Treating a cold

I hate going to the doctor, particularly for an illness like a cold that normally falls short of needing prescription medication. One thing I do on my own is to take some vitamin D3 when I first feel cold symptoms coming on. It's a powerful immune system booster, even better than vit C. You can take up to 50,000 IU per day for a few days, or, better yet, get out in the sun, provided it's not winter or overcast.

Another important thing to do is to stay hydrated. With a runny nose and coughing up lots of phlegm, it's easy to get dehydrated. Water will help keep the mucus thin, which in turn helps prevent stagnation and infection.

For a sore throat, I've also found zinc lozenges to be effective about half the time.

[[MORE]]I think it's a good idea to limit physical activity when you're sick. When your body is working hard to fight off an infection, the last thing it needs is to have to divert resources to repairing systems that may have been slightly damaged (as muscles are when heavily loaded), or to dispose of any extra waste products that were generated during the associated metabolic processes. For the latter reason, I don't over-eat while I'm sick. Limiting activity doesn't necessarily mean bed rest, though. It seems like some movement to keep the lymph system active would also be a good idea (since lymph fluid doesn't have a pump of its own, and so is only moved around by physical activity).

I'm also very skeptical about treating fevers, unless they get high enough that they might damage the brain (105+). Fevers are one of the body's natural ways of killing the invaders; why would you want to suppress that?

Health-related risk management

As with all health and diet issues, when assessing risk and determining trade-offs, it’s best to look at the whole picture, rather than just one narrow piece.  For example, consider the risk of contaminated raw milk.  In the event that something bad happens, the resulting conditions should be quickly diagnosable and readily curable with antibiotics.  However, the same is not true for the more serious conditions that raw milk may help you avoid, such as heart disease or immune system dysfunction.

[[MORE]]This is similar to the “too much sun” argument and Vitamin D.  While it’s true that staying out of the sun will reduce your risk of certain skin cancers, those cancers tend to be among the most treatable and survivable.  However, the lower level of Vit D from staying out of the sun also increases your risk of getting the more serious cancers, which are not very curable.

The total cholesterol argument is also similar: you may avoid heart disease with low total cholesterol, but your average lifespan is also likely to be decreased (more death from cancer and other diseases).

Seasonality of Influenza

On the subject of the seasonality of influenza, here’s an interesting chart that shows the seasonality of Vit D levels and the correlation with the flu season.  The chart is from the following article:

http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/44680902.html

Note, however, that the 30 ng/mL that it calls “optimal” is now considered much too low (Dr Joe Prendergast recommends a target range of 100 to 200 ng/mL).

Getting enough Vitamin D

Dr John Cannell at the Vitamin D Council did a thorough review of the literature and found that 10,000 IU of Vit D3 is safe for long-term supplementation.  The skin can make that much Vit D after a relatively short exposure to the sun (well before it turns pink). In some parts of the world (such as the UK), local atmospheric conditions absorb significant amounts of UV light, so even being outside in the sun isn’t a guarantee of having enough Vit D.

It’s not uncommon these days for people to need one to three months of 50,000 IU/day to get their levels corrected.  Always take Vit D3, not D2, and take it in the morning.  Bio-Tech is a good brand; they are a high-quality manufacturer.  I've used them for years, and have followed-up with lab tests to verify levels, with excellent results.

[[MORE]]One Vit D site I like:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

Dr T at Nephropal talks a lot about it:
http://nephropal.blogspot.com/search/label/vitamin%20d

Dr Joe Prendergast’s talk to the Smart Life Forum is also worthwhile:
http://smartlifeforum.org/wiki/2007/02
He suggests a target range of 100-200 ng/mL (250-500 nmol/L)

Carlson makes a liquid version, with 2000 IU per drop, in a coconut oil base (sugar free):
http://www.iherb.com/Carlson-Labs-Ddrops-Vitamin-D3-2000-IU-10-ml/10364
Adding the drops to a little cream works great.

Vit D isn’t really a vitamin in the usual sense; it’s actually a pro-hormone.

Vit D is a strong immune booster; my family and I take a loading dose at the first sign of a cold or sore throat (or before being in a confined space with many other people for an extended period, such as on a plane flight overseas), and have found it to be very effective (much better than Vit C).  It’s also important for vasodilatation (blood pressure) and insulin sensitivity.

One interesting statistic I remember is that although cancers seem to start in any season, the most common season people die from cancer is in the Winter, when Vit D levels are at their lowest.

If you shop at iHerb (my favorite online vitamin store, and they have very inexpensive overseas shipping, too), you can get $5.00 off of your first order by using my referral code, if you like: RIC830 (if you do, they also give me a small credit).