Natural Way to get rid of flu and cold: Zinc Lozenges (Cold Eeze) is a personal favorite

These are the best ways to fight a cold and, from personal experience, the flu, before it starts.

Recently, many co-workers started calling in sick with the flu. Most missed at least 2 or 3 days of work. I could feel the flu coming on: it started with a sore throat and then my body started aching. “Did they touch or cough the computer key board and I did not wash my hands well enough before touching my face,” I thought.

Within a day, I began to feel the body aches worsening and a slight tingle in my throat. I immediately started an intense course of zinc lozenges (Cold Eeze is still my favorite for this) every hour (with no citrus, or minerals, Mg+, Ca+: taken 30 min before or after: I just avoid all minerals & citrus when I’m taking zinc). I took a hot shower before bed, went to bed early and was fine in the am and did not get sick.

Even though Cold eeze and zinc lozenges in general do not claim to help with the flu and just claim to help to shorten the time of the cold, I am convinced it helps prevent a cold and even flu (though only have 2 case reports of me and my husband) and look forward to seeing randomized, controlled, double blinded studies, as this has happened a couple of times these last 2 years.

Also since many pneumonias start off as a early bronchitis from either a virus or bacteria, it will be interesting to see if zinc lozenges might help prevent pneumonia in some patients.

For the young kids (younger than 7), I hold the Cold Eeze in my hand and let them lick the lozenge as much as possible so they can get the zinc and not choke on the cough drop. I cannot wait till they make little lollipops for them. I make sure the child who is getting sick (is starting with sneezing in a house where the virus is making its rounds; or runny nose or says their throat is starting to hurt: you have to teach kids early to tell you as soon as they feel a little discomfort or pain in their throat for this to work) eats a piece of bread before I give the Cold Eeze as it can really upset the stomach if eaten on an empty stomach.

We now by bulk zinc lozenges every winter. So far the risk of zinc far outweigh the benefits.
The only short term side effects I could find with zinc on line:
-upset stomach if taken on empty stomach
-loss of smell if a great deal is taken.

Sandra Lora Cremers, MD, FACS

Also see below:

How Docs Kick Colds and Flu

I go herbal.

“To prevent colds, I’m a fan of North American ginseng, a botanical supplement you can find at health food stores. You have to take two doses of it every day during flu season, but the payoff is worth it: You can count on an approximate 30 percent reduction in the incidence of catching colds, which is pretty great. I also recommend zinc. Take it at the start of your symptoms — 30 mg per day — and it will shorten the duration of your cold by half.”

— David Katz, M.D., ABC News medical consultant and director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center in New Haven, CT