People have tried hundreds of ways to cure the common cold, mostly without success. Fortunately, today we have more effective ways to relieve symptoms, remedies that have actually been proven effective by scientists in labs. But why wait until you need the remedies?Here are tried-and-true tips to keep you healthy.

    1 Don't Pick Your Nose.

    Keep your paws out of your nose. Don't rub your eyes, either. Cold virus germs, which can live for several hours on your hands, enter your body through your nose and eyes. "Washing your hands often during cold season and keeping your fingers away from your eyes and nose are the best ways to avoid catching a cold," says Dr.James Hubbard. And when someone sneezes, think of it as a cloud of poisonous smoke. Get away from it and hold your breath so those droplets of clod virus don't get inside you.

    If that doesn't work and you still catch a cold, here are some simple ways to relieve symptoms and get well faster.

    2 Get Enough Sleep.

    "Sleep certainly affects the immune system," says Richard Shane, Ph.D., a sleep specialist. In experiments, scientists have compared blood samples taken from healthy people after a good night's sleep. The tests showed people who didn't sleep at all had lower immunity, says Dr.Shane. When you sleep, your body produces human growth hormone (HgH), which not only builds muscle, but also stimulates your bone marrow, where immune cells are created.

    3 Eat a Big Breakfast.

    A study in the Netherlands found that people who ate a big breakfast had higher antiviral cells by 450 percent compared with people who ate very little or not at all. So eat something that is high in fiber and full of vitamins with 1-percent milk, eat an orange (toss those peels) and grape jelly and maybe a yogurt sommthie if you're still hungry. Wash it all down with one or two cups of green tea. Laboratory studies have identified a compound in green tea that might keep viruses from multiplying.

    4 Drinking Orange Juice at the First Sign of a Cold.

    Research at Arizona State University suggests that getting lots of vitamin C may lessen the time you have a cold by one to two days. You can get vitamin C naturally through these excellent food sources: oranges, berries, green and red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach and kiwo-fruit, which actually has more vitamin C in it than an orange.

    5 Go for a Bike Ride.

    According to the American College of Sports Medicine, exercising when you have a cold does not make the cold worse. Exercise has been shown to boost the immune system.

    6 Play a Game.

    Playing video games can be healthy. That is, exposing yourself to short periods of video games can stimulate your immune system, says Jos. A. Bosch, Ph.D. Long-term stress, like being bullied at school or worrying about the upcoming exams, can actually lower your immunity, according to Dr.Bosch.

    7 Suck Eggs.

    Just kidding. Sort of. Eggs are rich in the mineral zinc, which plays an important role in keeping your immunity strong by generating white blood cells. So eat more eggs. Some doctors believe zinc gluconate fights colds by stopping the cold virus from attaching to your cells.

    8 Drink Lots of Fluids.

    Fluids wash the virus out of your body. How to tell if you're drinking enough? Your pee will be clear. If it's yellowish, drink more. (Water expecially.)

    9 Eat Chicken Soup.

    A common cure used by many western grandmothers for centuries actually works. In 2000, Stephen Rennard, M.D. studied chicken soup for its medicinal properties and found that it has a mild anti-inflammatory effect and does make sick people feel better.

    人們嘗試過幾百種治療普通感冒的方法，但大多不成功。幸運的是，如今我們有了減輕癥狀更為有效的辦法及科學家們通過實驗證明有效的藥物療法。但何必等到需用藥物治療的那一天呢？下面是一些經過實踐檢驗切實可行的健康良方。

    1.不要摳鼻子

    不要用手指挖鼻孔，也不要揉眼睛。感冒病菌可在你的手上存活數小時，它們通過鼻子和眼睛進入你的身體。“預防感冒的最佳辦法是冷天常洗手，讓你的手指遠離你的眼睛和鼻子，”詹姆士·哈伯德醫生說。有人打噴嚏時，視之為一團有毒的煙霧，屏住呼吸趕緊離開，以免感冒病毒進入你的體內。

    如果這招不奏效，你還是感冒了，下面就介紹一些可以緩解癥狀、迅速康復的簡單方法。

    2.保證充足的睡眠

    “睡眠對免疫系統肯定有影響，”研究睡眠的專家理查德·謝恩博士說。科學家做過這樣的實驗：他們從健康人身上提取兩組血樣進行比較，一組為睡眠充足后的血樣，另一組為睡眠不足后的血樣。結果顯示不睡覺的人身體免疫力低下，謝恩博士說。當你睡覺的時候，身體會產生一種人體生長激素（HgH），它不僅促進肌肉生長，還刺激你的骨髓，而免疫細胞正是在這里產生的。

    3.飽食一頓早餐

    荷蘭的一項研究發現，飽食一頓早餐的人與那些早餐吃得很少或根本不吃的人相比，其天然抗病毒的細胞提高了450%。因此要吃一些富含纖維和維生素的食物、喝低脂牛奶，假如仍感到餓的話，吃一個橙子（去皮）、一個葡萄果凍，也許再來一杯酸奶果汁。然后喝1至2杯綠茶把所有食物吞下去。實驗室研究證實綠茶含有一種可抑制病毒繁殖的化合物。

    4.一有感冒跡象就喝橙汁

    亞利桑那州立大學的研究顯示，服用大量維生素C可以使患感冒的時間縮短1到2天。你可以從這些極好的食物中攝取天然的維生素C：柑橘、漿果、青椒、紅辣椒、西紅柿、甘藍、菠菜和獼猴桃，獼猴桃其實比柑橘含有更豐富的維生素C。

    5.騎自行車鍛煉

    根據美國運動醫學學院的研究，患感冒時進行鍛煉不會使病情加重。事實證明：鍛煉可以增強身體的免疫系統。

    6.玩游戲

    玩電子游戲也許對健康有利！這里的意思是，讓自己短時間玩電子游戲可以刺激你的免疫系統，約書亞·A·博施博士說。在他看來，長時間的壓力，如在學校被人欺負或者擔心即將到來的考試等，確實會降低你的免疫力。

    7.吮吸生雞蛋

    開個玩笑，說得夸張一點。雞蛋里富含礦物質鋅，而鋅能夠生成白細胞，因而在讓你保持強大免疫力方面發揮著重要作用，因此要多吃雞蛋。有些醫生認為葡萄糖酸鋅可以阻止病毒進入你的身體，從而預防了感冒。

    8.多喝流質

    流質可以沖走你體內的毒素。如何判斷是否喝得夠量？看你的小便是否清澈。如果小便略帶黃色，表明你喝得不夠，再多喝一點。（特別是水。）

    9.喝雞湯

    這個老祖母們沿用了幾個世紀的普通感冒藥方確實有效。2000年，醫學博士斯蒂芬·雷納德研究了雞湯的藥用特性，發現它具有適度的消炎作用，的確能讓病人感覺舒服一些。