So you have a nasty sniffle, sore throat or nasty cough and you want to shake it off as quickly as possible.
You’re not alone. It is believed that around one in 250 people in Britain will have a cold at some point in their lives, and across the Atlantic, people in the US suffer an estimated 1 billion colds every year.
Unfortunately, there is no way to cure the common cold. But there are some simple methods to not only relieve your symptoms but possibly shorten the duration of your illness.
Here, Professor Ron Eccles, an expert in life sciences at Cardiff University, and former director of the Common Cold Centre, shares the best ways to not only beat a cold, but also shorten it in record time.
It is thought that one in 250 people in Britain will have a cold at some point in their lives and an estimated 1 billion people in the US catch colds every year.
The spray, also sold as ‘Dual Defense Nasal Spray’ in Boots for £6, is applied directly into the nasal cavity and is an effective way to shorten the duration of a cold.
Professor Eccles recommends several over-the-counter remedies to make nasty colds more bearable, but one he backs is a nasal spray.
But not all of these sprays are created equal. He suggests using products containing carragelose and kappa-carrageenan, which are extracted from seaweed, within the first 48 hours of symptoms appearing.
‘There is no point if you have severe symptoms, you should take it within 24 to 48 hours maximum,’ Professor Eccles told MailOnline.
‘The sooner you take it the better, because it has an antiviral effect. The problem is that once the viruses really start causing the symptoms, it’s a cascade that continues. You can’t stop it,” he added.
The seaweed extracts used in the nasal sprays act as an antiviral agent and help form a protective barrier that prevents viruses and allergens from spreading further in the body, reducing the overall duration and severity of the cold.
Other nasal sprays have also shown some promise.
A 2024 study with almost 14,000 British adults testing two types: one that used a saline solution to reduce virus levels and another that used a microgel to capture and neutralize viruses in the nose and prevent them from spreading.
Results, published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine, showed that both sprays shortened the duration of illness by about 20 percent. This means that the participants were not ill for that long.
But if you miss the chance to use a spray, don’t lose hope, Professor Eccles said controlling the symptoms of a cold can be as good as getting rid of the virus itself.
‘If you can get rid of the complaints, you don’t worry about the virus, your immune system will get rid of it on its own. But if you control the symptoms, you can basically get rid of your cold,” he said.
This lists the common symptoms (green check mark), occasional and possible symptoms (orange circle) and the symptoms that never occur (red cross) for colds, flu and Covid
Professor Eccles explains that a warm, sweet drink works because it promotes salivation, which soothes the throat
A warm, sweet drink, such as a cup of honey with lemon or blackcurrant, is a simple way to relieve the symptoms of a cough and sore throat.
Professor Eccles explained that such a drink works because it promotes salivation, which soothes the throat.
For flu-like symptoms such as headache, fever, chills or muscle pain, he suggested taking paracetamol.
Finally, to address a stuffy nose, he recommends that people use an anti-congestion nasal spray that contains the chemicals oxymetazoline or xylometazoline.
“They will open your nose and give you a good night’s sleep because you can’t sleep with a stuffy nose,” he added.
However, people can also take proactive steps to not only shorten the duration of their illness if they catch a cold, but to prevent infections in the first place by keeping their immune systems healthy.
Professor Eccles said that simply eating a balanced diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, and doing mild exercise such as walking, is enough to keep the immune system working properly.
But there are also countless supplements and remedies that promise to relieve cold symptoms.
A Cochrane Library review found that taking small doses of zinc supplements for a few days could be helpful in shortening the duration of a cold.
Orange juice is packed with vitamin C and while it is commonly believed that drinking it will help you stay healthy and prevent colds, experts say this is not the case. However, there is a small chance that this may speed up your recovery
One of these is zinc, an essential mineral that is crucial for the development of cells that form the immune system.
As a result, there is some suggestion that taking a zinc supplement can help your body fight off colds.
One Cochrane Library judgement found that taking small doses of zinc supplements of 10-40 mg for a few days could be helpful in reducing the duration of a cold.
The mineral occurs naturally in red meat and dairy products and most people can get all the zinc they need from their diet alone.
Although taking supplements can help boost your zinc levels, the NHS recommends not taking more than 25mg of zinc per day as too much can cause gastrointestinal problems and even weaken your immune system.
Vitamin C, another essential vitamin that helps with the regrowth and repair of tissue in the body, and can also help shorten the duration of the common cold.
Adults need about 40 mg of vitamin C per day, half the amount found in a standard glass of orange juice.
A judgement to support the intake of vitamin C to combat colds, published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2016, data shows ‘that the severity and duration of colds are reduced when vitamin C is consumed in doses of 0.2 g/ day or more’.
Another one judgementpublished last year, researchers from the Australian National University and the University of Helsinki found that vitamin C reduced the severity and duration of cold symptoms.
But the NHS says there is little convincing evidence that vitamin C prevents colds or speeds recovery.
Vitamin D is another supplement that can help you fight a cold.
Found in foods such as oily fish, red meat, egg yolks and also in direct sunlight, vitamin D help regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body – two essential nutrients for keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
But according to According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which provides health advice and guidance to the NHS, vitamin D could play a role in the immune system’s response to respiratory viruses, including the common cold.
So taking vitamin D can keep your immune system in shape.
Although we can get enough vitamin D from our diet and sunlight most of the year, we may fall short from October to early March as the number of daylight hours begins to decrease in the colder months.
The NHS advises everyone to take a supplement with 10 micrograms of vitamin D every day in autumn and winter.
One US supplement, called EZC pack, sold for around £30 per box, combines vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc in one supplement which is said to provide ‘immune support’.
But Professor Eccles said you don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket buying supplements.
‘I don’t think it’s useless. It’s just not worth paying that much money, you can buy vitamin D from your supermarket brand,” he said.
He added: ‘I have been taking vitamin D especially in the winter period, it is quite cheap. But of course people believe they are getting more effective vitamins. I don’t think it’s worth paying a lot of money when you can get the supermarket brand vitamins over the counter.’