Natural Cold & Flu Remedies from Jordan’s Kitchen
By Jordan Rubin, Founder of Garden of Life Whole Food Nutritional Products

It's Going Around…‘Tis the season, isn’t it? I’m talking about colds and everyday flu bugs that knock us off our feet, make us feel awful, and stop us from being productive at home, in school, and at work.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the average American adult contracts between two and four upper respiratory illnesses a year—mostly during the “cold-and-flu season” between October and April. Children, as any parent knows, are more susceptible, since they’re cooped up with 20 or 30 classmates every day; they average between 6 and 10 colds a year.

Chilly weather itself has nothing to do with whether you get a cold. Researchers believe that the back-to-school influx in the fall provides a fine laboratory for the exchange of viruses. The climate change to colder weather also causes people to stay indoors, which increases their chances of being in close, physical proximity to a family member or friend with a viral condition. When people sneeze and wipe their runny noses on their fingers, they put you in a position to catch a cold from one of 200 or so rhinoviruses that take up residence in your nose, or “rhino” in medicalese. After parking themselves in your nasal cavity, these rhinoviruses go to work infecting the rest of your body as they replicate themselves by the billions. Before you know it, you’re sniffling and sneezing, and unless your body’s immune system can repel these invaders, you’re battling a cold.

Note from Christine: Proper sneeze etiquette now recommends cradling your arm (near elbow) in front of your nose and sneezing in your arm to prevent the spread of germs from hands.

Upon infection, your body becomes a virus-making factory for a day or two as the guest virus replicates itself over and over and over. Once a cold has you in its grip—they don’t call it “La Grippe” for nothing—it’s difficult to throw it off in less than two days. Most of the time, the aches, the sore throat, the runny nose, the scratchy throat, and the hacking cough usually hang around for 3 to 10 days, and residual coughing can last another two or three weeks. Flu viruses tend to be stronger than those of colds, but both are highly contagious and are passed along by a sneeze, a cough, or a kiss.

Colds and flu have a nasty way of defying cure or prevention, but I’m a great believer in two things to treat the wintertime crud: homemade chicken soup and apple cider vinegar diluted in water and mixed with honey. Homemade chicken soup—my Grandma Rose called it “Jewish penicillin”—stimulates the immune system. (see recipe below)

As for raw apple cider vinegar, this product of fermented apple juice is a wonderful combination of tartness and germ-killing acids. When mixed with pure honey and a few ounces of water, the drink becomes a bacteria-killing beverage. During and after a cold or flu, I also consume omega-3 cod liver oil (see Cod Mega or Cod Liver Oil by Garden of Life)  to make sure I manage inflammation, and ingest ample amounts of vitamins A and D, which are important for a healthy immune system.

So the next time you come down with the sniffles, you might try some of these natural remedies.

Chicken Soup (and Stock)

Yield: 6-10 servings

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (free range, pastured, or organic chicken)
3–4 quarts cold filtered water
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
4 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped
8 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
2–4 zucchinis
4–6 tablespoons of extra virgin coconut oil
1 bunch parsley
5 garlic cloves
4 inches grated ginger
2–4 tablespoons Celtic sea salt

Directions:

If you are using a whole chicken, remove fat glands and the gizzards from the cavity. By all means, use chicken feet if you can find them: they are full of gelatin. (Jewish folklore considers the addition of chicken feet the secret to successful broth.) Place chicken or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with the water, vinegar, and all vegetables except parsley. Bring to a boil and remove scum that rises to the top. Cover and cook for 12 to 24 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful the stock will be. About five minutes before finishing the stock, add parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth. Remove from heat and take out the chicken. Let cool and remove chicken meat from the carcass. Reserve for other uses such as chicken salads, enchiladas, sandwiches, or curries. (The skin and smaller bones, which will be very soft, may be given to your dog or cat.) Strain the stock into a large bowl and reserve in your refrigerator for use as a base for other soups.