How to Prevent & Heal Cold & Flu Naturally (Foods, Supplements, & Herbs for Rapid Recovery)

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Hey everyone, welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I am your host, Dr. Axe, and each and every week on this show we explore the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level.

Well, flu and cold season is officially upon us, and today I'll be going through the top natural methods to strengthen your immune system And prevent getting sick with a cold or flu. I'll also be going through how if you do get sick with a cold or flu, exactly what you should take in terms of vitamins, minerals, herbs, teas, mushrooms, and so much more.

By the way, this is going to be different than anything you've ever heard before when it comes to the cold and flu because what happens, most people when they get a cold or flu, they think, even if they're natural, they think, oh, I need to take oil of oregano, or I need to take echinacea and elderberry and vitamin C. Right.

Here's the reality: there are different types of cold and flu, and this was something that was known in historic forms of medicine by ancient practitioners—is that sometimes you have a heat pattern, sometimes you have a cold pattern, sometimes you have more of a bacterial or a viral pattern, and there are actually different herbs and nutrients that are better for different types of invading pathogens.

And so, if you're taking, let's say, for instance, vitamin C for certain types of immune issues, it could actually. Make you worse. Or if you're taking a lot of cayenne pepper or garlic, it actually could make certain types of cold and flus worse, not better. So I'll go through exactly how to know which you have and what vitamins and supplements to take for which condition.

So I'll be going through— this is everything you need to know about how to fight the cold and flu naturally. Before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the notification bell so So you don't miss a single thing. Also, I've got a weekly wellness newsletter where I'm providing my top natural healing tips.

So if you want a whole PDF guide and to learn everything you need to know about the vitamins, the minerals, the supplements, what you need to take, you want to have your cheat sheet, well then make sure to subscribe to the weekly wellness newsletter to get that as well and subscribe here to the show. Okay.

Now, many of you know that I am a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, and they recently did a study on colds and flus. And adults get about 3 to 4 colds every year, while children get up to 6 to 10 per year. Now, have you experienced that? You send your kids to school, they come back immediately, and they're getting colds and flus constantly. And think about it, that's a lot.

The average person gets every 3 months or so, or sometimes more in the winter, They're getting a cold or flu 3 to 4 times. Kids almost double, actually more than double that amount. And you're most likely to get sick during the fall and winter months, starting in late August all the way until March.

And in the US, the common cold costs a yearly loss of $40 billion directly through treatment costs and indirect via sick days lost at work and loss of productivity. And colds and flus are caused by Viruses typically that impact the respiratory system. Now, some people are more susceptible to catching viruses than others, and here are the people. Number 1, if you have a weak immune system.

Now, there are a lot of people with weak immune systems due to other various conditions, but generally— and I want to mention this, here's the good news— if you've got a weak immune system, you can strengthen it. But that's the number 1 reason why people get sick with a cold or flu is their immune system is weak.

This is also why— You could be in the office with somebody, or you could have one person be exposed to the same virus than another person. One gets sick, the other doesn't. Why does that happen? What tends to be the person with a weak immune system has more of those symptoms. Also, people who stay indoors more with— in close proximity with others.

So if you're in a confined space, an office all the time around other people, you're much, much more likely to get sick than even in the winter. If somebody has a job outdoors, but they are around less people, they're getting more fresh air, more sunshine, they have a lesser chance of getting sick.

Also, people with nutritional deficiencies such as zinc, vitamin D, vitamin C, and selenium and vitamin A, those people are more predisposed to getting a cold or flu. And then also people who are stressed, people who are sleep deprived, people who are overtrained, people that are traveling. Interesting. Are the people that tend to get sick the most.

Now, I do want to mention before we dive into these natural remedies that what most people turn to is over-the-counter medications for quick relief. Here's the reality though, most of these over-the-counter medications will increase your likelihood of getting a cold or flu more in the future. Of course, the chief of all drugs of this are antibiotics.

