You're sitting upright with pillows piled behind you to help you breathe, crumpled tissues scattered around a bin beside your bed that has made the tip of your nose red and raw, a half glass of water, and a full cup of hot tea next to you, waiting for the next hour marker that you can take more medicine. Does this sound familiar to you?

The common cold and flu can effect many of these universal elements. It can feel that there is no way to avoid the common cold and flu, but there are many ways that you can help strengthen your immune system and support your overall health.

Boosting your immune system with supplements is a great way to protect against colds and the flu.

There are a few beneficial supplements that you can add into your daily intake to help reduce the symptoms. When you take supplements like vitamin C or zinc to support your immune system, you may feel sick for a shorter amount of time. Your body will thank you for preparing it! You may already have some of these important vitamins, minerals, and herbs on hand. Read on to learn more about them!

What Happens To Your Body During The Common Cold and Flu?

This may seem very familiar, and that’s not a surprise. The common cold is something that people have lived with and dealt with their entire lives. It is an upper respiratory infection that can be transmitted through water droplets from sneezing and coughing (this is why we should be covering our mouths and nose!).

You may have a runny nose or sore throat once the virus gets into your bloodstream. Your body will begin to fight it off almost instantly, but it might take some time.

Having the flu might lead to more severe symptoms, like chills and a fever. Your body might begin to ache, due to your  white blood cells fighting against the infection.

If you have the flu or a cold, you can be contagious, so you should really consider staying away from people for a few days. If you must, please wear a mask.

Your body needs time to recover, rest is the best thing you can give it while you wait to recuperate. There is no need to put extra stress on yourself, use this time to lay in bed and watch Netflix. There are ways that you can prevent prolonged recovery. By using certain supplements, you can help prepare your body to fight off viruses and avoid illness.

Supplements That Help When It Comes to Colds and the Flu

It’s known that there is no cure for the common cold or flu, you usually just have to tough the symptoms out. While cold medicine can help alleviate symptoms for a bit, it isn’t considered a permanent cure since you can get recurring colds or cases of the flu.

Many natural products are marketed to consumers because they work with things inside your body to protect your immune health. Not to mention they support strong functionality throughout different bodily systems.

Some of the supplements that are used to help prevent the common cold and flu are:

Echinacea

Echinacea is an herb that has been used by the Native American tribes of the Great Plains as a medicinal herb because it stimulates the immune system to better fight infections off. Many studies show that echinacea can be effective in preventing the common cold and assisting in issues related to upper respiratory tract infections.

Vitamin D

Otherwise known as the “sunshine” vitamin, vitamin D is essential in boosting the immune system to help prevent the common cold and flu. Yes, you can get vitamin D by being outdoors under some sunshine. However, there is usually a lack of sunshine during the peak of cold and flu season. This can mean that people are not getting enough of this vitamin to protect their immune systems.

If you take vitamin D for several months before cold/flu season, you have a better chance of being protected. If you don’t get enough sun, seriously consider taking Vitamin D to help give the same boost the sun would.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is often seen as one of the most essential supplements to take when trying to prevent a cold.

As an important physiological antioxidant that has been shown to regenerate other antioxidants within the body, meaning that it helps reduce the symptoms you experience and speed up the process of recovery. Unfortunately, people can not produce Vitamin C naturally, so it’s essential to add it to your diet. Supplements are a really easy way to do this!

Zinc

Zinc is actually quite a powerful supplement to take when you believe you are coming down with the cold. When you begin to notice that you are experiencing cold-like symptoms, zinc may be an option to look into.

It has been shown that taking zinc reduces cold symptoms and how long they stick around. Your immune system needs zinc, so you should include it in your daily intake if you aren’t getting enough. You can find zinc in the form of tablets to directly soothe a sore throat.

Vessel Health and Vitamin Levels

Vessel Health offers a fast and easy way to get information about your health. We help you understand what is going on inside your body and then provide suggestions to improve your overall health.

Our mission is to give our users the information they want in an instant. If you are wondering what vitamins you are lacking or if your stress levels seem to be too high, our Health Wellness Card can help you uncover what your body needs.

What Is a Wellness Card?

By using Vessel Health’s Wellness Card, you can obtain all the information you want about your body instantly. Because our wellness card is backed by science, you can simply optimize your health from the comfort of your home.

There are three steps to using the Wellness Card:

1. Once you have the test, urinate on it, allowing you to receive the results.
2. After you have used the test, you can scan it with the app on your phone and instantly receive information about your body’s pH levels, stress levels, nutrient and mineral levels.
3. Our experts then analyze this information.

Vessel Health offers you a plan to help you focus on improving your health. We may suggest supplements to add to your daily intake, changes to your overall diet, or lifestyle switches that could impact your health overall.

Vessel Health’s mission is to allow you access to your health information effortlessly. Sometimes there can be a barrier between you and the information you are receiving because it can be difficult to understand what a doctor is saying to you. We want to cut to the chase and give you what exactly you need so that you don’t have to worry about going out and looking for it.

Let's Prevent These Colds

There are many different nutrients and minerals that you can add to your daily intake that would help to prevent the common cold and the flu. Full prevention is often difficult, but with the addition of zinc, vitamin D, vitamin C, and echinacea to your daily supplement routine, you can begin to work towards reducing symptoms and shortening the length of time that you experience them.

You should feel healthy every day! It’s important that you take care of your health, and adding supplements to your diet can ensure that you’re reaching proper intake amounts. You can benefit from taking supplements to help you stay clear of sickness during the long winter months. Knowing your nutrient and vitamin levels can also help figure out which supplements you should be taking daily.

Vessel Health has your back when it comes to supporting your overall wellbeing with knowledge of what your body needs.