By Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Special to Lifescript Nose plugged up like an olive? Hacking cough keeping you up at night? You don’t need to pop open the nearest prescription pill bottle. We asked doctors for the best natural remedies to shake cold and flu symptoms – fast! Sore throat, congestion, fuzzy head. Cold season is upon us and so are its misery-making symptoms. While prescription drugs may help, your first line of defense can be found in your local supermarket or vitamin store. Here are 10 natural remedies doctors use to treat colds and flu:1. Zinc What it is: This essential mineral boosts the immune system and has been linked to a decrease in viral activity.“Zinc is believed to work by inhibiting viral cell reproduction in the mucus membranes of the upper respiratory system,” says Fred Pescatore, M.D., an integrative physician and president of the International and American Associations of Clinical Nutritionists. “It works for both cold and flu.” In fact, a landmark 1996 study of 100 adults at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, found that people who sucked 6-8 zinc lozenges a day felt relief from their colds in 4.4 days, compared with 7.6 days for those taking a placebo.How to use it: Take 15-30 milligrams in lozenge form at the first sign of a tickly throat, runny nose or fatigue, Pescatore says. What about zinc pills? “The lozenge works better because it’s at the site of the [viral] action,” he says. “Suck on one every couple of hou…[...]

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10 Doctor-Approved Natural Cold Remedies