sweat, and do them a couple of times a day rather than in one long session.8

If you run hot: the cooling herbs

Running hot is a different picture, and if your body is overly hot, with redness, fever, inflammation or a very sore throat, cooling herbs fit better.8 Honeysuckle is the first cooling herb I recommend, and Chinese medicine uses it to cool the body in fever and inflammation. You'll usually find it as an herbal tea or in cold-and-flu formulas, often paired with forsythia, which clears internal heat. Chrysanthemum tea, mint or peppermint, mulberry leaf and andrographis are cooling too.8 So are elderberry and echinacea, which is why they suit hot, early colds.5

Andrographis, sometimes called Indian echinacea, is very anti-inflammatory and great for treating infections and heat.8 Across 33 randomized trials with 7,175 people with respiratory infections, it eased cough and sore throat more than placebo and shortened the time to recovery compared with usual care, though the trials were mostly of poor quality.41 For food, baked pears suit a hot pattern, and you'll find the recipe in the how-to section.8

If it's thick and damp: mucus and a coated tongue

Then there's the cold that settles in your chest and won't let go. Phlegm and mucus that build up, with a coating at the back of the tongue, are what Chinese medicine calls dampness, a little like a basement that never quite dries out after a storm, and it's common with chest colds, bronchitis and croup. Herbs such as mullein, osha root and sage help clear it.8 For a cough and cold that hang on, one thing I recommend is finding an acupuncturist who can do cupping, which can really help break up phlegm and get things moving.42

Rest, warmth and fluids: the basics that do the most

Number one, get plenty of rest: go to bed early, sleep in, make sure your room is dark and cold, and don't watch movies right up until you go to bed.8 When you're sick, aim for 9 to 10 hours a night.35 That's a lot of sleep, and it may mean canceling plans, but the research shows why it's worth it.

How well you sleep in the days before you meet a cold virus helps decide whether you catch it. In the virus-challenge study of 164 healthy adults, people who slept under 5 hours a night in the week before had 4.50 times the odds of catching a cold, and people who slept 5 to 6 hours had 4.24 times the odds. People who slept 6 to 7 hours had 1.66 times the odds, a difference that wasn't significant. Each group was compared with people who slept more than 7.12 An earlier study points the same way: 153 adults kept sleep diaries for two weeks before getting the virus, and those who slept under 7 hours were 2.94 times as likely to catch a cold as people who slept 8 hours or more.43 (Our guide to sleep deprivation explains what else lost sleep costs, and my Deep Sleep Protocol lays out a full plan.) So whether you're fighting a cold or trying not to catch one, guard your sleep first.

Scripture puts it simply: "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep" (Psalm 127:2, KJV).

Keep the fluids coming too. Stay hydrated, drink plenty of water, and not just water: lots of herbal teas, and thyme and ginger are some of the best.8 Hot drinks work better than cold ones here because they speed up that conveyor belt of mucus carrying the virus out. In a small study of 15 healthy adults, sipping hot water sped the flow of nasal mucus from 6.2 to 8.4 millimeters a minute within 5 minutes, and hot chicken soup sped it from 6.9 to 9.2, while cold water did the opposite, slowing it from 7.3 to 4.5. The effect faded by 30 minutes, so keep the warm cups coming through the day.7 A humidifier helps when your throat feels sore or dried out, and so does breathing the steam from a running shower.8

What to eat when you have a cold

My philosophy has always been to use food as medicine first, and a cold is a good time to put it to work. Here's a simple rule I teach: the foods that help your white blood cells tend to be white or light yellow, like ginger, garlic, chicken bone broth and miso soup. While you're fighting something off, choose cooked vegetables over raw ones, in soups or steamed.42 Your body is already working hard, so give it food that's easy to digest.

