By: Dr. Emilie Salomons

The cold and flu season is fast approaching. Here are some tips on how to care for you and your family at the first sign of a cold.

In Chinese medicine, the common cold can be separated into several categories, the most common being wind heat and wind cold. Listed below are a few simple tips on how to recognize which type you have and what you should eat to help your body clear the cold as fast as possible.

1. Wind Cold: Symptoms may include; aching body, clear nasal discharge, headache and chills and coughing up clear phlegm.

What to do:

• Fresh ginger tea (grate ginger into a cup or tea pot, pour in hot water and let steep until there is a strong ginger taste, strain liquid and add honey if you need sweetner)
• Spicy soup (add ginger and hot peppers to a broth based soup, remember that you just want enough spices to break a sweat, nothing more)

2. Wind Heat: Symptoms may include; fever more than chills, sore throat, a hot sensation, yellow or green nasal discharge and coughing up yellow sticky phlegm.

What to do:

• Mint tea (add fresh mint if possible to hot water, let steep for 1-2 minutes, add honey to taste)
• Salt water gargle (for a sore throat, add 2 tbsp of salt to one glass of tepid water, stir until salt dissolves. Gargle full glass and repeat 2-3x/day)

Remember, these remedies should be used during the first few days of a cold. Should your cold last longer or progress in severity, please contact a health professional. If you suspect H1N1 (Swine flu) please contact, Healthlink BC at 8-1-1 and speak to a nurse anytime, day or night.