These antibiotic drugs not only kill The bad bacteria in your gut, they kill the good bacteria in your gut microbiome as well. What this does is leads to a weakened immune system. It also leads to less absorption of vitamin D, zinc, vitamin C, iron, all of those nutrients you need for a strong immune system. So antibiotics are the worst, but there's a few others as well.

Examples could be pain relievers like NSAIDs, decongestants, antihistamines. These all weaken the immune system and increase your likelihood of more colds in the future, in the first place. Now, I want to mention and go back to antibiotics here. Here's the reality. Antibiotics do not treat viruses. Antibiotics are for bacterial infections.

Yet there are billions of dollars worth of antibiotics that are prescribed to both adults and children every single year. And it's one of the most damaging, and I would say it's one of the most irresponsible practices That medical doctors practice on a regular basis.

A study published in the Journal of Pharmaceuticals states that only 0.5 to 2% of viral upper respiratory infections are complicated by bacterial infections and require antibiotics. Yet another survey discovered that up to half of the people in the U.S. who visit a doctor for a cold will receive an antibiotic.

So on average, close to 1% of upper respiratory infections are bacterial, yet 50% of people are prescribed an antibiotic. An antibacterial drug will never kill a virus, ever. So what's happening is these doctors are prescribing antibiotics for viruses. They're simply killing off the good bacteria in the patient, and now they are more susceptible to getting more colds and flus in the future.

Then they go back to their doctor, they get put on more antibiotics, drugs, that then causes nutritional deficiencies, that then predisposes them to other chronic conditions, so then they get put on other medications and the vicious cycle continues. This is why pharmaceutical companies are okay with you being sick.

This is why our current medical system, the way it's set up with medical doctors and pharmaceutical companies and the way that prescribing these drugs works, is so devastating and damaging to everyone who lives in our conventional medical system. This is absolute negligence by medical doctors that are prescribing antibiotics for viral infections.

And by the way, if you ever go and see your doctor and they prescribe for you or your kids an antibiotic for a viral infection, what I want you to do is call them out on it. And you know that that's not a quality doctor if they're doing that as well.

You should then go and find yourself another doctor Whether it's a family care practitioner or pediatrician, go and find another doctor that actually knows what they're doing, that actually is up with the latest research, that also can recommend natural remedies.

By the way, if you go and see your doctor with a cold or flu and they don't recommend dietary changes, if they're not asking you about your sugar consumption, if they're not also, in addition to a medication, recommending vitamins and minerals and herbs, They're not well-trained physicians. They don't know how to best deal with your health and your family's health.

Now, here are some of the other side effects I want to get into. Again, remember antibiotics, they are one of the most devastating and damaging medications ever created. Now listen, in history, throughout history, they've saved lives for people with bacterial infections and these chronic types of infections. However, for the common cold and flu, that is not a good medication to prescribe.

You know, side effects of a lot of these cold and cough medications as well, by the way, not just damage your gut microbiome, they also can damage and affect your liver. Now, one that's not an antibiotic, but one that a lot of people take where this is proven are NSAIDs, these nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

They've been shown to cause upset stomach, heart problems, liver damage, kidney damage, and more. Symptom masking, that's what a lot of these drugs do. They simply mask your symptoms, numb your pain, While at the same time making— weakening your immune system, causing nutritional deficiencies, and actually making you worse.

And the great news is there are all-natural remedies with fewer side effects. Rather than going and taking an antibiotic conventional medication, instead you can take an antiviral herb like echinacea or elderberry, which isn't an herb, it's a berry, but Elderberry is great. We know garlic, we know oregano oil.

There are so many out there that are actually antivirals that will in fact actually help and go and kill the virus. And there are studies that prove this. There's also herbs and mushrooms, right? Mushrooms have been consumed since the beginning of time to support your immune system. They're recommended in traditional Chinese medicine, they're recommended in Middle Eastern medicine.