When I was sick as a kid, my mom gave me two things: chicken noodle soup and ginger ale. Chicken bone broth has been eaten for thousands of years, and ancient physicians recommended it to nourish the immune system.42 And the ancient Chinese remedy for a sick child is remarkably close to my mom's: ginger tea and chicken bone broth soup, mostly broth with a little vegetable and a little chicken.42 In a lab study, a traditional homemade chicken soup slowed the movement of neutrophils, the white blood cells that drive inflammation, which may be one reason it soothes a cold. Store-bought soups varied widely, which is one more reason to make your own when you can.44

Rice is probably the best grain for supporting your immune system when you're not feeling well, so a bowl of rice congee, rice simmered in broth until soft, belongs on the list.8

What to eat and what to skip during a cold

Dairy can thicken mucus, which might worsen congestion during a cold or sinus infection, so I tell people to skip animal dairy until they're well. Sugary drinks go too: sugar is very hard on an immune system that's busy fighting an infection, and so are heavy, greasy and processed foods.835

How to use these home remedies: teas, soup and a chest rub

The chest rub is my version of a homemade vapor rub. For a respiratory infection, making a balm with coconut oil and essential oils to rub on your chest before a hot shower is a great thing to do.8 The hot water hits your chest, and you breathe in the eucalyptus with the steam.

Recipes for a cold

Here's the immune soup I make when I'm sick, along with the drinks and dishes I turn to. The amounts are a starting point, so adjust them to your pot and your taste.8

If you have time, make the base from scratch with our chicken bone broth recipe. As I said on my show, "That is an immune soup that is so powerful, and if you have it pretty much every meal for the next few days along with the right supplement, you will kick that cold and flu so much faster."8

If you want to change it up, our ginger tea recipe has more versions.5

That warm drink of honey, cinnamon and lemon is one I recommend alongside homemade chicken bone broth soup during a cold.35 Our guide to honey and cinnamon covers the pairing.

I like to do thyme as an herbal tea, simmered 30 to 40 minutes, and it's especially good for viruses in the throat and lungs.8 If a cough has moved down into your chest, a thyme syrup has been tested for that: in a placebo-controlled trial of 361 adults with acute bronchitis and a productive cough, a syrup of thyme and ivy leaf extracts cut daytime coughing fits by 68.7% by days 7 to 9, against 47.6% on placebo.45

Baked pears are what I suggest when there's a lot of heat in your body, and baked apples are good during a cold or flu too.8

Hummus is good with garlic and horseradish added, served with steamed vegetables, and it puts two of my super six on the plate at once.8

Essential oils for colds

For a cold, essential oils work best as steam, in a diffuser or in a chest rub (our full guide to essential oils for colds has the blends and how to use each one). Diffuse 3 drops of thyme, lemon, eucalyptus or clove oil. Or add 2 to 3 drops of eucalyptus oil to a bowl of hot water, lean over it and breathe the steam.355 Lemon oil is one of the oils I reach for first, and thyme oil should be used more often than it is.8

How to prevent a cold this season

Number one, try to prevent the cold and flu from starting. Get good sleep, exercise, spend a lot of time outdoors, and take preventive supplements ahead of time: vitamin C and zinc, vitamin D in the fall, winter and spring, and elderberry, reishi and astragalus.8 (Our guide to how to boost your immune system goes deeper on each.) Here's what that looks like day to day.

Get outside and move. Spend at least 20 minutes a day outside in the winter, bundled up if you need to be. The more time you spend outside, the better for your immune system.42 Movement counts too. In a study that followed 1,002 adults through 12 weeks of fall and winter, people who did aerobic exercise 5 or more days a week had 43% fewer days with a cold or other upper respiratory infection than people who were mostly sedentary, so they spent a little over half as many days sick. And in the most active and fittest third, symptoms were 32% to 41% milder than in the least.49

