22 Natural Ways to Prevent Colds and the Flu

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
- Henry de Bracton



The flu season is just around the corner. And while those flus won’t kill you, they can weaken your immune system to the point that other, more dangerous, germs can take hold in your body. Just think how many times your cold turned into bronchitis or a sinus infection. And given that the average adult suffers two to three colds a year, that’s a lot of opportunities for serious illness — and just as many to prevent one!

Now I can’t promise you’ll never get hit with another cold or endure another bout of the flu, but you can increase your odds of staying well with these natural strategies. If you do get sick, I’ve also included some great tips for getting better faster.

1. Get gargling.

Japanese researchers found that a daily gargling with water reduces your cold risk. People who gargled with water were 36 percent less likely to be struck down when compared with non-garglers. The study suggests that simple water gargling is effective to prevent upper respiratory tract infections.

2. Drink, drink, drink!

Hot liquids like fruit teas and lemon drinks will ease any nasal congestion you feel coming on and prevent dehydration. A dried-out respiratory system will leave you more prone to infection.

3. Take a Sauna.

Researchers aren’t sure exactly how it works but a German study found that people who got steamed twice a week got half as many colds as those who didn’t. It may be down to the fact that sauna air temperatures are too hot for cold and flu viruses to survive.

4. Stop the blaming.

Believe it or not, blaming yourself makes you more likely to catch a cold! At least, that’s what Austrian researchers found when they studied more than 300 workers over three months. Even those who had control over their work were more likely to begin sneezing if they lacked confidence or tended to blame themselves when things went wrong. Researchers expect such attitudes make people more stressed on the job, and stress, as you know, can challenge your immune system.

5. Microwave your toothbrush.

Run your toothbrush through the microwave on high for ten seconds to kill germs that can cause colds and other illnesses. You think it gets your teeth clean — and it does. But once you’re done brushing, your toothbrush is a breeding ground for germs. Sterilize it in the microwave before you use it, or store it in hydrogen peroxide (rinse well before using), or simply replace it every month when you change the page on your calendar and after you’ve had a cold.

6. Crack open a window.

Leave the windows in your house open a crack in winter. Not all of them, but one or two in the rooms in which you spend the most time. This is especially important if you live in a newer home, where fresh circulating air has been the victim of energy efficiency. A bit of fresh air will do wonders for chasing out germs.

7. Focus on one word.

Once a day, sit in a quiet, dim room, close your eyes, and focus on one word. You’re meditating, a proven way to reduce stress. And stress, studies find, increases your susceptibility to colds. People experiencing emotional stress have weakened immune systems and are twice more likely to catch a cold than their calmer counterparts.

8. Wash you hands!

And do it often. Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. The Naval Health Research Center conducted a study of 36,000 recruits who were ordered to wash their hands five times a day. The recruits cut their incidence of respiratory illnesses by 45 percent.

9. …twice is even better.

When Columbia University researchers looked for germs on volunteers’ hands, they found one handwashing had little effect, even when using antibacterial soap. So wash twice if you’re serious about fending off colds.

10. Public restrooms’ strategy.

Studies find a shockingly large percentage of people fail to wash their hands after using a public restroom. And every single one of them touches the door handle on the way out. So after washing your hands, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet. Use another paper towel to dry your hands, then open the door with that paper towel as a barrier between you and the handle. It sounds nuts, but it’s an actual recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control to protect you from infectious diseases like cold and flu.

11. Use your knuckle to rub your eyes.

It’s less likely to be contaminated with viruses than your fingertip. This is particularly important given that the eye provides a perfect entry point for germs, and the average person rubs his eyes or nose or scratches his face 20-50 times a day.

12. Eat that yogurt.

Researchers from University of California found that individuals who ate one cup of yogurt — whether live culture or pasteurized — had 25 percent fewer colds than non-yogurt eaters. Start your yogurt eating right away to build up your immunity before cold and flu season starts.

13. Inhale air from your blow-dryer.

It sounds nuts, I know. But one study conducted at Harvard Hospital in England found that people who breathed heated air had half the cold symptoms of people who inhaled air at room temperature. Set the dryer on warm, not hot, and hold it at least twenty inches from your face. Breathe in the air through your nose for as long as you can — 20 minutes is best.

14. Go garlic.

When 147 volunteers received either one garlic supplement a day or a placebo for twelve weeks between November and February, those taking the garlic were not only less likely to get a cold, but if they did catch one, their symptoms were less intense and they recovered faster.

15. Getting z’s = no flu.

The fact that a certain amount of sleep is required in order to remain healthy cannot be repeated enough. Not only does sleep help you stay alert throughout your day, but it also helps your immune system stay strong. Try to get at least seven hours of sleep a night, and you’ll be less susceptible to the flu.

