Common Cold: 5 Myths You Keep Hearing

Can a bowl of chicken soup help fight a cold? Maybe: Some research suggests it could relieve inflammation. But will going outside with wet hair make you sick in the first place? Nope. That's just another old wives' tale about the common cold. Here are some more.

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Feed A Cold, Starve A Fever

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Being sick often kills your appetite; force-feeding won't help. What will help is staying hydrated and getting enough calories. A 2008 study in the Journal of Nutrition found that mice exposed to the flu took longer to recover and were more likely to suffer ill effects if they were on a low-calorie diet. The researchers' recommendation? Skip dieting until after flu season. More From Health.com: 7 Healthy Chicken Soup Recipes What Ails You: Cold, Flu, or Something Else? Natural Cold Remedies: Do They Really Work?

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Being sick often kills your appetite; force-feeding won't help. What will help is staying hydrated and getting enough calories. A 2008 study in the Journal of Nutrition found that mice exposed to the flu took longer to recover and were more likely to suffer ill effects if they were on a low-calorie diet. The researchers' recommendation? Skip dieting until after flu season.

More From Health.com:
7 Healthy Chicken Soup Recipes
What Ails You: Cold, Flu, or Something Else?
Natural Cold Remedies: Do They Really Work?

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This Myth

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Comments

[mothergrace]

07:17 PM on 01/30/2011

People can blather on all they like about viruses causing colds and nothing else, but extra stress regardless of the source can make it much easier to get sick whether it is getting too cold or not eating right or getting too little sleep.

It is always amusing to me when "old wives" are discounted. How do you think they got old in the first place?

[Indra]

11:53 AM on 01/30/2011

The thing about the wet head not being dangerous is stupid and irresponsible. Just wash your hair and step outside for about 15 minutes on a nice cold winter day. More than likely you will get a very nasty cold very quickly. Who is the Dumb-#$% who wrote this article. The thing about not wearing a coat is also untrue. Try going outside on a very cold winter day and stay there for about 1/2 hour and watch what happens. This article is not only stupid it is dangerous.Somebody might believe this crap and kill themselves.

[Samuel Perry]

04:38 PM on 01/30/2011

Yeah something about intense cold does seem to hinder the immune system in a way to let germs and viruses sneak past defenses. It isn't the temp that causes the sickness, but it interrupts your systems,I think.

[sushai]

09:07 PM on 01/31/2011

Where does that cold come from if not from a virus?

[Prateek Panchal]

06:23 AM on 01/29/2011

Well there are many people who believes in those myths. One of them being one of my friend. He takes every myth so seriously that even he is not ill physically, psychologically he will be showing you he is ill.

Raise your bar mates, Its a human body and you should know every bit of it.

Thanks for sharing.

http://www.eyehealthguide.net/ptosis-drooping-eyelid.html

[h3ll0mktg]

12:11 AM on 01/29/2011

Colds are caused by viruses, with enough variations to give you a choice of 200 versions of a cold (which is why you get them over and over again). Because viruses get into healthy cells, it's difficult to kill them without knocking off the good cells. This is the job of your immune system, which usually clears out cold viruses in a week or two.

[Ronni01]

07:29 PM on 01/28/2011

Ive heard that keeping unpeeled onions in the rooms draws the cold/flu virus inside of them and away from the human would-be host.

[steve12]

06:40 PM on 01/29/2011

How would the vapor emitted by an onion draw a virus out of your body. If this actually worked, the pharmaceutical industry would probably kill the entire onion production on the planet.

[Rubn Nolan Cajigas]

07:09 PM on 01/28/2011

wearing garlic? do i look like count Dracula?

also, being out in the cold may not directly cause illness, but exposing your whole respiratory system to an extreme temperature can strain your system and make you more susceptible to said viruses.

