You are more likely to get a common cold when you are dehydrated, do not have sufficient sleep or have inadvertently caught a chill. Your immune system gets down and you experience symptoms that will keep you in bed. These include body aches, fevers, headaches coughing, a runny nose, and a general feeling of not well. To fight the common cold virus, you can pop some over the counter cold medications and wait for your system to recover. However, if you want to be out of bed twice as fast, then you may wish to consider consuming herbal health supplements.

Herbalists say that there are many herbal health remedies that can help increase your immune system; thereby speeding up your recovery. They can be taken in the form of supplements in the required dosages to help you fight your cold. Here are some examples:

1. Echinacea Herbal Health Supplements. Echinacea have been used over the centuries. They are used to cure the common cold and also other upper respiratory problems. Echinacea works by boosting the production of immune cells that help fight disease. For common colds, it is recommended that echinacea be taken in the form of a tincture or as a capsule or tablet. This is not an herb that you should take constantly though. Instead, take it at the first signs of illness. Continue this for 1 or 2 weeks afterwards before you stop taking it for a while. Not following this set of guidelines can be counteractive as this may cause your immune system to become depressed instead. When you do take this you should take approximately 175 to 225 milligrams of Echinacea 2 or 3 times a day.

2. Goldenseal Herbal Health Supplements. Goldenseal is believed to strengthen the immune system, and can be used together with Echinacea whenever you first suspect that you may be coming down with a cold. Herbalists recommend taking 175 to 350 milligrams of goldenseal 3 or 4 times a day for 10 days after the first sign of a cold. Besides boosting the immune system, this is one of the herbal remedies that can also help to combat localized viruses.

3. Garlic Herbal Health Supplements. Traditional herbalists believe that garlic is one of the most potent cold-fighters. They recommend that you eat a clove of fresh garlic at the first indications of a cold and to boost up your garlic intake when a cold is already underway. If you cannot stand the pungent smell from garlic, then there are garlic capsules that are easily available in your local health store. These should contain between 300 to 500 milligrams of garlic and be taken daily for the first week of your cold. Consuming garlic can help keep the worst symptoms of the common cold at bay.

While the above are recommended dosages in general, you would need to check with your own herbalist or your doctor before you consume the said supplements. This is because you need to know if the herbs in these supplements will interact negatively with whatever medications that you are currently on. If they do, there are always other safe herbal health supplements to turn to with which can help you recover twice as fast!