16. Water does the body good.

How many times have you heard that eight glasses a day is good or you? Probably every day. This habit is a good one for your body in many ways, as it washes out your system, and is needed in order to maintain a healthy diet and a clear, healthy complexion.

17. Get some exercise.

Exercise is very healthy for your body, in many ways. By exercising regularly, you’re not only developing muscle mass and strength, you’re also making your immune system a heavyweight champion.

18. Lower the heat.

Lower the heat in your house 5 degrees. The dry air of an overheated home provides the perfect environment for cold viruses to thrive. And when your mucous membranes (i.e., nose, mouth, and tonsils) dry out, they can’t trap those germs very well. Lowering the temperature and using a room humidifier helps maintain a healthier level of humidity in the winter.

19. Wipe, don’t blow.

Your cold won’t hang around as long, according to a University of Virginia study. Turns out that the force of blowing not only sends the gunk out of your nose into a tissue, but propels some back into your sinuses. And, in case you’re curious, they discovered this using dye and X rays. If you need to blow, blow gently, and blow one nostril at a time.

20. Sneeze and cough into your arm.

Whoever taught us to cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze got it wrong. That just puts the germs right on our hands, where you can spread them to objects — and other people. Instead, hold the crook of your elbow over your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough if a tissue isn’t handy. It’s pretty rare that you shake someone’s elbow or scratch your eye with an elbow, after all.

21. Don’t pressure your doctor for antibiotics.

Colds and flu (along with most common infections) are caused by viruses, so antibiotics — designed to kill bacteria — won’t do a thing. They can hurt, however, by killing off the friendly bacteria that are part of our immune defenses. If you’ve used antibiotics a lot lately, consider a course of probiotics — replacement troops for friendly bacteria.

22. Doctor, doctor.

All these are simple ways to help you avoid the flu — but they are not substitutes for medical treatment or advice.

Remember that the flu is something that everyone gets once in a while, and there is no 100% guarantee to prevent it. But if you want to decrease your chances of being stuck at home with a pesky flu, use these tips. That doesn’t mean you can’t still call in sick once in a while…

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Moneymakers

“Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.”
- Zig Ziglar



Making money — whether it be through investing in the stock market, managing your own business, or real estate — isn’t just about doing the math and coming out on top with a little luck. For better or worse, success is often determined by you and you alone.

Looking at some of the successful millionaires in the world, the money they possess may blind you or the notoriety the public bestows upon them distracts your judgment. But at second glance, there are certain factors that have contributed to their success and popularity. With almost every successful person, there are common habits that add to their wealth or catapult them into the spotlight. The good news is — you don’t have to be a millionaire to follow the same path and develop successful habits of your own.

1. Be realistic.

Realism is the fine line that you walk between optimism and negativity. A successful individual is a realist, which means that he’s never going to shoot himself in the foot by being negative, but he’s not going to take risks based on groundless conclusions.

Consider Bill Gates. When he left Harvard to follow his vision at Microsoft, he took a huge risk. But that risk wasn’t entirely unfounded. Bill knew what the rest of us would later learn: personal computers would be the wave of the future if only software could be more user-friendly.

You don’t have to be as far thinking as Bill Gates, but you should learn something from his decision making. Before you make a key decision, ask yourself whether you’re being reasonable. It’s a hard thing to do, but the most successful among us are able to step outside of themselves for a moment and evaluate the situation.

2. Seize the day.

The best ideas in the world are useless if they’re not put into action. But action can be a double-edged sword because action for the sake of action can easily become reckless.

The mindset that separates the men from the boys in this field is being uncomfortable with inaction. In other words, a successful individual will never sit around waiting for something to happen. He may not invest any money in a given year, but he’ll always be looking and exploring. That’s what made Warren Buffett such a success. His specialty is buying undervalued companies.

Buffett has been beating the pants off the S&P500 since 1965, but it’s not just luck that gets him there. As a man of action, Buffett knows how to harness his aggressive side, but at the same time he has the discipline not to go overboard.

Berkshire Hathaway — the conglomerate Buffett manages — has billions per year in revenues, which means a lot of buying and selling. But that kind of success keeps him focused on replication. Buffett continues to pursue the stated goals of the company by sticking to his rock-solid business plan. Deviations are not allowed. And the theory behind that is: Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

3. Have a master plan.

Successful moneymakers may not have every detail of their future mapped out, but they do have some sense in their minds of the steps they’re going to take in life. Somewhere, they’re programming.

Here’s an example: Scientists surveyed the Yale class of 1953, and found that 3 percent had written down financial goals for their futures at their college graduation. When the group reconvened in 1973, this 3 percent of the class that had started their careers with some kind of plan controlled more combined net worth than the other 97 percent combined.

4. Capitalize on your passion/knowledge.

If you don’t love it, it’s nearly impossible to get others to love it. By focusing on something that you’re enthusiastic about, you’ll give yourself extra resources that can’t be quantified.

