Herbal Remedies To Help Combat The Cold

Do you feel the cold all through winter? Do you suffer from cold hands and feet? Have Raynaud’s Syndrome? Then you need to get the blood supply rushing round the body or the supply of nutrients and oxygen will fall off and outlying areas such as the hands and feet will become devitalized and sensitive, easily wounded and prone to skin problems.

Ginkgo biloba has been used medicinally by the Chinese for centuries as one of the herbal remedies to help combat the cold and is the remedy most famous for stimulating the arterial circulation. The arterial circulation is what takes oxygenated blood round the body to the organs and tissues, and if it is not particularly strong, then the outlying regions, such as fingers and toes, tend to get rather chilly. Ginkgo works in a number of ways:

* It relaxes spasm in the small arteries and capillaries, making it easier for blood to flow right into the deepest corners

* It stabilizes those same small arteries and capillaries, reducing the way the walls are attacked by free radicals and thus preventing the walls being broken down.

* It reduces the stickiness of the platelets in the blood, making the blood less thick and turgid.

* The overall effect is that it is easier for the blood to flow around the body effectively.

For those suffering from Raynaud's Disease, or just plain cold hands and feet, you can also benefit from the action of Ginkgo. With this condition, it is extremely important to avoid sudden temperature changes which cause the blood supply to the hands and feet (and sometimes other areas such as the nose) to be interrupted.

Those areas turn white then blue as the oxygen supply runs out, and then red as the blood supply is finally resumed. During the white and blue state, cold and numbness are the primary features, but the return of feeling can be extremely painful. Remember, however, not to take Ginkgo if you are on anticoagulant medication, e.g. aspirin or warfarin.

The following are not herbal remedies to help combat the cold but they are helpful just the same.

Huddling by the fire in three layers of thermals can actually leave you feeling colder than if you had a brisk walk. Take gentle but regular exercise – even just five minutes round the block before breakfast, another five at lunchtime and a brisk walk in the evening. Run up and down the stairs a few times. Do some home yoga. Anything to get your blood moving.

If you are venturing out into the cold, make sure you wrap up warmly, especially around the head, throat and chest. Make sure shoes fit well. If they don’t, they make circulation worse. Brisk walking will make you feel great and make it harder for bugs to take hold of you.

Eating stodge for comfort and to warm you from the inside out can be very destructive if combined with lack of exercise. Keeping active or taking up an extra winter activity will help improve your blood flow and keep you warm. Choose warm, comforting foods that don’t consist entirely of fat and sugar and add plenty of stimulating spices.

Find recipes for healthy bean and vegetable soups and stews, rice dishes with nuts and warming vegetable stews. Fish oils and garlic will help blood flow and can be both used in the diet and taken as supplements.

Talking of cold, not many people get through the winter without having suffered at least one bout of the sniffles. That’s why it’s important to have a supply of good quality Echinacea drops or tablets on hand in preparation for the cold season.

Other herbal remedies to help combat the cold include taking Echinacea regularly between October and the beginning of February. This means that your immune system will be on the alert, ready to deal with the miseries of colds and flu during the winter months. If however you have already caught a bug, Echinacea will help speed up your recovery time.

Three species are used medicinally but it is Echinacea purpurea that carries the most credibility in the form of solid research evidence. Numerous studies have now confirmed the use of Echinacea in strengthening the immune system, for the treatment and prevention of colds and flu.

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