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Help me cure a cold!


YellowDogJen

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If you feel like you need to blow your nose, but it's all dry up there, take some ibuprofen. You've irritated your sinus so much that it has swollen shut, giving you the feeling of a stuffed nose with very little actual stuff up there. Don't make the mistake of just blowing and blowing when nothing is coming out.


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If you have lost your id, here's a handy recipe to turn meth back into sudafed. http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf



I like the ginger/honey/lemon/ cayenne tea to be very hot. It seems to help soothe the throat and clear the sinuses. Dash of whisky will calm a cough and induce sleep.


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Dairy promotes mucus formation. You'll want to avoid it while trying to get over a cold or sinus infection. Otherwise, push fluids. You're better off with water or tea than juice, which has a lot of sugar and feeds bacteria (though I suppose if you're 100% sure it's a viral infection you wouldn't have to worry). And get plenty of sleep if you can, obviously.


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Dairy promotes mucus formation. You'll want to avoid it while trying to get over a cold or sinus infection. Otherwise, push fluids. You're better off with water or tea than juice, which has a lot of sugar and feeds bacteria (though I suppose if you're 100% sure it's a viral infection you wouldn't have to worry). And get plenty of sleep if you can, obviously.

A few people have told me recently that the mucus/dairy association is bunk, so I looked it up. Also saw this on a I.F. Love Science post at some point.

Maybe it's just in my head, or how dairy feels in your throat instead of actually increasing mucus, but I feel like I have to clear my throat almost immediately after drinking milk or within a few minutes of eating ice cream.

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Subjects consumed zero to 11 glasses of milk per day (mean, 2.7; SE, 0.08), and secretion weights ranged from zero to 30.4 g/day (mean, 1.1; SE, 0.1).



Who drinks 11 glasses of milk per day FFS! And if secretion (nasal mucus) weight is zero, it means you're not symptomatic at that point, so what difference is dairy or no dairy going to make? I also think it's a little screwy that they seem to have gone with a sliding scale instead of a strict "no-dairy" group.



The study seems to have been designed specifically to debunk the dairy-congestion theory as it separated the group that believed dairy played a role as a way to discount their reporting increased symptoms:



In response to an initial questionnaire, 27.5% reported the practice of reducing intake of milk or dairy products with a cold or named milk or dairy products as bad for colds. ... Those who believe "milk makes mucus" or reduce milk intake with colds reported significantly more cough and congestion symptoms, but they did not produce higher levels of nasal secretions.

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A couple of others....



this one suggests that dairy simply makes mucus "thicker and more irritating" but doesn't increase mucus production.



Which kind of seems like a moot point, what's the difference between increasing and thickening, either way it's a PITA.



Seems like the one from the nih page is the study that's been used to put this on lists like this.




And of course the Dairy Lobby is running with it too.



eta: will this summon Raw Milk Mike?


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A couple of others....

this one suggests that dairy simply makes mucus "thicker and more irritating" but doesn't increase mucus production.

If you think about it, "thicker" might make it harder to expel and thus less likely to be measured by the previous study cited. (surely nasal mucus would have to be blown out to be weighed)

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I typically attack it with vitamin c, chilies, copious amounts of liquid and if I have the time sleep.

My serbian dining room manager today was trying to entice me with his country remedy and cure-all: honey, brandy and garlic. He keeps a jar of it in our shared office and takes a liberal spoon of it each morning.

Needless to say, I passed.

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I typically attack it with vitamin c, chilies, copious amounts of liquid and if I have the time sleep.

My serbian dining room manager today was trying to entice me with his country remedy and cure-all: honey, brandy and garlic. He keeps a jar of it in our shared office and takes a liberal spoon of it each morning.

Needless to say, I passed.

I hope he also has a spare toothbrush to use before clock inning in...

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  • 2 months later...

A couple of others....

this one suggests that dairy simply makes mucus "thicker and more irritating" but doesn't increase mucus production.

Which kind of seems like a moot point, what's the difference between increasing and thickening, either way it's a PITA.

Seems like the one from the nih page is the study that's been used to put this on lists like this.

And of course the Dairy Lobby is running with it too.

eta: will this summon Raw Milk Mike?

Ya, how's it been going? Mucus is a critical part of the immune system. Raw milk doesn't increase mucus production or make it thicker.

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