They're recommended in Ayurveda, specifically turkey tail, Tremetes vesicolor. That type of mushroom has antiviral properties according to medical studies. Maitake is also powerful, shiitake, reishi, cordyceps. These all have a level of antiviral properties that are powerful at fighting the common cold and flu.

Now I want to go through right now my top herbs and supplements that you want to take in order to kill off the cold or flu. Number 1 is astragalus. Now astragalus is my favorite, both preventative for cold and flu and for treating the cold and flu. It contains powerful polysaccharides, saponins, and flavonoids.

These are compounds that activate immune cells in your body like macrophages and lymphocytes that help kill off viruses and other types of infections. They also reduce inflammation And it also helps strengthen up your digestive system and pancreas, your gut microbiome specifically. So astragalus is absolutely amazing and the number one herb I have for preventing the cold and flu.

Typically you want to take around 1,000 milligrams daily to prevent, and if you're sick, up to 4,000 milligrams for 2 weeks. Another favorite of mine is Andrographis. This is referred to as Indian echinacea, and it's used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating infectious diseases. This contains andrographis. It's a compound that's been studied because of its antiviral properties.

So again, it's a powerful antivirus. It enhances lymphocyte activity and stimulates antibody production to kill off viruses. Turkey tail mushroom, I mentioned this one. Its scientific name is Termites vesicolor. This contains also polysaccharides that support cellular communication, activating macrophages that actually kill off pathogens. Another one is reishi mushroom that I love.

That's another great one for prevention. In fact, my top 2 preventative herbs and mushrooms you could take are astragalus and reishi that you can take for longer-term immune strengthening and support. Now, another herb I love for actually fighting off a cold and flu, and studies have shown taking echinacea can cut down cold and flu time by close to 40%. So echinacea is wonderful to take.

It has anti-inflammatory properties, antiviral properties. Shown to be good for sore throats and sinusitis. That's one I recommend. And then elderberry. Elderberry is powerful at fighting viral infections. There was a study published in the medical journal Nutrients, and it found that elderberry may shorten the duration of cold and flu symptoms by several days compared to the placebo.

And those 2, uh, both start with an E— elderberry and echinacea— both in clinical studies shorten your overall cold and flu time. And think about how What a big deal that is. Think about, is it, you know, would you rather feel miserable for 8 days or only 4 days or 2 days instead of 4, right? So cutting down on your cold and flu time, you can do with elderberry and echinacea for most people.

Now, another one that I love is olive leaf. Now, this is one that's used extensively in Middle Eastern medicine and it has really powerful effects. Also supports heart health when you look at olive leaves. So there's lots of benefits. For it. It's an antioxidant, really strong antioxidant properties. Also, olive leaf not only fights viruses, it also fights bacteria and fungal infections.

So this is another good one to consider. Thyme. That's right, the culinary spice thyme is effective at respiratory infections including bacterial and viral. And I like to do thyme as an herbal tea. You can actually take thyme, throw it in water, And simmer it for about 30 to 40 minutes and drink that as a tea.

You can get thyme tea bags, but I really like doing thyme as an herbal tea, and it's specifically good for viruses in the throat and lungs. So strep throat, viral infections that get into your lungs as well. Myrrh. Now this is one that's been used in Middle Eastern and Indian medicine for thousands of years. We've all heard of frankincense.

Myrrh is, of course, also very popular, not as popular in the Western world. Okay. But very popular in the Eastern world. It's an antiseptic. It also has antibacterial properties. It's good for sore throats and respiratory issues. So those are some of the absolute best herbs when it comes to strengthening your immune system. Now listen, there are others I didn't hit on.

Goldenseal is also fantastic. Sage has loads of benefits. There's also things like colloidal silver. Those are some others that you might consider as well. What I want to do now is take a minute and talk to you about the differences in types of viruses that can impact your body. Have you ever wondered why we call it a cold? Why do we call a cold a cold?

