Other 'immune boosters'

February 18, 2008

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COUNTLESS immune boosters fly off the shelves year-round, particularly in cold and flu season. But even some of the most popular immune supplements haven't been tested against cold and flu in well-designed clinical trials.

No clinical trials, for example, have been conducted on goldenseal, a purported immune-booster sometimes used to fend off the common cold -- and there's evidence the herb may interfere with blood pressure drugs, decrease the activity of anticoagulants and hamper absorption of vitamin B. Goji, sometimes known as lycium, is a popular immune booster based on evidence from lab and animal studies, and some human research in China -- but no clinical trials have examined its ability to keep flu or colds at bay. The same is true for supplements derived from the tropical fruits noni and mangosteen.

A few herbs popular for other indications have recently shown preliminary promise for colds and flu. Green tea has been the focus of countless cancer and heart disease studies in recent years; just last fall, colds and flu were added to the list. A November 2007 article in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition reported that adults who took a green tea capsule twice a day for three months had 23% fewer colds and cases of the flu than people who took a placebo.

Andrographis paniculata, a fever remedy in traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown to kill microorganisms in lab studies. Combined with Siberian ginseng in a formula called Kan Jang, the herb reduced cold and flu symptoms in clinical trials conducted in Russia and Europe. In several large studies, it shortened flu recovery time slightly and reduced nasal secretion, congestion and coughs better than placebo. The downside: Kan Jang can cause headaches and fatigue in people not already suffering those symptoms because of the flu, and some people may be allergic to it.




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What's your favorite cold remedy? Does it always work for you?
This discussion board is archived. Comments will no longer be posted.
 
1. We drink Greek Mountain tea whenever a family member gets a cold. I'm not sure of the medicinal contents, but the tea helps alot with a stuffy nose and seems to shorten the duration of a cold. Its a light herbal tea that you can get from most Greek stores. It has no caffeine that I know of, so my wife also prepares it for our daughter when she gets the sniffles.
Submitted by: Mike M
8:15 AM PDT, Mar 24, 2008
 
2. If one looks at the scientific trials and evidence, vitamin C and zinc have proven to have unclear evidence that these therapies work for cold and allergies, it works in certain cases but cannot necessarily prevent an onset, see this site for details: http://www.rvita.com/conditions/cold/remedy/vitamin-c.html
Submitted by: Neil
12:43 PM PDT, Mar 18, 2008
 
3. To Nick the doctor and Amy. Want to read a good article on colloidal silver and virus written by a couple of MD's? http://www.imref.org/articles/pdfs/Townsend_II.pdf Anna is correct - there are certain virus that surround themselves with fatty cells - lipids. These viruses are known as lipid viruses. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/download/figures/1471-2334-2-4-2.PDF And Jim - people turn blue by drinking too much of a too strong - usually home brewed product. Use a 10 ppm product and you can according to the EPA take 7 teaspoons per day for 70 years and still keep your color!
Submitted by: Peter
9:22 AM PDT, Mar 15, 2008
 
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