Chest Cold | Does It Still Exist With Covid?

Remember the good old days when after a walk in the rain you would feel chest cold and cough the next morning. You wouldn’t be panicking about it since, it’s just a common cold … uuhh well! It does seem like an eternity ago. Now even a mild cough from a draft can make the hair stand on the end. Because we are afraid that it might be … you know what… Covid. So does the chest cold, still exist?

Well sometimes and/or hopefully most of the times it is in fact just cold, allergy, or a chest infection of some sort that would likely go away in a couple of days. 

Chest infection or chest cold a.k.a. Acute Bronchitis isn’t a very mild infection. Instead, it is likely to put a toll on your health if you don’t take proper care of medication and diet. Here is everything you need to know about Acute Bronchitis. 

What is chest cold or Bronchitis:

Bronchitis is the inflammation or swelling of the air pathway to the lungs. The air from nose reaches the lungs via a well-established pathway of bronchi and bronchioles. When this pathway becomes swollen, inflamed and clogged with excess mucous then this condition is called as bronchitis. 

What causes coldness in chest:

The swelling may be due to many reasons such as allergy, bacterial or viral infection, smoking, air toxicity such as smog etc.

What are the symptoms for chest cold:

The symptoms for chest cold are similar to those of any other upper respiratory tract infection and includes:

• Fever or malaise
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Stuffy or runny nose
• Cough with or without mucous
• Low grade Body aches
• Congestion in the chest and difficulty breathing

How to treat Chest Cold:

In ancient times when medicine wasn’t as established; diseases like chest infections, clogged sinuses, flu and fever etc. were treated by herbal therapies and home remedies. The elders of the house would spot a budding infection and immediately get to cooking foods that would ‘kill the disease’ (as they used to call it). These home remedies and diets have been proven beneficial even today. If anything, science has in fact put its stamp of approval on these healthy foods.

Some of the examples of foods that are extremely helpful in treating chest cold are as follows:

Lots and lots of Fluids:

We all wonder how does drinking water help treat bronchitis or coldness in chest. The answer is in fact simpler than you’d imagine. Fluids will cause thinning and shredding of the mucous build up in the airways.

The target should be to drink atleast 2 liters or 8 glasses of water. It is readily advised by the health professionals to drink lukewarm water instead of straight out of the fridge since that would only worsen the infection.

Oh Honey! 

Honey is like a magic potion when it comes to treating chest infections. Add a spoonful in warm water or tea and the results are instantaneous and profound. Honey is a highly acidic food (pH 3.2 to 4.8) as well as it has rich conc of phenols along with sugary contents. All the constituents make honey

• Strongly antibacterial
• Strong antioxidant: helps treat inflammation 
• High osmolarity rate to cross cellular membranes: Since Honey can cross membranes; it helps clear up the chest congestion by breaking up even the most stubborn mucous contents.

So go ahead, take a heap full spoon of honey and add it in basically any warm drink you are having. 

Pineapple is your friend indeed:

Chest congestion is the response to any sort of cold or viral or bacterial infection. It is therefore important to bear in mind that your body must be supplied with strong antihistaminic compounds as well. Mucous production and buildup are an aggravated histaminic response to foreign agents or colds.

Pineapple is a rich source for the enzyme Bromelain. This enzyme helps calm the aggravated histaminic response. Less histamine triggers the lesser the mucous production. It is also strong anti-inflammatory agent. Hence a complete win-win situation.

Head over to spice cabinet:

Now Now!!! don’t get excited… by spice cabinet we don’t exactly want you to whip up a spicy chicken wing recipe. But infact; there are so many exceptional anti-inflammatory agents among those spices. For example:

Cinnamon bark:

True cinnamon obtained from Siri Lankan source is infact gold for viral infection induced congestion and inflammation. The constituents such as2-hydroxycinnamaldehyde makes the bark extremely anti-inflammatory and therefore, increase the air way size. This will help ease up forced breathing esp. during a cough attack.

Ginger:

Be it any part of the world, the use of ginger to treat flue and chest infection is present in nearly everywhere in history. And rightly so! Ginger is a strong anti-inflammatory, anti-congestion, as well as used for many chronic gastric diseases. Chewing on a bite size ginger or adding freshly cut ginger to a well brewed tea is universally accepted home remedy for upper respiratory tract infections of any sort.

Ginger constituents	Uses
Zingerone	Strong anti-inflammatory by Inhibiting IL-I response
6 gingerol	Strong anti-inflammatory by Inhibiting IL-10 and IL-22 response

Pepper the cough:

That’s right! You need to pepper that cough away. Cough is a strong symptom for chest cold. Peppers are source for capsaicin. Capsaicin contains anti-inflammatory and expectorant properties. It will help thin the mucous which can then be easily spit out. This not only makes breathing less heavy but also induce relaxation.

You can count on onions:

Doctors and health professionals always advice the use of onions in any sort of inflammatory infection. This is owing to presence of Quercetin in onions. Quercetin acts as Anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory. It helps in following ways:

• Clears up sinuses
• Helps relieve cough attacks
• Helps in thinning of clogged mucous in the air ways
• Improves natural immunity 

Take away:

Every disease requires different medication and diet to recover from it. But for diseases like chest cold or any cold of the sort; you do not need to go hunting for an herbal or homeopathic store. The remedies are right there in your kitchen. Don’t be fooled by the names of fancy herbs. Sometimes just a few slices of ginger are all you need. Life isn’t simple but atleast your treatment against chest cold can be.