While your best line of defense against the flu is a flu vaccine, approximately five to 20 percent of the U.S. population will get the flu each year. Some groups are more likely to experience serious cases and complications from the seasonal flu. Among them:
● Seniors: those aged 65 and older
● Children: especially those younger than 2
● People with chronic health conditions
● People with compromised immune systems
What Are the Symptoms of Flu?
Most people who develop the flu experience a sudden onset of symptoms, which will, in most cases, clear themselves up within one to two weeks. These symptoms may include fever, with or without chills, nausea, aches, fatigue, upper respiratory symptoms including congestion, and dizziness or weakness.
What Are Some Natural Supplements I Should Stock Up On?
During flu season, it may be particularly beneficial to be cognizant of your daily vitamin and supplement intake. Added in the right amounts as a regular part of your diet, they can help prevent illness, or ease symptoms and shorten the duration of your illness. As with any medication or nutritional supplement, it’s important to speak with your doctor or pharmacist before beginning any regimen, to avoid any potential drug interactions and avoid aggravating any underlying medical conditions.
While some supplements can be taken during the illness to ease symptoms and shorten illness duration, you may benefit more from taking these supplements daily, year-round.
Vitamin C
While it’s the subject of much debate, vitamin C may not help to actually prevent a cold. However, vitamin C does help boost immune system function, and there is evidence to suggest that taking high doses of vitamin C may help shorten the duration of your illness. It may also help ease some of the symptoms of your flu bug, acting as an antihistamine and anti-inflammatory to help dry up a runny nose, for example. One study found that reported flu and cold symptoms in a test group decreased 85 percent compared with the control group after being given a megadose of vitamin C.
Because vitamin C is essential to maximizing your immune performance, you should make sure that you’re getting your daily intake of vitamin C on a regular basis, and keep in mind that being sick, or under physical stress, can increase the body’s need for vitamin C.
If you’re feeling run down or feel that tickle in the back of your throat that signals that illness is imminent, double down on your vitamin C intake to decrease the total number of days you’ll be out of commission. You should look for a vitamin C supplement that contains bioflavonoids -- antioxidants found in citrus fruit, tea and other foods.
While there is no set dosage for vitamin C to treat colds or the flu, you can start by taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg every two hours for a period of six to eight hours, then scale back to taking the same dosage twice a day. Be mindful - high levels of vitamin C can cause bowel problems - so if you experience diarrhea, lower your dose. You should also taper off your vitamin C intake, rather than stopping it abruptly, to avoid “rebound scurvy” - a condition that can cause the gums to bleed.
As with any supplement, be sure to talk to your doctor about any potential interactions that vitamin C may have with any medications that you’re presently taking, or any underlying medical conditions, including kidney stones.
Zinc
Zinc may be one of the most critical minerals for the body’s overall immune function. Getting the right dosage has been shown to reduce the duration of cold and flu bugs, which is why zinc lozenges are so popular among consumers to battle colds. A number of studies have shown that taking zinc gluconate or acetate lozenges every two hours within the first two days of a cold can decrease its duration by a day or more. Unfortunately there isn’t much evidence to show that taking zinc preventatively will keep you from catching a cold.
These lozenges should always be taken on a full stomach because there is a risk that they will make you nauseated. Studies seem to show that lozenges containing between 9 and 24 milligrams of zinc are most effective.
Garlic
Garlic, whether consumed raw or in a powdered supplement form, may be the ingredient with scientific evidence backing its value in keeping illness at bay. In a British study, volunteers who took a garlic supplements for 12 weeks during cold season were “far less likely” to get sick than those who took placebos. There were 24 reported cases of colds in the group that was given garlic supplements, as opposed to 65 in the placebo group. And the garlic not only showed benefit at preventing the onset of illness - but those in the garlic group who came down with illnesses recovered on average about four days sooner than those people in the placebo group.
Garlic supplements may cause drug interactions, so if you take medications, especially blood thinners, check with your doctor before using these supplements, because they can increase a drug’s blood-thinning effects. For best results, take 300 milligrams two to three times a day, and look for garlic supplements that contain at least 13 percent allicin.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E, another antioxidant vitamin, may not help do much to shorten the duration of a cold or flu, but studies show that it may help keep you from getting one in the first place. In one year-long study by Tufts University, 451 senior adults (aged 65 and older) were given a daily supplement of either 200 IU of vitamin E or a placebo. Almost 74 percent of those in the placebo group came down with a respiratory infection during the course of the study. Sixty-five percent of those who took the vitamin E supplement came down with one of these infections.
Another study found that vitamin E supplements may abolish the priming impact that diseases like influenza have for secondary bacterial infections, reducing your risk of developing complications from the illness.
For best results, take 200 IU daily and consult your doctor before beginning this or any supplement to make sure that you aren’t at risk for any medication interactions or any negative side effects as a result of any other underlying medical conditions.