Any financial undertaking is going to be hard and you’re going to have to put in extra work that you couldn’t have predicted. That’s where the enthusiastic man has an edge. When you’re working on your passion, you don’t mind the extra work. In fact, if you’re really on the right track, it won’t seem like work at all.

Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, took his passion for mathematics and computers, and revolutionized the database world. That might sound unexciting to a lot of us, but to Ellison, it was a dream come true. Maybe your passions don’t have nearly as much commercial upside, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth looking at.

Sometimes following that passion means putting yourself outside the mainstream. A lot of people shy away from this, and it’s true, you can go too far. But no successful businessman could ever be described as someone who followed the crowd. Successful individuals live outside the crowd so they can move the crowd. You just need to make sure you’re not too far removed from the crowd.

5. Have outer confidence.

Confidence is the fundamental key to almost anything in life, whether you’re running a business, selling a product, or trying to finance your idea. If you don’t project confidence, you won’t get very far. But it’s more than just being confident that matters. Confidence allows you to surround yourself with quality people, who will push you and who you can in turn push to greater and greater heights. In other words, confidence is the building block that allows you to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

In a nutshell, that’s the success story behind Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric. Rather than operating this financial empire by micromanaging people, Welch did what all of us should do: pick the very best people to surround ourselves with, give them a goal, and let them get things done. Welch even went so far as to find a business partner in his second wife, Suzy, with whom he co-wrote the bestseller Winning.

6. Check your feelings at the door.

It’s nothing personal; it’s just business. Those are words to live by, but too many individuals fail because they take it personally. A friend might tell you that your idea stinks; rather than get defensive, find out why he thinks your idea stinks. And never let the criticism get you down. The more success you have, the more criticism will be thrown in your direction.

Few people recall that the nineties were lean years for Donald Trump, who was on the verge of personal bankruptcy. As a successful businessman and a celebrity in his own right, naysayers were lining up to watch him fall. Did he? Of course not. Trump buckled his belt, dumped underperforming investments, raised revenues, and put himself back on top. What he didn’t do was listen to people who were clamoring to watch him fall.

7. Feel entitled to your moneybags.

Do you feel positive about money? Do you think there is not enough to go around, or that you should feel ashamed and guilty if you have more than someone else? If you believe millionaires are scrambling to gobble more of the pie at the expense of others, you’re not thinking like one.

If you feel negative about money, or you don’t feel entitled to it, you have a lot of what is called “poverty thinking” and that will defeat the other traits that enable the millionaire to achieve. Remember: Self-made millionaires feel justified and worthy in their use of money.

The essential thing is to know where you’re weak. If you’re lacking in one department, be honest with yourself and build on that deficiency. Or, find a friend that you can trust who complements your strengths and weaknesses. Remember: You are your No.1 asset, and it pays to know yourself inside and out.

What in prince Garry was earlier, clinic or narcotics?

When in the past year the newspaper News of the World published communication, that prince Garry, to whom then there were 16 years, uses narcotics, royal family and its advisers probably sighed with relief.

Newspapers not one month noted in the behavior of prince the signs of the fact that it strayed of true, but finally, instead of joyfully opening of fire on straying tineydzheru, they published touching history about understanding and thoughtful father, prince uel'sskiy.

On seven pages in the number of 13 January News of the World it told about how prince Charles sent Garry to the center on the rehabilitation of druggies, after learning about the fact that its son smokes marijuana and much he drinks.

"Charles decided to frighten Garry, after sending him to the session of psychotherapy with the people, which suffer heroine dependence", it reported newspaper. According to the "friend of family" it "never no longer touched the narcotics".

In this entire touching history there is only one discrepancy: prince Garry visited clinic Featherstone Lodge before News of the World reported that it uses narcotics.

In the first in the life newspaper interview the former main expert according to the connections with the community of prince uel'sskiy Mark bolland recognizes that the sequence of events in the history was changed in order to present Charles in the advantageous light and to bring feature under the scandal.

"the fact that center they represented as the solution of problem, led me into the confusion, he says in the second part of the interview, published today in Media Guardian. News of the World they led into error ".

At that time some reviewers saw after the publication the hand Of bollanda, close friend of the then editor News of the World Of rebeki Of ueyd, but newspaper vozmushchenno rejected similar assumptions.

However, in interview Guardian Of bolland he says, that reported News of the World about a stay of Garry in clinic Featherstone Lodge already after newspaper assembled dossier about his alcoholism and use of narcotics.

"we stood before the selection, he stated. - it was necessary either to attain that these charges would not see light or to allow newspaper to publish them and to extract from this maximum benefit ".

It asserts that prince Garry visited Featherstone Lodge during June or July 2001, and journalists obtained the proofs of the fact that it uses narcotics, only during August or during September.

The News Of The World From the commentaries refused.