The weather is forever fluctuating, cold today, hot tomorrow, and many of my colleagues are blowing their noses and coughing with colds. Their resulting fatigue is added worry on top of the seemingly unfinished work accumulated day in and day out. Such a forlorn state of despair.

However, the good news is having a cold is not as terrible as one might fear. Just by knowing how to eat, together with the correct massaging of magic acupoints, you can quickly fight it off.

Sneezing may be a sign you are about to catch a cold— stay calm and quickly press the acupoints. The first is the Yingxiang acupoint.

Even if you are already in the throngs of a cold, it’s not too late to begin pressing the “Yingxiang Point.” As soon as the sneezing stops, it means the cold is being driven away.

Yingxiang is an acupoint on the large intestine meridian. It is divided into five points beside the alar of the nose, in the depression in the nasolabial fold. When pressing Yingxiang acupoint, do not press towards the nose, but press towards the bones of the face. It will feel as if your nose is being blocked.

Pressing the Yingxiang point can warm the large intestine and lung meridians. Once your lungs are warmed, no doubt the cold will disappear.

If you have a cold and are coughing continuously, then press the Chize point.

A cold is an acute disease, and there is an acupoint on the lung meridian that is most important for treating acute diseases—it is the “Chize.”

When your palm is facing the ceiling, the Chize is located on the horizontal crease of the elbow, along the line of the thumb. Massaging the point can relieve cold and cough immediately.

People who detest colds and taking medicines will want to learn these two acupoints as they are specifically effective in providing fast recovery.

Drink “brown sugar ginger soup” to chase the cold out. Having a cold will certainly affect your performance in life—keeping you from work and away from friends. So as soon as you feel any cold symptoms—like sneezing or an itchy throat—make yourself a bowl of brown sugar ginger soup, and drink it down. This special soup can remove internal cold and improve colds.

Always drink the soup warm.

Pears have very curative effects. When you feel a cold, cough, and itchy throat, you can make a natural cough soup at home with stewed pear juice with Chuanbei (Tendrilleaf fritillary) malt, which is the best to prevent and treat coughs.

Raw pears clear the heat of the six internal organs, while ripe pears nourish the yin of the five internal organs. Pears boiled with hot water are very helpful for the lungs and respiratory tract.

Either green or yellow pears are fine. Remove the peel and cut into pieces, put in a bowl, add some maltose and Chuanbei powder (you can ask the guy at the Chinese medicine store to grind it into powder or find it at your local Asian or natural food store). Use an electric cooker to steam it. After steaming, the pears will exude fragrance, be sweet and delicious in taste, and a great remedy to prevent and improve coughs.

Let me introduce to you a nourishing and strengthening tea to prevent colds. It is brewed with astragalus root, Codonopsis pilosula, and wolfberry (also known as goji berry). Drinking it regularly can protect your immunity. These three medicinal substances are very inexpensive and they taste sweet and smell good when put together.

Ingredients:
Astragalus 3 qian (0.53 ounce), Codonopsis 3 qian (0.53 ounce), wolfberry 20 pieces

Preparation:
After washing, add 1300 cc (2.75 pints) of water and cook for 20 minutes, until about 1000cc (2.1 pints) of water remains.

Keep it in a thermos bottle, and have the children drink it at school. Bring it to the office for yourself and give it to your in-laws—it is good for all.

Note: This remedy is for people who do not yet have a cold. It is not for those that already have a cold.

What can you do if you have a cold and sore throat? Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a magic treatment to help, which is bloodletting at the “Shaoshang point.” The Shaoshang point is on the inner edge of the thumbnail. A TCM physician can help you squeeze the thumb until it turns slightly red, and then let out a little bit of blood, which can immediately relieve sore throat.