Common sense for the common cold

It is actually healthy for a person to have a six-day head cold about once a year, just to get things cleared out.

by Curt Burbach — 

It is perfectly normal for a person to experience a head cold once in a while. It is the body’s way of emptying out the trash, so to speak. It is actually a good sign because your body will not go into the cold mode unless it knows that it has enough energy to survive the ordeal. Since your body did in fact go into cold mode, that reveals a couple of things — first, your body, specifically your immune system and your elimination system, is strong enough to embark upon such a task. And second, your body has some morbid wastes it deems necessary to eliminate, and it has decided that now is the time to do it.

The mucous membranes that line the upper respiratory system gather and accumulate dirt, pollen, disease germs, smoke and other environmental pollutants. Therefore, it is actually healthy for a person to have a six-day head cold about once a year, just to get things cleared out. If your colds are occurring more often than that, you probably want to have someone evaluate the cause.

The best thing you can do is to not inhibit your natural healing processes. Your body knows how to perform this process — so it is best that you do not suppress any of these natural body processes, to the best of your ability. Over-the-counter medications are designed to suppress symptoms. And that, unfortunately, makes it hard for your body to accomplish its mission.

Conversely, you can help your body and its immune and elimination systems complete this task by feeding it extremely nutritious food, like organic fruits and vegetables. Also, avoid the harmful foods — sugar, caffeine, alcohol and dairy (because it produces more mucus), just to name a few.

A healthy amount of fluid will carry the wastes out, transport nutrition in and facilitate the whole process, so drink plenty of water and get lots of rest. A heavy elimination process such as a head cold also will put stress on the other major systems, since all the systems of the body work together. So, be good to yourself because your body needs to use its energy wisely right now.

Curt Burbach is completing his doctorate degree in natural health and is the assistant administrator of the holistic health department at the Carmel Community Center in Chandler, Ariz. 480-332-9190. www.healwithlori.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 26, Number 1, February/March 2007.