Well, this stems from both Greek and Chinese medicine where you would get cold, you would shiver, and in Chinese medicine they would say that coldness entered your body. This is where, let's say you were outside and you were sweating, or you got wet and you had a cold wind blowing on you, right?

What happens then is actually you can have coldness enter into your system, and so what would happen in Chinese medicine is they would recommend warming herbs and spices to help fight that type of cold. Okay, or you could have a cold or flu where heat enters your body. This is where you might get a fever, and there are certain things you want to do to start to cool down your body.

And so there are different. Herbs and spices based off of your condition is hot or cold. Now let me give you some hints here. You can tell by sticking out your tongue. If you stick out your tongue and your tongue is pale or your tongue is white or has a coating on it, that tends to mean you have cold that's entered your body.

If you stick out your tongue and it's red, especially the tip or edges, if there's redness there, that's heat has entered your body and there are different herbs and spices you want to take and actually different foods you want to eat For that type of virus that's entered into your body.

Now, there's something else in Chinese medicine, they'll call it wind, but it means a pathogen, something typically that was airborne has entered into your body as well. So the patterns tend to be cold wind or heat wind, which just means a cold virus or a heat virus that's entered your body. And also, one other pattern you can have is your body becomes too damp.

This is where if you stick out your tongue, you'll see a coating on it, typically on the back of it, that happens oftentimes with respiratory infections, especially bronchitis, croup, those sorts of issues there where you get phlegm and mucus that build up in your system, that's dampness. And so we want to start to expel some of those things.

That's where certain herbs are very good for that, like osha root or mullein. There's many, many others there. Sage is also very good for that. So I want to go through now the best herbs for a cold body. And the best herbs for a warm body.

Okay, so if you stick out your tongue and you're getting chills and you're cold, and you stick out your tongue and it's pale or it's white, here's what you want to take. Number 1, ginger. Okay, ginger warms up your body, it improves circulation. It also has really, really powerful antiviral properties. So ginger is great, and I recommend doing that as an herbal tea.

You can also do it as a supplement. You could also grate ginger and add it to chicken vegetable soup. So there's some options. Cinnamon is another great one. Maybe you're doing a little applesauce for breakfast. Add in a full teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, which has ginger, cinnamon, and clove, all which are very warming spices.

Garlic is another one that has antibacterial and antiviral properties. That is very good. It's very warming to the body. Cayenne pepper. Oil of oregano is very, very good if you have a cold virus that's entered into your system. And another favorite one of mine that most people don't use enough— horseradish. Horseradish is especially beneficial for people with sinus and lung issues.

When you've got croup, when you've got bronchitis, when your lungs aren't moving enough, horseradish clears out mucus and heat on the interior. What I would do is about a teaspoon or 2 of horseradish with your meals. You can add it to chicken, you can add it to hummus, you can add it to a soup or just do a spoonful of it.

And that is great for fighting cold and flu, and especially if you've got damp heat, oregano is very good. If there's damp— I'm sorry, damp coldness, oregano is also very warming. So those would be my top, my super 6: ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cayenne, oregano, and horseradish. If you have a cold or flu or your body is cold.

If your body is overly hot, okay, and you've got redness, you've got fever, you've got inflammation, you've got a lot of irritation in your body, here's what you might want to consider. By the way, this can often happen when somebody gets a very sore throat. The first herb is called honeysuckle. This cools the body and treats high fever and inflammation.

Now, we don't find honeysuckle as much on its Unless you buy it as an herbal tea, which you can. Honeysuckle is oftentimes found in formulas that are for treating a cold and flu. Forsythia is another one. This clears internal heat. It's typically combined in Chinese medicine formulas with honeysuckle. Chrysanthemum, this relieves heat in the liver within the body.

