How can we prevent colds?

​What is VITAMIN A? Vitamin A is an essential vitamin that our body needs to stay healthy. If we are deficient in vitamin A, we may experience night blindness, dry and hardened skin, teeth and gums are not in good condition, and our body may find it difficult to fight germs and protect us from infections. Vitamin A helps keep the skin healthy and strong to protect us from germs and helps our body fight off diseases. We can find preformed vitamin A, as retinyl esters, in foods of animal origin like liver, red meat, eggs, fish, milk, butter, cream. Once in the body, retinyl esters are converted into vitamin A. Vitamin A dissolves in fats and oils like olive oil, avocado. Best to take it with meals that contain fats or oils. What is VITAMIN C? Vitamin C is another essential vitamin that our body needs to stay healthy. If we are deficient in vitamin C, we may experience fatigue, weak muscles, pain in our arms and legs, dry skin, swollen and bleeding gums, low appetite, irritability, depression. Our immune system is affected by how much vitamin C we have in our blood. Vitamin C helps our body make more of some proteins, interferons, that protect us from viruses. These proteins stop the viruses from spreading in our cells. Vitamin C can also help your body make more IgG and IgM antibodies that help our body recognize and destroy foreign invaders like bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites. Vitamin C is found in fruits and vegetables like oranges, fresh orange juice, red peppers, green chilli peppers, blackcurrants, sweet green. Vitamin C dissolves in water, so we can take it with a glass of water or freshly squeezed orange juice. What is VITAMIN B3? Vitamin B3 (niacin) is another essential vitamin that our body needs to stay healthy. If we are deficient in niacin, we may experience pellagra, a condition characterized by dermatitis (red, dry, itchy, scaly skin), dementia, diarrhea, and increase your risk of heart attack because it can lower your level of good HDL cholesterol. Niacin protects us from toxins and pollutants, improves circulation, helps our body convert food into energy and supports our nervous system and skin health. Niacin is found in foods like meat, fish, milk, eggs, green vegetables, cereal grains. Niacin dissolves in water, so we can take it with a glass of water or freshly squeezed orange juice.

Cold germs can cause runny noses, congestion, and cough. Why do we sneeze? Common treatments are decongestants and cough suppressants, which disguise symptoms but ignore the root cause. We catch colds when our resistance is down, the viruses attack cell membranes of our respiratory system like nose, sinuses, and bronchial tree. We can increase our resistance to cold germs by maintaining proper VITAMIN C and VITAMIN A, by proper rest and exercise, and by adequate hydration water intake. We can use VITAMIN B3 to liquefy nasal or sinus mucus rather than antihistamines that will thicken mucus and cause drowsiness. We can understand that catching a few colds early in life builds up our immune defenses.

​References Lee, John R. Optimal Health Guidelines. BLL Publishing, 1999. Strehlow, Wighard, and Gottfried Hertzka. Hildegard of Bingen's Medicine. Bear & Co, 1988. Braun, Lesley, and Marc Cohen. Herbs & Natural Supplements: An Evidence-Based Guide. Volume 2. 4th ed., Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2015. Natural Medicines, 2019.