Old Wives Tales are Sometimes True

People make a lot of jokes about old wives' tales and how silly and unsophisticated they are, but did you ever wonder how they came about? Must have been because something worked, or because of repeated observations.

Such must be the case with colds.

Ever since nutrition started to be recognized as a factor in health, people have known that chicken soup really does help alleviate a cold. It seems there's something in the chicken broth, both when eating it and when breathing it, that helps clear congested sinuses.

Now how about going out without your coat in cold weather?

Sophisticated young people pooh-pooh the idea that temperature has anything to do with getting sick. They swear that the only factor is exposure to cold viruses. But recently researchers in Wales had 90 volunteers put their feet in cold water for 20 minutes, while 90 other control subjects did not. Then they tracked all 180 and found that those who had their feet in cold water were more likely to report cold symptoms within the next 5 days.

My own completely unscientific theory is based on watching the people around me. Those who eat good food, get plenty of sleep, and live under a minimum of stress get far fewer colds, no matter what temperatures they're exposed to.

But those who live on a junk-food diet, or who are under a great deal of mental or emotional stress, do get a cold if they become chilled - or if they even miss a few hour's sleep.

Another old wives' habit is to keep a pot of water on the stove during the winter to moisten the air in the house - and researchers now do say that will help prevent the flu from getting a hold on you. Flu bugs like dry air.

Old wives had to make do without all our over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs. When their families got sick they did what they knew to help them recover. But I wonder... I'll bet at least some of them used natural herbs.

You know how much I don't like drugs and all their side-effects. That's why this year I was so glad to learn about some homeopathic cold remedies. A few weeks ago I started to feel a sore throat coming on and started right away with a product called Coldcalm - and the sore throat backed off.

Since then my son told me he uses something called Zicam, and I found a sinus remedy called Sinusalia. The only drawback I can see to any of them is that you're supposed to start taking them at the first sign of a cold - and that isn't always possible.