EXCELLENT AND WELL-​KNOWN SUPPORTS

VITAMIN C

One of the most effect­ive tried and true treat­ments, both pre­vent­at­ive and use­ful. However, that one vit­amin C chew­able is not going to be enough in the full swing of a cold or flu, and you will need more to help the body get rid of it in all cur­rent research.

ECHINACEA PUR­PUREA AND ANGUSTIFOLIA

Both spe­cies are import­ant for cold and flu pre­ven­tion (the most com­mon in for­mu­las is pur­purea, how­ever angus­ti­fo­lia in herbal lit­er­at­ure is actu­ally more power­ful). Use should be avoided in any indi­vidual self-​prescribing on immun­osup­press­ive ther­apy as echin­acea does have the abil­ity to make the immune sys­tem more act­ive, which coun­ter­acts the pur­pose of these therapies.

ZINC

Great before a cold or flu to pre­vent (as typ­ic­ally seen is cold and flu for­mu­las), but lit­er­at­ure reveals that once it hits, zinc does not make things "speed up" and get out of your sys­tem any faster. True, bac­teria do not like zinc but it is much bet­ter as you feel those early tickles as com­pared to once the nasal mon­soon arrives!

COLLOIDAL SIL­VER

This is known to be anti­bac­terial and is even used for sur­gical wounds to pre­vent infec­tion. Can be very help­ful espe­cially in the oral mucosa, of course, depend­ing on the per­son and can be used most often dur­ing the cold period to relieve symptoms

VITAMIN D

The won­der vit­amin of the last few years, vit­amin D does enhance the pres­ence of recept­ors on immune cells to watch out for any microbes that might be lurk­ing around. Another excel­lent pre­vent­at­ive ther­apy, but once you have the cold and flu will not actu­ally get rid of your icky feel­ing faster.

LESSER KNOWN BUT VERY EFFECT­IVE COLD AND FLU SUP­PORTS ONCE YOU HAVE A COLD OR FLU

ANDROGRAPHIS PAN­ICU­LATA

Both bac­teria and virus-​fighting, andro­graphis is a fant­astic cold and flu pre­vent­at­ive as well as really helps to improve how you feel once they hit. In the proper dosages, can also be used in chil­dren (how­ever does not taste wonderful....)

ELDERBERRY

This is a very com­mon herb used in chil­dren (but can be used in taste-​sensitive adults) as it does taste slightly sweet, and is com­monly mixed with Vitamin C in cold and flu for­mu­las so kids can feel bet­ter but moms and dads do not need a huge battle to get it into the system!

GOLDENSEAL

Antibacterial and dis­gust­ing (as I have been told and exper­i­enced per­son­ally), an import­ant herb for infec­tions in cold and flu com­plic­a­tions (ton­sil­litis, sinus­itis) and can be used safely with med­ic­a­tion (with the guid­ance of your ND please)!

Of course, this list is fairly short and there are many more sup­ports. If you have been tak­ing one of the above and are real­iz­ing per­haps that you have not been dir­ect­ing your cold and flu pre­ven­tion prop­erly, do not be dis­cour­aged. Knowledge is power, and now you know!