It helps get rid of mucus and dampness as well. So if you've got damp heat in your body— by the way, when you stick out your tongue— Yeah. You'll see redness and then the coat of your tongue might also have a little bit of yellow or orange to it rather than white. That's also how you know you have a heat pattern. Mint or peppermint is also good for this. Mulberry leaf is fantastic.

And then Andrographis, very cooling, very anti-inflammatory, great for treating infections and heat as well. So again, remember, there are different types of viruses, there are different Ways that viruses can impact your body, and you want to make sure you're taking the right types of herbs based on what you have going on.

Now, if you're not able to tell, typically you could visit an acupuncturist or an oriental medical doctor, and they could tell you pretty quickly there as well. But if you go back and save this episode, maybe that's what you want to do. Put it in your library and fast forward, look at the point you're at now and want to go back and listen to this next time you have a cold or flu.

That might be a good idea. Okay, I want to talk about essential oils for immunity, some of the best things to take as well. Okay, I get questions all the time about essential oils. If you've got a respiratory infection, making a balm with coconut oil and essential oils is a great thing to rub on your chest and then stand in the shower and let the hot water hit your chest.

One of my favorites is lemon oil. Lemon oil contains d-limonene, which is a compound that's been used for thousands of years. Now, typically they would use what's called orange peel oil, which is very similar to lemon peel oil. And this has properties that stimulate lymphatic flow. One of the reasons why people stay sick a long time is their lymphatics aren't moving enough.

This really helps with that. So lemon oil or orange peel oil is good because of these compounds that help move the lymphatic system and stimulate white blood cell production. Another one I love is eucalyptus. Eucalyptus. Okay, if you've got a sore throat, if you're really congested with bronchitis or have mucus and phlegm that's productive, rub eucalyptus oil on your chest with coconut oil.

That'll help. Ginger oil, you can do a single drop internally or diffuse it. This is a good one to do, has more of those warming and circulatory effects. Thyme oil, again, thyme should be used more often. It's also an antifungal and anti-yeast. Oregano oil that we mentioned. One of the best out there, if not the absolute best for viral infections.

Now, I want to talk about a couple therapies that can be great for you as well if you get a cold or flu. One of my all-time favorites is infrared sauna. Now listen, if you don't have an infrared sauna at home, another option is to get an infrared sauna blanket or an infrared heating pad. And you can put that infrared heating pad on a few areas, okay?

If you're cold, put it on your feet, Put it on your midsection right over your stomach, and put it on your chest and upper back. So you can kind of move it and bang for your buck. Let's say maybe an infrared, you know, heating pad you buy on Amazon.com, maybe it's $50. Now there are more expensive ones, but that could be an option.

That's a great thing to do if you have a cold or flu, and you know you have excess coldness within your system. What you want to do is get to the point with that, where maybe you have— you just start sweating, you just feel a little bit of sort of light sweat, and then you want to stop. For a lot of people, if you've got coldness, you don't want to over-perspire.

So for instance, and if you have an infrared sauna at home and you get a cold and flu, and you go and try and get in there for 40 minutes, I don't think that's typically ideal. I think for most people, 20 minutes where you start breaking a sweat, but you're not sweating too much to where you're exerting yourself.

That's typically better for most people when you have a cold or flu, is doing those 20-minute bouts a couple times a day rather than a really long 45-minute or hour session and oversweating. That's not typically ideal for most people. But if you've got coldness in your system, almost nothing is better than doing infrared sauna. Or if, again, on a budget, do an infrared heating pad.

Also has a lot of benefits. Cold plunge and cold showers. Now, I don't like doing this when you're sick, but I do think it's good if you are trying to prevent a cold in the future. A study published in the medical journal PLOS One found that taking contrast therapy showers alternating hot and cold for 30 days reduced the need to take sick days by 29%.

