Fighting a Sore Throat and Body Aches

Most of you know that I work in a "petri dish" of germs! Being a Kinder teacher, I come in contact with (almost) all germs known to mankind...or so it feels! I've been fighting yet another sore throat and body aches. Yesterday, while at the grocery store, I ran into a friendly elderly pharmacist in the Cold Care isle. He gave me some good tips for how to get rid of my aches and pains: 

1. Do not drink orange juice or anything acidic when you have a sore throat. It irritates it!

2. Drink room temperature water or mix in some juice (personally, I am a huge fan of Propel packets!)

3. Rub in some Vicks VapoRub on your throat or chest before going to sleep.

4. Take Cepacol, a sore throat lozenges, which has a numbing agent every 2 hours if needed.

He also recommended cooking up some wild rice with some dark green vegetables, such as broccoli!

For the body aches, he recommended taking two Tylenol Extra Strength every four hours. He also recommended taking Grape Seed Extract, Pycnogenol, and Alpha Lipoic Acid for those of us who get sick often every year! I did not buy these three items yet, but know that I will look into these since I tend to get sick often every winter and into the spring. The secretary at my doctors office swears by gargling twice a day with Listerine. Wash your hands often! And last but not least...Get plenty of rest!!!

I actually feel much better today than I did yesterday! Funny, I had bought a rice cooker just before going to the grocery store, so last night I made myself a batch of wild rice with asparagus!

Please share if you have any other tips that might be helpful to others!