Test your vitamin D. Vitamin D matters most when you run low. In an analysis of individual data from 25 randomized trials with 11,321 people aged 0 to 95, vitamin D lowered the odds of an acute respiratory infection by 12% overall, by 19% with daily or weekly doses, and by 70% among people on those doses who started out very deficient (below 10 ng/mL).46 The same team's 2025 update, pooling 40 trials with 61,589 people, found 6% lower odds overall, a result that was no longer statistically significant.50 That's why it pays to test rather than guess: ask for a 25-hydroxy vitamin D test. The optimal range is 50 to 80 ng/mL, and I dose to the lab result, pairing D3 with vitamin K2.51

Build your defenses with herbs. My top two preventive herbs and mushrooms are astragalus and reishi, for longer-term immune strengthening and support, and I call astragalus the number one herb I have for preventing the cold and flu, at around 1,000 mg a day.8 In Chinese medicine it's called huang qi, and it builds the body's defenses over weeks and months, like a wall you build before the storm, rather than fighting an infection that's already here. Families in China simmer the dried root slices in soups and broths through the winter. Reishi runs 1 to 1.5 grams a day as a dual extract.5

Gargle plain water. In a randomized trial of 387 healthy adults in Japan, gargling plain water three times a day cut first upper respiratory infections by 36% over 60 days (a rate ratio of 0.64),47 which is about as simple and cheap as a remedy gets.

End your shower cold. This one takes a little courage, and while I don't like cold plunges or cold showers when you're sick, they're good for preventing a cold in the future.8 In a randomized trial of 3,018 Dutch adults, ending a hot shower with 30, 60 or 90 seconds of cold water every day for 30 days cut sickness absence from work by 29%, and while the number of days people felt ill didn't change, more of them made it to work.48 Turn the water as cold as it goes for 1 minute at the end of your shower, and don't worry about going longer, because 1 minute is all you need.8

A plan for holiday travel

Travel is my own weak spot. I get a cold about once a year, and when I do, it's because I was traveling: the only times I can remember getting a cold or flu, I was flying from one place to another and maybe didn't sleep as well.8 If that sounds familiar, borrow the elderberry trial's pattern before a holiday flight and start elderberry 10 days before you fly. Protect your sleep on both ends of the trip, and pack zinc lozenges so you can start at the first scratch in your throat.48

Your cold-season plan

When to see a doctor, and how to use these remedies safely

Antibiotics don't treat viruses, since they're for bacterial infections,8 but a cold can occasionally lead to one, like pneumonia, that does need medical treatment.9 For an acute crisis like that, conventional care is the right tool, and there it's nothing short of miraculous.

Honey and babies. Never give honey, raw or cooked, to a baby under 1 year old; it can carry the bacteria that cause infant botulism.10 From age 1, a spoonful for a cough is fine.9

Zinc. Use lozenges only: zinc sprays, gels and swabs in the nose have been linked to a lasting loss of smell.52 A bad taste and mild nausea are common with lozenges; in the Finnish trial, 63% of people on zinc reported side effects, against 31% on placebo.22 Keep high-dose lozenges to the week of your cold, and don't give lozenges to children under 4.9 For everyday use, I keep zinc at 15 to 30 mg a day and under 50 mg long term, and I pair longer use with a little copper.27 In a study of 12 healthy men who each tried every regimen, a multivitamin with zinc taken with ciprofloxacin, a quinolone antibiotic, lowered how much of the antibiotic the body absorbed. So take zinc and these antibiotics several hours apart, and ask your pharmacist for the timing.53

Herbs. Skip echinacea if you're allergic to ragweed or daisies. Use only prepared elderberry products, since raw elderberries, leaves and stems are toxic. Hold astragalus during an acute infection with a high fever. With autoimmune disease, ask first before echinacea, elderberry or astragalus, and with an immune-suppressing medicine such as cyclosporine, ask first before echinacea, astragalus or reishi, since they stimulate immunity. Garlic supplements thin the blood: with a blood thinner such as warfarin, ask first, and stop them 7 days before surgery.5

Essential oils. Never swallow eucalyptus oil, and avoid concentrated oregano oil during pregnancy. Dilute oils before they touch your skin, and keep eucalyptus and peppermint away from the face of a child under 6.5