So while you're in the shower, turning it down as cold as possible for 1 minute standing there in the shower, and then turning it back up has loads and loads of benefits. Okay, you don't even need to take a cold shower the whole time. 1 Minute is all you need in order to get a lot of these benefits. Here's a few other ways to recover faster if you have a cold and flu. Number 1, get plenty of rest.

Go to bed early, sleep in, make sure your room is dark and cold. But get plenty of sleep. And don't watch, you know, movies up until the moment you go to bed. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, and not just water—lots of herbal teas, thyme, ginger. Those are some of the best. Eat a healthy diet.

I recommend if you're sick with a cold or flu, you want to do a lot of foods that are yellow, mostly soups. In fact, if I get a cold, which I probably get one once a year, okay, and it's always—and if I get one twice, maybe sometimes it's twice a year. Most of Most of the time it's once. But whenever I get one, it's because I was traveling.

I mean, hands down, the only time I can remember getting a cold and flu is I was flying from one place to another to another, and I maybe didn't sleep as well. That's when I get sick. Okay? And then when I do get sick, here's what I do. I eat chicken broth or chicken vegetable soup for every meal.

I'll have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for, you know, 4 days straight or 5 days straight until I know I've finally covered it. Here's another key tip I want to share with you. If you, if you know, if other people in your house have gotten sick, or you feel the very beginning stages of a cold coming on, that is when you want to take action. Okay?

Because you can lessen your, lessen your symptoms greatly if you catch it on the front end versus the tail end. It doesn't make as much of a difference. Okay? The supplements are still good for you. Because you probably are deficient, but they won't alleviate— they won't alleviate your pain and discomfort as much.

Versus if you notice, okay, okay, I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat, sprint out to Whole Foods Market, to Sprouts, to your local health food store, like where I'm at, Urban Market. Sprint there, get all the stuff, and then start immediately. Okay? And for the next 3 days, those first 3 days are the most important to do everything you can Take the elderberry and echinacea.

Start drinking every drink, ginger and thyme herbal tea, right? Do all those things. Do the chicken vegetable soup. Get in the infrared sauna. Do all of those things right when you feel it coming on. Okay, studies have proven this time and time again. The earlier you can start to take it, the bigger difference it'll make. So when I am sick, I do chicken broth.

Here's the recipe, generally speaking. I do chicken bone broth, Chicken breast. Sometimes I do chicken thighs too, but like chicken breast. I'll do carrots, I'll do celery, I'll do onion, I'll do garlic, I'll grate ginger in there as well. And then I'll add in thyme and oregano and sage. And then I'll add in a big tablespoon as well of miso, yellow miso.

Okay, that is an immune soup that is so, so powerful. And if you do that pretty much every meal for the next few days, along with the right supplements, you will kick that cold and flu so much faster. Okay. But again, what most people do is they get to the point where they're absolutely miserable.

You know, another thing that can be beneficial for a lot of people, if you're really deficient, especially if you have a virus where there's a lot of heat in your body, is getting a vitamin IV, going and getting a vitamin IV that has like a Myers cocktail, But ideally something that has vitamin C and zinc. It's powerful. Okay, so going and taking, getting a vitamin IV is also good.

I mean, again, if I got sick, I'm running up, getting my infrared sauna, I'm doing the vitamin IV, I'm doing all of the things as quickly as possible. It'll make a difference. Okay, so but if you're sick now, let me give you another option outside of just that vegetable soup recipe I recommended.

Remember, next time you're sick with a cold or flu, Check, check the number mark of how far we're in this episode. Save this or write this down and do these things next time you're sick. Okay. Um, chicken vegetable soup is the best. Also, if you've got a lot of heat in your body, pears are very good.

Baking pears— you put pears in the oven on a, on a, you know, stainless steel dish, bake it for, I don't know, 20 minutes till it's a little soft, put pumpkin, uh, pie spice on it. So do that. That's really good doing. Baked pears, baked apples are very good for cold and flu. Lots of garlic, lots of horseradish. Hummus is good if you add garlic and horseradish to it.

