Latest Cold and Flu News- Garlic

Cold and flu symptoms are a sign of vitamin D deficiency, but once you think you have these symptoms, what do you do? Besides taking extra vitamin D3, take garlic.

Garlic, raw garlic, is an all round health promoting herb.It can be very powerful at preventing and treating colds and flu symptoms. Because it is anti-viral, it can be used against warts. 

See what Cochrane Summaries, ( a newsletter that is part of Cochrane Library, a source of "Independent high-quality evidence for health care decision making") says about garlic.

Read what Dr. Mercola writes about garlic and about commonly offered medical management: ( my comments are in bold)

Cochrane Database—which has repeatedly reported that the science does not support the use of flu vaccine as a first-line defense for those persons over 65 years of age—has also reviewed studies on the alternatives, such as the use of garlic.15

They found that those who took garlic daily for three months had fewer colds than those who took a placebo, and, when they did come down with a cold, the duration of illness was shorter—an average of 4.5 days compared to 5.5 days for the placebo group.

While this may not seem overly impressive, it’s still better than the results achieved by the much-advertised flu drug Tamiflu. If taken within 48 hours of onset of illness, Tamiflu might reduce the duration of flu symptoms by about a day to a day and a half. That's the extent of what this $100-plus treatment will get you. It’s virtually identical to just taking garlic on a regular basis!

However, some patients with influenza are at increased risk for secondary bacterial infections when on Tamiflu—a risk you won’t take by eating garlic... Other adverse events of Tamiflu include pediatric deaths, serious skin reactions, and neuropsychiatric events, including suicide committed while delirious.



Read the whole article to find out the best way to take garlic and why. And what lifestyle issues lower your immune system and how to make changes for better health.

I can't forget to mention the finding, by Canadian scientists, in 2010, reported by the Vancouver Sun, that getting the seasonal flu shot appeared to increase the seriousness of a future flu illness. A new study by US government investigators reported in Science Translational Medicine August 28,2013, may have found the explanation. They did confirm the finding by the Canadian researchers, lead by Dr. Danuta Skowronski.


Get ready for flu season by building up your immune system.


To Your Health
Dr. Barbara