BODY ORGANS

lungs

colon

immune system

SPINAL ADJUSTMENT

cervical 1-4 and thoracic 3-4-5

A cold is actually your friend rather than your enemy. It is the body's response to foreign invasion. The acute production of fluids is its way of expelling the invaders. The important point to note is that even before your cold develops, your immune system has become so debilitated that the invaders see your body as a benign environment. Antibiotics will certainly help to expel these enemies, but they will not alter your body's benign status. The more sensible and longer-term approach is to render your body hostile to interlopers.

Antibiotics furthermore can have a negative effect on the body generally. A more natural and balanced way to respond to colds might be as follows:

Tone up your body with a hot bath followed by a cold shower.

Eat more anti-catarrhal foods such as onions, garlic, chives, ginger (food that is hot, bitter, putrid or astringent rather than sweet, sour or salty - see The Eight Different Tastes).

Drink hot lemon and honey (as effective a cure for colds as any medicine dispensed by a chemist).

The most effective, relief for a really rough throat combined with a cold is to eat 20 peppercorns (at the same time, not one at a time). It may seem dramatic, but it works. Chew them and drink a cup of hot water. The relief is usually immediate. if you continue to be plagued, repeat every 4 hours.

If your cold is accompanied by constipation and you do not have onions or cannot make soup, buy effervescent vitamin C tablets. Take 2 in a glass of water every 2 hours until bowel movement begins. Should diarrhoea set in, this will indicate that your cold has been dispelled.

The popular myth that you should starve a fever and feed a cold is incorrect. The opposite is the case. Starve the cold and feed the fever. When you have a fever the body needs energy to fight it. It should be fed slowly. I recommend the following additional remedies for a sore throat.

a 24-hour fast

Olbas oil lozenges

a gargle made with sage, or a rind of lemon if no sage is available.

Squeeze the juice out of the lemon, grate the rind and boil in water.

FRESH JUICE RECIPE

Mix together equal amounts of the following juices to make 750ml:

lemon

carrot

grapefruit

orange

Add 250ml of spring water and a pinch each of salt and black pepper.

Drink while chewing on a piece of fresh ginger

Colds, coughs and fevers.

For a fast remedy, mix together the juice of 1 onion with the juice of 1 lemon. Drink the mixture followed by a cup of hot water.