How to Treat a Cold or Flu Naturally (plus prevention tips!)

Why am I qualified to write about how to treat a cold or flu naturally? Here's the deal: Almost every year of my life, I would catch whatever cold was going around. Usually this happened in winter, but sometimes I got those annoying summer colds too (what a drag to have to keep a box of Kleenex nearby when you're sunning at the beach). Most of my colds weren't enough to keep me home from school or work, but I did have a few that were real whoppers. By the time I became an adult, I started to get the flu -- every year! We're talking the sudden onset, high fever, delirious, nauseating, uncontrollable chills, no appetite kind. It was awful. I'd be out of work and laid up in bed with broth and Saltines for days.

But then that all changed.

About five years ago, I started studying medicinal herbalism and learned a couple of tried and true techniques for how to treat a cold or flu naturally -- but more importantly, I learned how to PREVENT them.

Result? I haven't had the flu in over five years. I would be able to say that about colds too, but alas, that record got broken at the 4.5 year mark when I spent six hours traveling to a New Year's 2007 bash in a small sedan with a friend who had one of the worst colds in the history of colds. Those are pretty extraordinary circumstances in close quarters, and I have to admit I was tempting fate. Still, with what I know about how to treat a cold, the cold I caught from him only lasted three days, while he suffered its effects for two weeks. Not bad, huh?

While colds and flus are both caused by viruses, they have very different characteristic symptoms and are therefore treated differently.

If I were to distill it down to some key signifiers, it would be these:

Fever: A fever is a hallmark symptom of the flu and is almost always present if you've been invaded by the flu virus. It is not usually present with colds.

Sudden onset: Minding your own business and then all of a sudden you feel like death warmed over, weak, achy, racked with chills and fever, and what little energy you can summon is used exclusively for running for the toilet? That's not a cold, that's the flu! Colds usually come on more gradually. (By the way the toilet component is not always present in all flus.)

Body aches and chills: These are quite pronounced and severe in the case of flus, and not so much with a cold.

Nausea: Usually present in some cases of the flu, but hardly ever in colds.

Sneezing, stuffy/runny nose, sore throat, brain fog, loss of the ability to taste: These symptoms are much more pronounced in the case of colds.

Long story short? If the majority of your symptoms are in your nose, you have a cold (hey, that's why it's called 'rhinitis' -- "rhin-" being the root word for nose). If you suddenly feel like crap all over and just want to crawl in bed and stay there, and not just because you want pity -- you've most likely got the flu.

Poor baby!

It might start with a tickly scratch in the throat and a sniffly irritated nose, then usually descends into the river of snot. You feel pretty bad, but you can still soldier on and go to work or school and basically be a public menace thanks to your germ-filled secretions.

We'll get into how to be less of a menace later. In the meanwhile, please go elsewhere to sneeze and for God's sake, cover your mouth when you do so!

At the first sign of a cold -- you probably know what this feels like for you -- get thee to the pharmacy with this simple two-item shopping list:

zinc lozenges

echinacea tea

Zinc has been shown to halt or shorten the duration of colds if you start taking it often within hours of the first sign of a cold (and beware not to mix it with Vitamin C, as this will negate its effects). Personally, I take Coldeeze (see links below to purchase) bubblegum or meltaway flavorless tabs. These are my preferred ways to take zinc because, and I won't lie, most zinc lozenges taste like you're sucking on a rusty pipe. Gross. Oh, and do NOT take this stuff on an empty stomach! It is prone to make you nauseated if you do. When I'm on the run, I'll eat a banana or some cottage cheese and then pop one of those yummy zinc gumballs.

Echinacea is a real gift to us humans from the plant kingdom. Its root (when aged at least three years) possesses chemical constituents that can help us fight off viral and bacterial infection. Combine this with goldenseal tea (this is an endangered herb; be sure you use only the cultivated plant), and you've got a winning combination. Now, despite what I said about zinc lozenges tasting horrid above, you do have to be a little courageous to receive the full benefit of these plants, because for them to be most effective, you should really take them in the form of a hot tea. The roots are quite bitter but you can always sweeten with honey (and who knows, you may not be able to taste much at this point anyway). Some herbal tea companies blend proprietary formulas to make echinacea more palatable (see below for some examples). But really, it doesn't taste that bad, and it works like a charm if you really slam it at the first sign of a cold. I usually have about four or five big steaming hot mugs of it per day when I'm fighting something off (one mug every three hours or so). You may also take echinacea in tincture or pill form but I find that the tea works effectively and, because it comes in a liquid, helps you stay hydrated and flushes out toxins (that is, in your pee). Studies have found that after about 10 days echinacea's effectiveness begins to wear off, so really try to use this technique within the first 48 hours or so. I'll tell you about using echinacea for prevention later.

The last time I got the flu, I was minding my own business at my desk at work when all of a sudden I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I was nauseated and dizzy and raced to the bathroom just in case I really did throw up (thankfully, I didn't). The walls felt like they were moving and the floor was sliding away underneath my feet. Then the chills started. I was freezing, even though it was certainly at least 70 degrees F in our building. Then the body aches came. I was racked with them. The only thing I could think to do was to curl up into a tight ball. I ended up having to have my dad come pick me up from work to take me to Urgent Care (this was the first time he'd come to pick me up because I was sick since fifth grade!). The folks at Urgent Care charged me a bunch of money to tell me I had a 103 degree fever and diagnose me with the flu. Yippee.

