The past week I've been battling the common cold, all the while trying to keep life as normal as possible. My mom has always told me that a sickness is always at least 80% psychological (in her view you are sick because you have the luxury to be sick). So, whenever I can I try my best to pretend everything is fine and get on with life's daily tasks. It works most of the time, but sometimes it just tires you out even more. And this week has been one of those times that succumbing to the sickness has been the ultimate option.
Fighting the common cold is really not as easy as it seems! Sure you read everywhere articles about what to do to fight symptoms of a cold or the flu or how to keep warm and healthy this winter! But which of those really work?!? Which of those will really help you fend off the sneaky rhinovirus that is just floating in the air and on nearly every surface imaginable!
Nearly all articles I've come across state the importance of exercise (but not over doing it), washing of hands, stocking up on fresh fruits and veggies, vitamin supplements and getting plentiful of rest.
Here is my own list of things that really worked this week for me
1. Hot lemon and honey- cured my sore throat over two days
2. Facial steam (with some salt thrown in before bed)- really helped clear up my nose for better sleep!
3. Cloves- keep them in your mouth and keeps the cough away
4. Sleep- yes it really did help!
5. Oranges and grapefruits- well I'm not sure if these really did help in fighting off my cold because I'm not sure what quantities I should be consuming... I generally had about 1-2 oranges a day and a grapefruit here and there, which I doubt was enough, but hey a little dose of vitamin C is better than nothing!
6. Medicine- And now that my head is pounding I've decided that I can't do without good ol' Panadol.
But all in all I think taking the more natural remedies is a good way to fight the cold, as long as you have nothing pressing going on that demands you to be in the best of heath. And when it comes to the end of the day, a treatment for any kind of sickness is always different from person to person. You need to know your body, give different treatments a try and see what works. While ice cream may cure one person's sickness, it may just be very well the cause of another's sickness.
References (and pictures)
1. 10 Common Sense Flu Fighting Tips! http://bestbodybootcamp.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/10-common-sense-flu-fighting-tips/
2. Lemon Benefits http://masoodmemon.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/lemon-benefits/
Great post Urna! By the way, about this 80% psychological influence, I could not stop laughing recalling an incident from a few years ago. Nirdesh dai also believes that it's a state of mind, to an extent. Nirbhik had fallen ill and daicha told him to pretend to be as normal as possible. Nirbhik ended up doing like 50 push-ups in a bid to beat the illness, and ended up with a fever of 103! Just hilarious!
ReplyDeletethanks Sandesh! :) bichara Nirbhik hehe i can just imagine daicha laughing about it in the end... and thanks for supporting me :) means a lot to me especially because this blog this has really taken my interest and am having fun playing around with it!
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