Posted by Gillian Polard on December 04, 2013
You know that feeling when your head feels all stuffed up and your eyes are sore and dry, your throat is itchy and your nose is tender from wiping it so often? Yeah, that feeling, the head cold. There’s nothing like an aggressive head cold to take the spring out of your step and as we move forward into the festive holiday season the last thing we need is something putting a damper on our mood.
You don’t have to wait for a cold to diminish on its own, nor do you have to drug yourself silly with heavy medicines. In fact, research shows that upping your intake of clean, pure water during a cold will reduce the length of illness by nearly 1.5 days!
Lateral wall of nasal cavity. (Conchae removed to reveal openings in wall.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Staying well hydrated will not only help relieve headaches and sore throat but it will also keep the nasal cavity moist, which is the first defense system we have in preventing flu’s and colds. Having mucus in your nose actually traps dirt and bacteria before it can get to your sinuses and lungs. Without enough water, your nasal cavities become dry and bacteria simply go though the cavities and infect you without looking back!
Drink lots and lots of pure, filtered water. Then drink some more, just to be sure.
Health care professionals always tell us to drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day, when we drop that number down to 3 scientists found that we are 5 times more susceptible to colds.
In addition to drinking lots of water you need to maintain a healthy diet and participate in regular physical activity. We all know this but it is easier said than done. If you do only one great thing to protect yourself this cold and flu season, make it an increase in the amount of water you drink.
Stay healthy!
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