WITH 3 SIMPLE STEPS
When winter hits, the frequency of colds and flu seems to appear quickly and with force! For most of us, the first sign of coughing or sneezing is enough to make us stay cosy in our warm beds, reducing training volume, drink oodles of chicken soup and run to the pharmacy to stack up on an array of purported vitamins and minerals all claiming to cure the common cold (sound familiar?!).
Unfortunately most cold & flu supplements are a waste of money despite perhaps having a placebo effect, particularly when it comes to multivitamins they are exactly as the ads on TV say: “only of use if your dietary intake is incomplete”. Your diet is NOT incomplete (even if you have a few days of poor eating – the ‘safety factors’ built into the RDI’s are huge), so you don’t need to be taking a full-spectrum multi. Research has shown that standard supplementing of the diet with a multi can actually do more harm than good (we see higher incidence of head-cold & flu – not the outcome you want!)
Besides ensuring you are eating your fruits and veggies, you can target a few key nutrients that have actually been shown in active populations to support immune function. We call it the ‘immunity supplement pack’!
AT THE FIRST ONSET OF ILLNESS: 3 Simple steps
& Throughout the duration of the illness:
- 3 cloves of crushed/cut garlic, eaten with or in meals throughout the day OR 600mg-1200mg of aged garlic extract, split into multiple doses and taken with meals
- 1000-2000mg of vitamin C, in 500mg doses over the day
- 1 High strength probiotic or combination pre and probiotic (that contains at least 20 Billion CFU e.g FloraMax, Entralive, Bioceuticals Ultrabiotic) OR 2 Inner Health Plus
Until symptoms disappear:
- 50-75mg of Zinc, twice per day (AM & PM)
WHEN YOU HAVE SIGNS OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS (DRY THROAT/HOARSE VOICE):
FOLLOW AS PER FIRST ONSET & ADD until symptoms disappear:
- 90mg or 30mL Pelargonium sidoides (Umckaloabo – Blackmores Kaloba), three times a day (AM, MIDDAY & PM)
WHEN YOU HAVE A CHRONIC STUFFY NOSE:
AS PER FIRST ONSET & ADD until symptoms disappear:
- 2g Spirulina, daily for 4 weeks
IF SYMPTOMS PERSIST AFTER 1 MONTH ADD:
- 300mg Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi or Amrita), three times per day (AM, MIDDAY & PM)
A few notes…
- Try to get single supplements of these – when you get stacks, or multi’s it is very difficult to get the right dosing. So you will have a few tablets/bottles, but you can be safe in the knowledge that you are using what works, and steering clear of the heavily marketed nonsense that only creates expensive urine.
- If you are taking antibiotics, it is especially important to be taking a high strength probiotic – it makes the antibiotics more effective (therefore less likely to need 2nd round scripts)
Don’t supplement for longer than 6 weeks, if you are still feeling sick then it’s likely time to get some blood work done
Angie Clark – P360 Sports Deititian
Instagram – iPerformance_Nutrition
