VITAMIN C – DOES IT WORK?
Vitamin C works but you have to take a lot – ideally 1 gram (that’s 20 oranges worth) an hour. I’ve done this for years and can usually knock a flu or cold on the head in 12 hours.
One study gave volunteers 8 grams on the first day of a cold and almost half, 46 per cent, were cold free the next day.
In a study involving 700 students, those taking hourly doses of 1000mg of Vitamin C for the first 6 hours and then 1 gram three times daily thereafter, reported an 85% decrease in cold symptoms compared to those receiving conventional cold and flu treatment.
When people quote evidence saying that vitamin C doesn’t work they are just talking about reviews of studies that used too low a dose. You have to have a high dose from the immediate impact of a virus. Then the results are impressive.
I know because I’ve been doing this for 30 years and have almost never suffered for more than 24 hours.
THINK ZINC
The mineral zinc, in doses of 50–100mg a day, has also proved to be anti-viral. It is available in lozenges for coughs and colds. On a daily basis, as prevention, supplement 15mg a day. Supplementing this amount of zinc has been shown to make the body’s T-cells much more effective, hence boosting immunity.
Some vitamin C tablets contain zinc, eg 3mg per tablet. If you take 10 to 20 tablets over 24 hours, at the onset of a cold you’ll be getting effective amounts of zinc.
IMMUNE BOOSTING BERRIES
Especially immune-boosting are blue-red foods. Black elderberry, for example, stops viruses from penetrating cells and spreading their germs. In a double-blind controlled trial, elderberry extract given to those with flu, produced a significant improvement in symptoms – fever, cough, muscle pain – in 20 per cent of patients within 24 hours, and in a further 73 per cent of patients within 48 hours.
After three days, 90 per cent had complete relief of their symptoms compared to another group on a placebo, who took at least six days to recover. In another double-blind controlled trial, black elderberry extract cut recovery time in those with influenza by four days.
The hero ingredient in blue-red foods is anthocyanidins (cyan means blue). For a virus to invade and infect cells it must release an enzyme called neuraminidase. The drug Tamiflu was a neuraminidase inhibitor. So is vitamin C. Anthocyanidins have a direct effect on inhibiting neuraminidase.
Most people think of blueberries but two of the richest sources of anthocyanidins are bilberries and cherries, and particularly Montmorency cherries. A single shot of CherryActive, a concentrate of pure Montmorency cherries, provides the same level of anthocyanidins as 180 blueberries.
During an infection it’s worth having two or three shots a day, in a hot drink with pieces of fresh ginger, which soothes sore throats.
WHAT I TAKE
“At the first sign of a cold I take 3 grams of a souped up C formula containing zinc, black elderberry, zinc and ginger, plus a shot of CherryActive, then 1 gram an hour, plus more CherryActive. Invariably I’m symptom free the next day.”
Helpful information
If you are run down, stressed or hormonally imbalanced then your immune system is likely to be compromised and you may also be suffering from adrenal fatigue. If you deal with those additional factors as well and you will have a winning formula to beat a cold.
To find out more about boosting your immune system and protecting against colds and flu read Patrick Holford’s book Boost Your Immune System which is available from his website.
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2017/01/13/symptoms-that-you-might-have-a-hormonal-imbalance-2/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2016/12/30/signs-you-have-adrenal-fatigue/