Colds and Flu:Two New Remedies to Protect Against Colds And Flu

Were well into the cold and flu season now and despite your best efforts to maintain a healthy immune system it still may not be enough to prevent you falling victim to either.

Thats why, this month, HSI wants to alert you to two new remedies that can help ward off the flu and keep your immune system operating at peak performance Cobiozin and Resistex.

Although we dont normally report on two remedies in the same article, both treatments are showing such promising results Cobiozin predominantly as a cold and flu fighter and Resistex as an immune-booster that we didnt want to wait a moment longer until we brought you news about them.

Cobiozin combines traditional remedies with little-known cold- and flu-fighters
Some of Cobiozins main ingredients are well-known for their cold-fighting benefits such as vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin B12 and pantothenic acid. The difference here is that theyre all combined at very specific ratios into one supplement, along with some other, more surprising ingredients, namely rose hips and RNA.

Lets start with the obvious: Vitamin C is the No. 1 go-to supplement for colds and flu. And there are some specific reasons why its so important. First, the body cannot synthesise it internally so it must be provided in the diet every single day. But when youre sick, you use up your bodys precious supply of vitamin C even faster.

Its the same with vitamin A: When you catch a virus, it puts stress on your liver, which grabs as much vitamin A as it can for support, leaving you and your immune system short.

So each tablet of Cobiozin provides three times the recommended daily intake of vitamin C and 10,000 IU of vitamin A (in the form of fish oil) which means that your body will definitely have adequate supplies not only for basic nutritional needs but also for fighting colds and the flu.

In addition, zinc, vitamin B12, and pantothenic acid all have great track records as general immune boosters.

The secret to preventing viruses from taking hold
Cobiozins original formulator, Dr. Arnold Susser, a pharmacist who earned his doctorate in naturopathy, explains that as important as vitamin C is to the formula, its vital ingredient is RNA.

He added it based on a study published back in 1968 that stated interferon inhibits growth of essentially all viruses.1 The body uses RNA to produce interferon.

Another reason RNA is such a critical part of the combination is that your body needs it to create ATP, which is the main energy source for all the cells in your body. Efficient ATP production gives your thymus a tune up. And the better your thymus function, the better your immunity, because your thymus produces key virus-fighting cells called L-lymphocytes.

And as for the rose hips in Cobiozin, they are well-known in the herbal medicine field as powerful immune-stimulators.

What to take for best results
When you begin to feel ill, Dr. Susser recommends taking one to three cobiozin tablets in the morning, one at dinnertime, and one to three again at bedtime. There are no reported side-effects.

The flu cure that starts working before you even feel sick
Resistex approaches immune health from a different angle, tackling viruses before you even start to feel sick. How? A virus can live inside you for days before the symptoms manifest. Resistex offers support at the early, formative stage of a cold or case of the flu. 

Resistex is a combination of astragalus, angelica, ginseng, echinacea, epimedium, eleutherococcus, and stephania tetrandrae. The first two, astragalus and angelica, work synergistically as immune-regulators.

Ginseng is best known for its energy-enhancing effects: those effects extend to energising your overall immune system too. And echinacea, of course, is probably the ingredient youre most familiar with its a well-established herbal cold- and flu-fighter.

According to the product manufacturers, epimedium wards off the shivers and chills that commonly accompany colds and the flu by warming you up from the inside kind of like the feeling you get from drinking hot tea on a cold, wet day.

The combination of stephania tetrandrae and eleutherococcus is widely recommended for relief from what the Chinese refer to as wind dampness muscular aches and pains brought on by viruses.

It works by targeting the root cause: muscular congestion. Just as you experience nasal congestion when youre sick, you also experience muscular congestion. Invading viruses trigger a shut down response in your lymphatic system, which distributes fluids and nutrients throughout your body.

The lack of circulation to your muscles creates a stagnant, congested sensation and, ultimately, the characteristic achiness of the flu. This response is meant to protect your vital organs from the virus, but the lymphatic system also filters out organisms that cause disease, produces certain white blood cells, and generates antibodies, so its an important part of fighting viruses. Stephania tetrandrae and eleutherococcus get your blood flowing again and alleviate the ache-causing congestion.

Resistex can reduce the incidence of flu by up to 67%
Although Resistex is still very new to the market, the studies that have been conducted on it so far look extremely promising.

In one study, researchers compared Resistex to placebo in 61 elderly subjects with normal immune and health characteristics. The study was designed to compare the incidence of cold and flu between two consecutive winter seasons.

Subjects were instructed to take Resistex in a two-weeks-on, one-week-off pattern for five months. They were told to double their dose at the first sign of illness but to stop altogether if they became sick. Resistex reduced the incidence of cold and flu by up to 66.7 per cent compared to a 14 per cent reduction in the placebo group.2 

Three more studies, conducted at the Beijing Centre for Disease Control, indicate a significant improvement in immune function in the Resistex (previously called Resistol) groups when compared to those taking placebo.

In the Resistex groups, antibody generation improved by 81 per cent, the number of active T-lymphocytes was 68 per cent higher, and macrophage activity an important aspect of the bodys immune response to unwanted organisms increased by over 30 per cent when compared to the placebo group.3 

What to take for best results
The recommended dosage for Resistex is two capsules a day for long-term support. At the first sign of symptoms or if you are at risk due to possible exposure you can take four Resistex capsules immediately, then four more three to four hours later.

1. Lakartidningen 1968 Oct 9;65(41):4039-47 passim.
2. Outcome study to evaluate the effects of resistex on cold and flu in humans. China Academy on Preventative Medicine, Beijing Union Medical College. Winter 1998-1999
3. Laboratory study to evaluate the effects of resistex on antibody generation in mice. The Beijing center for disease control and prevention. Winter 1997 [Unpublished]