Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

READER’S DIGEST

May• 2019 | 93

8 Anothercost-freewaytogetbet-
teralittlemorequicklyistofinda
caringfriendorrelativetonurseyou.
A 2009 studyshowedthatpatients
whoratedtheirdoctorswitha perfect
scoreonanempathyquestionnaire
weresickonedaylessthanpatients
withlesssensitivedoctors.Patients
withthemostempatheticdoctors
alsoshoweddoublethelevelsofIL-8,
a proteinmolecule the body releases
tofightcolds.

9 Chickensoupmightreallywork
tohelpeaseacold–thoughyour
mum’sspecialrecipeisn’tthereason.
Infact,mostclearsoupshelpbecause
it isthoughtthatthewarmliquideas-
escongestionandincreasesmucus
flow.“Ithinkchickensoupisgreatfor
hydration– hotliquids,saltand elec-
trolytes,”saysDrLausier.

10 Don’trelyonvitaminC.Ina
2013 reviewof 29 separatetrials,reg-
ularvitaminCsupplementsfailed
toreducecoldincidencesacrossthe
board.Hugedosestoeasesymptoms
hadsmalleffects in some but not all
studies.

11 Zinc,ontheotherhand,may
reducesymptoms.Accordingtore-
centstudies,zinclozengesorsyrup
canreducethelengthofacoldby
oneday,especiallyif takenwithin 24
hoursoftheonsetofsymptoms.“Zinc
isnecessary for the immune system to

perform,soyes,youcandefinitelyup

thedoseduringtheonsetofa cold,”

saysnutritionspecialistDrJonny

Bowden.

Ofcourse,youshouldcheckwith

yourdoctorfirsttomakesureit won’t

interferewith any of your medica-

tions.

12 Thecoldviruscansurvive

upto 24 hoursorlongeroutsidethe

humanbody,sogiveyourhandsa

goodscrubbingaftertouchingthat

doorknoborkitchentapatwork.

Infact,a small 2011 studyshowed

thatpeopleinfectedwithrhino-

virus,themostcommoncauseof

colds,contaminated 41 percentof

thesurfacesintheirhomes– includ-

ingdoorknobs,TVremotecontrols

andtaps.Anhouraftertouching

theinfectedsurfaces,thefingertips

ofnearly 25 percentofpeoplestill

testedpositivefora coldvirus.

13 Grandmawasright:gargling

canhelp,maybeevenasa preventa-

tive.InasinglestudyfromJapan,

somevolunteerswereaskedtoregu-

larlygarglewithwaterwhileothers

werenot.After 60 days,thegargling

grouphada nearly 40 percentde-

creaseincoldscomparedwiththe

controlgroup.

Tosoothea sorethroat,garglewith

one-quartertoone-halfofa teaspoon

ofsaltmixedwith 250 millilitresof

warmwater.Thesaltwilldrawout

excess fluids from your body.