combine 2 cloves crushed garlic, a heaping spoonful of ground cayenne, and a spoonful of honey. steep in one pint boiled water for an hour. drink.

I had a mate once swore by eating three cloves of raw garlic. Having said that, he is now dead. I don't think the garlic was directly responsible but I feel it's only fair to give you both sides of the coin on that one.

I've found of late that the best way not to get ill is to get down the gym and keep my immune system up. Apparently this is called "health seeking behavior" but you have to start it when you're well. So that's also a fat lot of use. Sorry Ned.

Zinc baby, Zinc.

I have noticed that my colds have much shorter life spans since I have been cycling to work over the past few months, so i agree with the exercise tip.

It's probably too late for you now, but anytime I feel just a hint of a cold, I will take some zinc. 2X30mg tablets a day for the first two days and then slow it down to one a day - too much can make you more sick (and this was recommended by a real doctor). its a good idea to stay up on zinc in general. also good to have an emergen-c just cuz, every now and then. aside from that, once i got it, i tend to over-rely on nasal spray, just so i can taste food.

I second Cory (@3). Zinc seems to work pretty well for me, and I've read there is some scientific basis for believing it works. The problem is that it leaves a horrible taste in your mouth and feeling in your stomach. You have to take it at the first sign of a cold, and keep up the regimen for longer than you want.

Of the many zinc options out there, the only one I sort of like is Nature's Way zinc lozenges (they're sitting here on my desk or I wouldn't know their name), which come with bonus vitamin C and placebonus echinacea.

two words: Bloody Mary

(thick, with a fucking garden in it)

I've had a ton of success with Umcka. It's always at the check-out section of New Seasons, and although it's a bit pricey, it usually does the trick.

make a brothy chicken soup with a crap-ton of chopped garlic, hot peppers, and a little lime juice. and force yourself to sleep as much as possible. i can usually kick a cold in a couple of days doing this.

I had a cold recently. I took Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Severe (pills, not the bottle) because it was about the only thing Zupan's carried and that was where I found myself. And in about 6 hours, the cold went from out-of-control to barely there. I got two boxes but it turned out I only needed one (two days).

Echinacea, in its raw form, isn't bullshit. You can buy it bulk, and it has a scorched earth policy toward infection in general.

Airborne is nice, too, though.

I used to be a Zicam man, but I'm all about the Umcka these days. It has the same effect of shortening the cold's duration, but ingesting it is a lot more pleasant (tasty hot drink) than Zicam.

I know this is a long post, but what oh well. This soup kick ASS, and colds:
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1tsp ground turmeric (careful of surfaces in the kitchen. This stuff STAINS)
- 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cups vegetable, chicken, or mushroom broth (I use all 3 sometimes and lots more than this calls for. Just eye ball it until it looks like soup).
- 1 1/2 cups julienned fresh kale (I use the whole damn bunch. To me this is the best part of this recipe)
- 1 cup butternut squash, cut into 1/4" cubes
- 2 tbs grated fresh ginger (fresh is a pain in the ass so I sometimes use powdered).
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (careful on this. For some reason this soup gets spicy in a hurry if you add even a little too much cayenne)
- 5-6 thin slices astragalus root (this makes it "immune boosting")
- juice of 1 fresh lemon (this makes it pretty lemon-y at the end. I prefer less, Mark loves it)
- 1 tsp miso paste

In a sauce pot over medium-high heat sauté onion & garlic in olive oil for 3 min.
Add turmeric & mushrooms. (careful not to have the heat too high because turmeric burns very easily).
Sauté 2 min.
Add broth, kale, ginger, cayenne, and astragalus.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, add butternut squash, cover & simmer 15 min.
Remove from heat for 5-10 min then add the miso & lemon juice.

I came down with a cold in Mexico City, and got this combination at a fresh fruit juice stand and it totally knocked my cold OUT: orange, grapefruit, honey and guayaba. unfortunately you can't get guayaba here (I don't think) but if you ever have the chance, that stuff is amazing.

What I usually do is same as @1 -- garlic, cayenne, honey & boiling water -- except I add lemon or lime juice. That works pretty well.

Matt - was your friend a vampire?

Thanks everyone, for all the tips. This cold doesn't stand a chance.

I was getting sick last week and I tried that airborne stuff...I didn't wind up getting sick.

Oh, that's right Greg, come in at the last minute with the "airborne" post. Mate, there are SHITAKE MUSHROOM AND TURMERIC SOUP POSTS on here. Use your imagination. Flex your blog muscles.

And Ned, no, he wasn't. He was called "Dave." Although perhaps he was really called Vlad and just trying to throw us off the scent. Either way RIP Dave/Vlad.

La foi (@13), "guayaba" = guava

The thing is that a lot of things work pretty well at prevention. Zinc keeps bacteria from reproducing, garlic thins the blood and has anti-infective properties etc.. If you get it at the first signs of infection, you'll probably be okay but once a virus takes hold, it will pretty much have to run it's course. You can treat theth symptoms and maybe shorten the duration but that's about it.

Airborne.

Also, that tonic in the first comment by f works well, but I like to add two cloves of mashed garlic to it.