That can be a really good option with steamed vegetables. And then, but really it's a little bit of meat, lots of broth, lots of vegetables, rice, like rice congee. Rice is probably the best grain. When it comes to supporting your immune system if you're not feeling well. So those are some ideas for you.

A few other things you might consider is having a humidifier if you have a sore throat or you're feeling dried out. Also, a saline nasal spray and drops are good. Breathing in steam, as we talked about from a running shower. Gargling salt water and colloidal silver is very good for a sore throat. And then I love manuka honey. Manuka honey is so good for a sore throat, has antibiotic benefits.

That's another thing you want to consider doing. Now, I want to touch on some of these supplements as well. One you want to— that is going to help you recover faster are probiotics, especially if you've taken an antibiotic anytime in the past 5 years.

Anytime you're sick in the future, you want to do higher dose probiotics, at least 100 billion CFU a day, but I would do 100 billion CFU twice a day or More. Sometimes you're actually taking 1 trillion probiotics is what I do when I am sick with a cold or flu. Zinc, I typically try and do 60 milligrams twice a day for those first 3 days.

Vitamin C, I do 1,000 milligrams at least 3 times a day for the first few days. There's a study showing it reduces cold severity if you do at least 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C early on. Vitamin D, I do 5,000 IUs twice a day.

And so, and again, there's so many things you can do, but I think the vitamins and minerals that are most important are probiotics, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D. Now here are some things you do not want to eat when you're sick. Number one is dairy. Dairy can thicken mucus, which might worsen congestion during a cold or sinus infection.

The only type of dairy that you can drink or the newborn can drink is breast milk. Okay, breast milk is amazing. The antibodies in there for kids and for fighting cold and flu. Wonderful. Okay. But outside of that, any animal dairy you do not want to do when you're sick with a cold or flu. Okay.

And one of the things my wife will do when our other kids are sick, even though they're not breastfeeding, is she will give like our 4-year-old, she'll actually put some of her breast milk in and give that to our 4-year-old somewhat. But outside of that, no dairy. No sugary drinks. Sugar tanks your immune system.

A few teaspoons of sugar will drop your immune system, basically shut it off for 4 hours. I mean, it is very, very hard on the body. Now, that's not— when I say that, it's not shut off, it's just working to where it's not able to fight the infection because it's dealing with all of the side effects of the sugar. Hard-to-digest foods, especially high-fat foods, greasy foods, heavy foods.

Any processed foods, you don't want to do those foods. And also foods that are more related to releasing histamines like nightshades, shellfish, gluten, even eggs like egg whites. They're not the best when you're sick. Bananas, you want to do other things instead. Okay. And again, I want to mention herbal tea here.

I love adding in a little bit of local honey or manuka honey with Ginseng tea, ginger tea, thyme tea, but doing some of these herbal teas with a little bit of honey is so, so good for your body. So remember, number one, try and prevent the cold and flu to start. Get good sleep, exercise, spend a lot of time outdoors, and also take some of these preventative supplements ahead of time.

Take some vitamin C and zinc. Take your vitamin D. especially in the fall and winter months and spring. And also take some things like some elderberry, some reishi mushrooms, some astragalus to prevent it happening in the future. Take good care of yourself. Also, if you feel like a cold is coming on or flu, fight it fast.

Do everything you can on the early stages, or if people in your house are sick, go ahead and start doing those remedies right now. Also remember, these over-the-counter medications or antibiotic medications, They don't fix things. They typically make you worse in the long run.

You're much better off doing a lot of these antivirals, a lot of these nutrients that build up and strengthen your own immune system if you want to fight a cold and flu fast. Hey, I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show.

Remember, each and every week we're diving deeper and deeper into how to heal physically, mentally, and spiritually, and take your health into your life to the next level. Make sure to subscribe. And hey, don't forget, this is something that if you or your family are sick, you want to go back and watch and listen to.

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