Saline rinses. Rinse your nose only with distilled, sterile or previously boiled water, never straight from the tap: tap water can carry organisms, including amoebas, that are safe to swallow but can survive in your nose.54

The bottom line

Cold remedies: frequently asked questions

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Common Cold. CDC; February 19, 2026. Accessed October 26, 2026.
2. Hemilä H. Zinc lozenges and the common cold: a meta-analysis comparing zinc acetate and zinc gluconate, and the role of zinc dosage. JRSM Open. 2017;8(5):2054270417694291. doi:10.1177/2054270417694291. PMID:28515951
3. Prasad AS, Fitzgerald JT, Bao B, Beck FW, Chandrasekar PH. Duration of symptoms and plasma cytokine levels in patients with the common cold treated with zinc acetate. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2000;133(4):245-52. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-133-4-200008150-00006. PMID:10929163
4. Tiralongo E, Wee SS, Lea RA. Elderberry Supplementation Reduces Cold Duration and Symptoms in Air-Travellers: A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2016;8(4):182. doi:10.3390/nu8040182. PMID:27023596
5. Axe J. Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils: A Field Guide to God's Pharmacy. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026. p. 7 (ginger: tea 1 to 2 inches fresh, simmered 10 minutes), p. 11 (elderberry: syrup 1 Tbsp daily in season, 1 Tbsp 4 times daily for 3 to 5 days at first symptoms, capsules 300 to 600 mg; cooling; prepared products only), p. 12 (echinacea: tincture 2.5 mL 3 times daily, capsules 300 to 500 mg 3 times daily, prevention studied up to 4 months; cooling; ragweed and daisy allergy; quoted), p. 13 (garlic: 1 to 2 cloves daily, crushed and rested 10 minutes; blood thinners and surgery), p. 14 (oregano: avoid concentrated oil in pregnancy), p. 15 (astragalus: builds defenses over weeks and months, simmered in winter broths; avoid during an acute infection with high fever), p. 19 (reishi: 1 to 1.5 g daily dual extract), Essential oil safety and dilution, Eucalyptus (steam 2 to 3 drops, chest rub 2 to 3% in carrier, never swallowed, away from the face of children under 6), and Safety & Interactions (immune-suppressing medications).
6. Abuelgasim H, Albury C, Lee J. Effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Evid Based Med. 2021;26(2):57-64. doi:10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111336. PMID:32817011
7. Saketkhoo K, Januszkiewicz A, Sackner MA. Effects of drinking hot water, cold water, and chicken soup on nasal mucus velocity and nasal airflow resistance. Chest. 1978;74(4):408-10. doi:10.1378/chest.74.4.408. PMID:359266
8. Axe J. How to Prevent & Heal Cold & Flu Naturally (Foods, Supplements, & Herbs for Rapid Recovery). The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2024. At 4:15 (cold season), 4:56 (a weak immune system can be strengthened; quoted, lightly edited), 5:42 (who gets sick most), 7:08 (antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viruses), 12:40 and 13:36 (astragalus and reishi for prevention), 14:06 and 14:22 (elderberry and echinacea shorten cold and flu time; quoted, lightly edited), 15:10 (thyme and thyme tea), 17:20 (the tongue and hot and cold patterns), 17:45 (wind), 18:01 (dampness: osha root, mullein and sage), 18:49 (ginger), 19:07 (cinnamon, garlic, cayenne and oregano), 19:44 (horseradish), 20:17 (the super six; quoted), 20:28 (cooling herbs), 21:29 (andrographis), 21:50 (an acupuncturist can read the pattern), 22:18 (chest balm and a hot shower), 22:26 (lemon oil), 23:00 (eucalyptus oil with coconut oil), 23:19 (thyme oil), 23:36 and 24:38 (infrared sauna and heating pad), 25:07 (cold showers), 25:52 (rest and fluids), 26:22 (his own colds and travel), 26:46 (soup at every meal), 27:00 (acting early), 27:45 (the first three days; quoted, lightly edited), 28:11 (his immune soup; quoted at 28:40, lightly edited), 29:49 (baked pears), 30:11 (hummus with garlic and horseradish), 30:26 (rice congee), 30:34 (humidifier, saline, steam and salt-water gargle), 30:55 (manuka honey), 31:03 (probiotics), 31:28 (his sick-day zinc and vitamin C), 32:04 (dairy), 32:41 (sugar, heavy and processed food), 33:26 (herbal tea with honey) and 33:41 (prevention).
