TIPS FOR CURING THE COMMON COLD by Steven Horne

Gone in Less Than 24 Hours

Tips for Curing the Common Cold

By Steven Horne

Copyright © 2007 by Steven H. Horne







When I hear or read something that says, “There is no cure for the common cold,” I am amused. Of course there is a cure for the common cold—your body has healed itself of every cold you ever got.

Okay, so I’ve made the point that you can’t “cure” a cold (or any other disease for that matter) because only the body can cure anything. But, it’s entirely possible to enhance the body’s ability to recover from a cold, thereby shortening it’s duration, and I’m no talking about the commonly promoted natural cures like vitamin C, echinacea and so forth. While I’ve found some of these remedies may help prevent colds (or at least reduce their severity), I haven’t found them to be all that effective at curing them. So, what you’re about to hear is not the typical natural cold-relief advice you’ll get from books and magazines. However, I’ve found it to be consistently effective in over 25 years of practical experience.

Let’s start by understanding that a cold or a flu is simply a flushing of toxins from the system. The body got toxic and weak became a home for microbes (yeast, viruses, bacteria). The microbes release additional toxins as they reproduce. These toxins damage surrounding tissue creating more breeding grounds for microbes. That’s how the infection spreads.

The symptoms of fever, runny nose, etc. are created by the body’s immune response to both inhibit the growth and spread of the microbes and to flush the toxins from the system and clean up the environment so there is no more breeding ground. So, the goal is to help the body detoxify and flush the irritation. The faster this happens, the sooner you will be well.

Unfortunately, most of what we do to try to cure colds is actually interfering with recovery. That’s because we equate suppressing symptoms with curing the cold. What I learned that changed my approach was “the cold IS the cure.” In other words, I need to enhance the symptoms the body is producing, not fight against them. This speeds recovery.

It’s also very important to make clear that what I’m about to share with you works best when you apply it as soon as you start to feel a cold coming on. The sooner you get to it, the faster you will recover. I’ve “cured” colds, both in myself and in family members, in as little as two hours using these techniques. However, if you wait a day or so before you begin treatment, not only will these procedures not work as fast, there may be other things you need to do to enhance recovery.

Here are the basic things I do for colds (and other acute ailments).

Step One: Stop Eating

When you feel a cold or any acute ailment coming on, stop eating! This is usually easy to do because we tend to loose our appetite when we’re acutely ill. If you are hungry limit your intake of foods to liquids—preferably fresh fruit or vegetable juices or soup broths. When Hippocrates said, “Feed a cold, starve a fever,” that should have been translated, “If you feed a cold, you will have to starve a fever.” Take a lesson from children and animals, who usually refuse food when sick. You’ll decongest the body faster if you stop eating.

Step Two: Take Small, Frequently Repeated Doses of Appropriate Remedies That Help the Body Flush What is Irritating It

Second, if this is the early stage of a cold where there is watery, clear or white mucus, use aromatics such as capsicum, ginger, garlic, horseradish, mustard, etc. HCP-X (available through Nature's Sunshine Products) is a 200-year-old pioneer remedy for colds and flu that is highly effective even today. It is called Herbal Composition Powder and was developed by Samuel Thomson, who has been called the Father of American Herbalism.

Herbal composition powder is a great remedy, but my favorite cold formula is Herbal Crisis. This is a modification of Herbal Composition created by my first herb teacher Edward Milo Millet. The recipe for this formula is found in my Dr. Mom-Dr. Dad course and on this website. It is also available from Red Rock Naturals or ABC Herbs.

You can make the Herbal Crisis or Herbal Composition into a tea or you can mix the Herbal Crisis glycerite with warm water. Make at least a quart and start sipping this at the first sign of a cold. Take them in small, frequently repeated doses.

You can also use capsules, but take them with warm or room temperature water. If using capsules, I would take two every hour.

For children, I use Children’s Composition. This is a cold/flu/fever formula I used with my own children. The recipe is in my Dr. Mom-Dr. Dad course and on this website. You can also purchase this remedy from Red Rock Naturals or ABC Herbs. I give this remedy in small doses every 15-30 minutes with plenty of liquids.

These remedies work best when taken in the early stages of a cold when the mucus is thin, copious and clear or white. They do not work as well if you allow the cold to progress for a day or two before beginning the therapy. If the cold becomes more deep-seated, different remedies will be helpful. When the mucus becomes more thick and discolored goldenseal and echinacea may be helpful.

If the cold becomes congestion in the chest, then my favorite remedies are AL-J and garlic. AL-J is a Nature’s Sunshine formula. Raw garlic is the most effective remedy when the cold gets into the chest, but Nature’s Sunshine’s High Potency Garlic will work, too. Take four capsules of AL-J every two hours and one clove of raw garlic or one High Potency Garlic every four hours. For chest colds in children use liquid AL-J and garlic oil.

These are not the only possible remedies, just some of my favorites.

Step Three: Rest and Drink Plenty of Fluids

The old adage to rest in bed and drink plenty of liquids is good advice. Drinking fluids helps flush toxins from your body and rest allows your body to devote its energy to making you better.

Often these first three steps are all that is needed, but sometimes more is required.

Step Four: Clear the Bowels

Believe it or not, colds often involve a certain degree of constipation, especially if fever is present. So, doing something to open the bowels can often rapidly relieve cold symptoms such as fever and respiratory congestion.

There are a couple of ways to do this. If you are comfortable doing so, take an enema. I actually use the Herbal Crisis formula in an enema. I’ve used the Children’s Composition in enemas for children.
You can also take some kind of herbal laxative such as LBS II or Cascara Sagrada, but this is slow. A good alternative I’ve discovered is to take 2 digestive enzyme supplements every hour until the colon evacuates.

Step Five: Open the Sweat Glands

It can be very effective to sweat out a cold. This can be done by doing a sweat bath. Drink some HCP-X tea or Herbal Crisis with warm water, then get in a hot bath and soak for 15-20 minutes. You can add your favorite essential oils to the bath or 10 capsules of ginger if you like. After the bath, go to bed, pile on some blankets, drink lots of liquids and “sweat” the cold out.

Some people find physical activity that induces a sweat is helpful, too.

Step Six: Improve Lymphatic Drainage

If you have swollen lymph nodes, a sore throat or earaches, then take remedies to improve lymphatic drainage. One good way to do this is to mix 1 teaspoon Kidney Drainage and 1 teaspoon Lymphatic Drainage (Nature’s Sunshine Formulas) into a quart of water and sip frequently. Rub Tei Fu Lotion or Tei Fu Essential oil (also Nature’s Sunshine Products) into the swollen lymph nodes in the neck area.

I’ve used these techniques to cure colds in as little as two hours. About 90% of the time it works in less than 24 hours. Even if it takes longer, the length of the cold will be considerably shorter than it would be using other treatments.

Some Final Comments.

It is true that herbs have some direct antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral actions, but more importantly, herbs have the capacity to help rebalance the terrain in the body so that it is no longer a host environment for the microbes. So, you select remedies based on looking at the host terrain and not the organism that inhabits it.

For example, garlic and goldenseal are both antibacterial. But garlic is pungent, stimulating (warming) and dispersing, while goldenseal is bitter, cooling and astringent (consolidating). Knowing when different remedies are appropriate will help you get better results. For more detailed information, consult my Dr. Mom-Dr. Dad course or The ABC+D Approach course at www.treelite.com.

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