Avoiding a Cold – Facts and Myths
Catching a cold really stinks. It’s not as bad as getting the flu, but once a cold has a hold on you, you may be in for anywhere from five days to two weeks of sniffling, coughing, congestion and general misery.
Dealing with a cold now is manageable, although unpleasant. But if you catch a cold during a survival situation, it will be even worse. We need to stay as strong and healthy as possible during an emergency in order to survive it.
Here’s a true-false quiz regarding colds. The answers are near the bottom.
- Washing your hands regularly can help you avoid a cold.
- Staying inside in the winter will help you avoid a cold.
- Taking antibiotics will help you avoid a cold.
- Disinfecting countertops, work surfaces and doorknobs can help you avoid a cold.
- Keeping your head dry will help you prevent a cold.
- Taking Vitamin C will help you avoid a cold.
- Drinking green tea with lemon and honey could lessen the duration of a cold.
- You can only catch a cold in the winter.
Answers:
- True. Clean hands slow down the transmission of the cold virus.
- False. Being in an enclosed space increases your chances of getting a cold.
- False. Antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. Colds are caused by viruses.
- True. Viruses can live on those surfaces, while disinfectants can kill them.
- False. A wet head might make you feel colder, but it won’t give you a cold.
- False. Vitamin C and zinc might shorten the duration of your cold, but won’t prevent it.
- True. It helps hair follicles in the nose drain germs out. And it thins out mucus.
- False. Colds occur more in spring and fall. Some viruses lie dormant in the winter.
There are more myths than facts when it comes to catching a cold. Stick with the facts to help prevent this unwelcome visitor now, and especially during a crisis.
Like what you read? There’s more where that came from. See how your stockpile stacks up… Click here!
Three years ago, I started taking Red Marine Algae Plus and Zeolite AV, both of which fight viruses, and I haven’t had a cold in those three years. Just lucky? Maybe, but I think they work to ward off viruses, and I won’t stop taking them.
If I get a cold it is usually during the holidays, when I spend more time in the stores handling the germy merchandise that has been handled by people with colds. I realize I should wash my hands more frequently, but it’s easy to forget during this season.
My favorite cold remedy is hot peppers added to soup, stir-fry, or just about any cooked food item. It clears my sinuses without overly drying out the mucous membranes like over-the-counter cold remedies do, and seems to speed healing.
You can treat it and it will last a week, or leave it untreated and it will last 7 days…
Anyone can and will catch a cold, sooner or later. What can you do to prevent getting or catching a cold?
1.) Stay healthy – By taking care of yourself, eating right, getting plenty of sleep, and stay away from sick people is a good start.
2.) Staying away from sick people is difficult because they don’t often show any signs of being ill. The only thing you can do is to employ proper hygiene procedures.
3.) Wash your hands, frequently. Wash them before you eat. Wash them when you come out of the restroom. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen guys leave the bathroom without washing only later to eat or shake your hand. Gross.) Wash your hands after playing with something dirty and before you play with your face, mouth, or eyes.
4.) Avoid sneezing or coughing in person’s direction. If you have to sneeze, do so away from people or downward towards the ground or better yet into the corner of your elbow.
5.) Avoid drafts. Stay warm. If you have to go from a warm place to a cold place; try and stay warm and keep your neck covered. (When the neck is cold it chills the throat which will allow a cold to get a foot hold.)
6.) Eat or drink foods that will help prevent a cold. Example: Citrus foods like oranges, lemons, pineapples and such with high concentrations of vitamin C. (The acidity helps the body by providing a inhospitable environment for the bacteria to grow in. The same can be said with a high concentration of sugar.) That is why honey in tea is so good for colds. Tea, green and black, are good because of the tanning and antimicrobial properties prevent the bacteria from growing.
Then there is the good ole Mom’s chicken soup. The high hot temperature and the chicken broth in the soup prevents the bacteria from growing and washes the throat decreasing the amount of active bacteria in your throat. Plus the noodles are delicious too.
7.) Sanitize common areas or shared areas at work and at home with a disinfectant. Most germs can only last a few hours outside a moist environment. However, there are some that can last 12 to 36 hours and all it takes is you to tap on your keyboard then touch your face or mouth to start the process all over again. This is why washing your hands frequently is so important.
These are things you can do to help you in the fight to stay health. However, be prepared for the unexpected, the person that coughs or sneezes into the air or in your general direction. I took a friend and his family to the grocery store. They didn’t have a car. Their son was sick. They went shopping while I stayed in the car. When they returned, I took them home. They were in my car for no longer than 10 minutes total. Three days later, I was sick as a dog. I had caught what the child had. I had it for 3 weeks. It was one of the worst colds ever to hit America in recent years. There was nothing I could have done any differently; other than not to have take this family to the store to get food. I haven’t been sick in 16 years until then.
Needless to say, the friend got his own car soon afterwards. I never told him that his family had gotten me sick. It was just one of those things. Best of luck folks.
Hi Frank,
I normally don’t answer blogs or such, but did want to add that I am immune to colds, flu and diseases and it is not because of anything I take or do. But because at a young age I decided that I was not going to allow psychological programming to influence how I felt or thought when I started to contract the flu one day 50 years ago.
It was a decision and as soon as I ‘commanded my reality’ as the only way I can describe the moment, I felt an internal shift, all symptoms of the flu went away and I have been immune to all sickness ever since; including infections. The prevention of sickness and disease is that simple, though the attitude that must be assumed is a 100% COMMITTMENT TO THE DECISION PROCESS. So, when I read about all of the preparations that are professed by so many and some may be helpful in the short run, only the willingness to BE the cure will facilitate the cure for anything. Medicine calls it remission, but it is really taking command of your personal reality, at least in this one area. Something authority will always steer one away from. Do what works for you until you are what works for you in all other areas, as well. It is what being sovereign is all about.
I myself drink 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar and 8 Oz of water twice a day and have yet to get a cold. But that’s me.
You are mistaken on nunber 6. Taking massive quantities of lipospheric vitamin C will keep you from getting a cold if you take enough soon enough. I have done this many times when a family member gets a cold that I dont have yet and it works. The ke is that it must be liphospheric not regular C as you can take much higher doasages without getting lose stool caused by regular vitamin C.
A strong immune system will keep you from getting a cold, and the flu, I found that Garlic will give you a strong immune system, bad thing about garlic is that it will be depleted out of your body in 2 to 3 days so you need a little almost every other day, a garlic container should last you about 9 to 11 months
colds are peaty viruses. The only way I know how to kill the virus is with silver. 10 ppm of ionized silver in water & drank will kill the cold virus & all other type viruses.
Homemade colloidal silver wipes out a cold in a few days….do your own research….a lot cheaper than buying it at the supplement store and more effective in my experience…
I too am a BIG fan of colloidal silver. A word of caution: Make sure to follow good guidelines that are available when making it at home. It is possible to turn yourself blue from too strong a solution.
I speak from the personal experience of a good friend of mine. Yes, he turned himself blue.