[Frank Smith]

05:26 PM on 01/28/2011

Don't get colds in the first place . . . get enough Vitamin C!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArkbEv0Q8D8&feature=player_embedded

[steve12]

06:42 PM on 01/29/2011

That too is a myth and has been disproven by study after study.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/vitamin-c-for-common-cold

[Frank Smith]

11:23 PM on 01/29/2011

Firstly, 200 mg daily isn't enough. If you're still catching colds, you aren't taking enough. WebMD is run by Merck but you can believe what you want to believe. ;O)

http://www.wbmd.com/waynegattinella.shtml

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss06/cold.html

[Cameron Alborzian]

04:36 PM on 01/28/2011

Yes garlic is great for a cold but you must eat it early

[letsmakesense]

03:37 PM on 01/28/2011

What I have done for years with myself and children starting at 6 months very successfully is to use garlic socks to knock out the fever and the other cold symptoms.
2 pair of cotton, wool or silk socks and a whole bulb of garlic(hopefully organic) peeled and minced. Put on one pair of socks. Fill second pair of socks with minced garlic and put them on over first pair. Within 60 seconds you will smell the garlic on the breath of the patient illustrating that yes the curing garlic has hit the blood stream.

[camanokat]

02:42 PM on 01/29/2011

Sounds uncomfortable to walkon.

[steve12]

06:46 PM on 01/29/2011

It would seem that eating it would be a more efficient means of getting garlic into the bloodstream.

[rh654]

03:00 PM on 01/28/2011

Wearing Garlic Prevents Colds

I think this one has some validity - after all if I saw someone walking around wearing garlic I would probably think that they are little to weird and would walk well away from them - so if won't go near them I suppose they would have a less chance of catching a cold - at least from close proximity to someone infected.

[Allen Bouchard]

04:36 PM on 01/28/2011

Which is pretty much what the text says. There are some people that think that the garlic is keeping them healthy, even when they come into close contact with infected persons.

[American Air]

01:45 PM on 01/28/2011

Myth: Scientists know everything and everything they say is true!

[Sennin]

02:56 PM on 01/28/2011

Agreed.

[American Air]

01:44 PM on 01/28/2011

I challenge y'all. To sleep on the floor without a cover, and without heating for a night.. see if you wake up with a cold or not.

So is it really virus/germs alone that triggers cold? I don't think so!

[Sennin]

03:01 PM on 01/28/2011

Well, if the air around you and the floor is clean, there should be no problems. Colds are common during the winter because your body is more susceptible to viruses and germs during colder weather. In simple terms, if your body doesn't produce enough heat through blood flow, you are more likely to get sick because of the germs and viruses not because of the cold temperatures alone. The key is to stay hydrated and make sure you are active throughout the day.

[Genders]

10:09 PM on 01/28/2011

Yes, if you get "chilled" for whatever reason, your immune system is less effective. It's odd they would overlook that.

[American Air]

01:42 PM on 01/28/2011

I have slept in a room that was not heated and I end up with sever cold! Every time I sleep with in sufficiant heating.. I have had this issue.

So all this bunkum.

[Michael Mouton]

12:45 AM on 01/29/2011

That's because you were hypothermic and more susceptible to infection.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

11:32 AM on 01/28/2011

Myths? Never underestimate the power of a good placebo!

[Rowsdower]

11:06 AM on 01/28/2011

Article, you missed the point. The common factor with things that help you get well (keeping hydrated, eating enough, sleeping, staying warm) is that they reduce bodily stress; stress compromises your resistance to disease, so reduce stress and you can fight off illness better. Likewise, not wearing a coat in winter can increase your bodily stress, which means that suddenly your body is focused on keeping you from dying from hypothermia, and not on fighting off disease.

I would add that mental stress knocks down your resistance too, so slow down a bit at work, spend five more minutes petting the cat, do some breathing exercises, and so on.

[honorah131]

11:22 AM on 01/28/2011

I agree. Totally!

[Sennin]

03:05 PM on 01/28/2011

Actually our skin is good enough to handle the cold weather we experience during the winter. It's just that we are so used to being covered for colder weather that we have a hard time doing business without a jacket during the winter. But, I agree that decreasing bodily stress is necessary to fight off the illness.

[Acert]

02:28 AM on 02/24/2011

That depends on where you live. In many areas, going out without a coat, during the winter, is a very good way to get hypothermia.