Here's a tiny bit of traditional Chinese medicine theory for you: evil invasions (i.e., the flu virus) usually enter through the back, usually at the base of your neck or at the lower back, between the kidneys. The defensive matrix of energy your body naturally circulates all over the surface of your body detects the invasion and rushes energy to the point of entry and tries to literally shake it off. This is why we get chills -- and these chills usually run up and down our spines, especially around the upper back/neck area. Eventually the defensive matrix slams the pores shut to prevent any more invaders from getting inside, but this also effectively locks the bad guys that have already penetrated in your body.

The obvious way to prevent pathogen entry this way is to keep the back of the neck and the lower back covered during fall and winter (windy weather in general). (And about keeping that lower back covered -- we can all agree that a bonus to having to deal with fewer colds and flus around us is not having to see so many muffin-tops and norges.)

Anyway, pathogen entry is a crucial moment, with colds also, but ESPECIALLY with flus. The thing to do now is to SWEAT. You try to sweat out the little buggers while they are still near the surface of the skin, before they've penetrated any further into the interior. How do you do this?

(This method also works well for those who are in the very early stages of a cold -- that is, within the first 24 hours.)

First, take a hot, soothing bath and drink a cup of fresh ginger tea to get all that energy circulating and relax the muscles which are probably at this point tired out from being cramped due to chills and body aches. Get into some warm PJs, then climb into bed and throw on as many blankets as possible. (I suppose you could put a few towels down on the sheets and pillows too, because the idea is to sweat here, and when you're sick you can't be bothered to change the bedclothes. Lie there and watch "South Park" or whatever makes you happy and sweat the little buggers out. (Maybe a TV isn't the best thing to have in your bedroom, but when you're sick re-runs of "I Love Lucy" or "Perfect Strangers" can be incredibly comforting.) If you're lucky enough to have someone look after you, you may also prepare and eat several fresh cloves of raw garlic, which will not only help you sweat but will also fight off germs in your body (and repel vampires! Because who needs vampires coming to call when you have the flu? Not me!). For example you may chop up some garlic and pour extra-virgin olive oil over it, then dip some nice bread into the infused oil, sopping up the bits of garlic. Or crush a clove in a garlic press and add it to broth or chicken soup after you've turned off the heat (the point is to keep it raw).

You'll probably fall asleep because your body's exhausted and needs you to shut down so it can do its work of dealing with the cold or flu. But at some point you'll wake up feeling gross and sweaty, so get into some dry clean clothes and take the towels off the sheets and go sleep some more.

I have to say, the sweating technique is incredibly effective, if you catch your flu (or cold) within hours of its onset. If you can aim for acting within the first 12 hours, you've got a very good chance of stopping it in its tracks.

Note: this kind of intense sweating therapy is not recommended for weak, sickly people. If you get recurring colds or are generally physically fragile, rely upon the herbs mentioned below, simple foods, hydration, and REST!

When your cold or flu comes on, you can more effectively treat it if you pay attention to your symptoms and figure out what kind of cold/flu you have.

The "hot" cold (yes, Virginia, there is such a thing, according to traditional Chinese medicine) will present with a runny nose full of yellow mucous, slight chills, thirst, a very sore throat and sweating.

A "hot" flu would present with any of the above symptoms but most pronounced would be a fever and dislike of heat.

A "cold" cold would show a runny nose with clear mucous or a stuffed-up nose, no thirst, no sweating, not much of a sore throat, and chills.

A "cold" flu would present with strong chills, shivering and a fear of cold. (Like the one I described myself coming down with at work above). The fever will not be as pronounced as the body-racking chills.

Any of these patterns may present with a headache, and certainly both types of flu will have body aches.

For hot colds or flus, add cool/cold antiviral herbs like goldenseal, boneset or oregon grape root to more cool-to-neutral ones like lemon balm, chamomile, elder and echinacea. Add a warming herb like yarrow or the afore-mentioned fresh ginger to help the formula move around your body.

For cold colds or flus, add warm/hot antiviral herbs like garlic, elecampane, fresh ginger, sassafrass, cinnamon or angelica to the more neutral lemon balm, chamomile, edler, and echinacea as mentioned above.

If you are able to do the sweating thing (unless you're of a more delicate constitution, that is), great. Take these herbs at the same time and continue on until the cold or flu is resolved. If you missed the window and the cold's into its second or third day, still determine the sort of cold you have and begin taking either a "hot" or "cold" formula made from the herbs mentioned above.

I like to be sure elder, echinacea and lemon balm make it into every formula, so if possible aim to use these three as a base. Get lots of rest -- don't be afraid to use those sick days (you'll do your coworkers and travelmates a big favor if you stay home). Finally, stick to simple, soupy foods that don't gunk up your system, which would prevent the herbs from circulating.

Elder is one of my all-time favorite herbs, and I wanted to give it special mention here because it is particularly effective at treating and preventing colds and flus.

A tea made from its beautiful white, fragrant flowers is a soothing diaphoretic, gently dries a runny and irritated nose, and has antiviral properties.

A syrup or extract made from the berries is delicious and has shown remarkable antiviral properties in studies, including one in which the extract shortened the duration of a flu to three to four days!

If I have nothing else I'll take copious amounts of the tea at first sign of a cold and have a few teaspoons a day of the syrup when flu season hits or when I know I'm going to be around sick people. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but so far it's worked very well!