9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Common Cold: Treatment (Manage symptoms; When to seek medical care). CDC; March 11, 2026. Accessed October 26, 2026.
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14. Ramalingam S, Graham C, Dove J, Morrice L, Sheikh A. A pilot, open labelled, randomised controlled trial of hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling for the common cold. Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):1015. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37703-3. PMID:30705369
15. Hemilä H, Petrus EJ, Fitzgerald JT, Prasad A. Zinc acetate lozenges for treating the common cold: an individual patient data meta-analysis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2016;82(5):1393-1398. doi:10.1111/bcp.13057. PMID:27378206
16. Cohen S, Janicki-Deverts D, Doyle WJ, Miller GE, Frank E, Rabin BS, et al. Chronic stress, glucocorticoid receptor resistance, inflammation, and disease risk. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012;109(16):5995-9. doi:10.1073/pnas.1118355109. PMID:22474371
17. Evans SS, Repasky EA, Fisher DT. Fever and the thermal regulation of immunity: the immune system feels the heat. Nat Rev Immunol. 2015;15(6):335-49. doi:10.1038/nri3843. PMID:25976513
18. Jawad M, Schoop R, Suter A, Klein P, Eccles R. Safety and Efficacy Profile of Echinacea purpurea to Prevent Common Cold Episodes: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:841315. doi:10.1155/2012/841315. PMID:23024696
19. Hemilä H, Chalker E. Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;2013(1):CD000980. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4. PMID:23440782
20. Zhao Y, Dong BR, Hao Q. Probiotics for preventing acute upper respiratory tract infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022;8(8):CD006895. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006895.pub4. PMID:36001877
21. Josling P. Preventing the common cold with a garlic supplement: a double-blind, placebo-controlled survey. Adv Ther. 2001;18(4):189-93. doi:10.1007/BF02850113. PMID:11697022
22. Hemilä H, Haukka J, Alho M, Vahtera J, Kivimäki M. Zinc acetate lozenges for the treatment of the common cold: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2020;10(1):e031662. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031662. PMID:31980506
23. Nault D, Machingo TA, Shipper AG, Antiporta DA, Hamel C, Nourouzpour S, et al. Zinc for prevention and treatment of the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024;5(5):CD014914. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD014914.pub2. PMID:38719213
24. Hawkins J, Baker C, Cherry L, Dunne E. Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) supplementation effectively treats upper respiratory symptoms: A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials. Complement Ther Med. 2019;42:361-365. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2018.12.004. PMID:30670267
25. Zakay-Rones Z, Thom E, Wollan T, Wadstein J. Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections. J Int Med Res. 2004;32(2):132-40. doi:10.1177/147323000403200205. PMID:15080016
26. Macknin M, Wolski K, Negrey J, Mace S. Elderberry Extract Outpatient Influenza Treatment for Emergency Room Patients Ages 5 and Above: a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. J Gen Intern Med. 2020;35(11):3271-3277. doi:10.1007/s11606-020-06170-w. PMID:32929634
27. Axe J, Cole W. Heal Your Cells. Penguin Random House; 2026. Supplement entries for elderberry (300 to 600 mg a day of standardized extract or 1 to 2 teaspoons of syrup), echinacea (at the first sign of illness rather than long term), zinc (15 to 30 mg a day; avoid more than 50 mg daily long term) and vitamin C (a whole orange or red pepper over an ascorbic acid tablet; 500 to 2,000 mg a day in divided doses).
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Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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