The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry | A Sydney Food Blog

Honey, ginger, vitamin C, etc for company

September 16th, 2009  |  Published in Restaurants  |  4 Comments

This is my version of the absentee notes you gave to teachers in school, stapled with a medical certificate and signed off by your parents to show that yes, you really were propped up in bed, not feeling well at all.

Hence the lack of updates here.

It’s totally my fault, ‘cos only last week, I said to Beth that I’d amazingly skated through autumn and winter without getting sick. And then spring hits and bam, here I am, surrounded by tissues and having rebought another jar of honey ‘cos I’d used up the last one in a flash.

A few years ago, I read this on the nutrition blog on SMH, when findings were made that combining echinachea and vitamin C could prevent the chances of getting a cold by almost 60 per cent:

When the first hint of a scratchy throat and runny nose appeared late last Thursday, I followed the same action plan I’ve used for years to head off a cold – taking echinacea, garlic and vitamin C three times a day. Call it coincidence – or maybe the placebo effect – but by Friday the throat was less inflamed and by Saturday, roughly 36 hours after the first symptom appeared, it was back to normal.

I actually started following that cold-battling regime and found it really makes a mega difference. It’s not a superpill but often, if I follow it consistently, I won’t get sick at all, and if I do, it’s a lot milder than the times I’ve been out for a week from a full-blown horror cold.

I also find lots of ginger & honey is soothing and gargling with lukewarm saltwater comes in handy (the latter is doctor’s advice I used to always ignore, jumping to the hard drugs first). I don’t want to sound like a quack and I’m definitely no stethoscope-slinging doc, but these are just personal talismans that do work for me.

Sick note signed and delivered.

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4 Comments

  1. Feel better soon. Knock wood, I’ve had a good run through the cooler months and am going strong. Squeezed orange juice and colodial minerals do it for me.

  2. amy says:

    oh noooooooooooo! rest up and good luck with the remedies. berocca is good 2 get your energy back. xoxoxo

  3. Anonymous says:

    Hi Lee Tran! FYI, clinical trials have shown that echinacea can significantly reduce the severity and duration of a cold if taken within the first 72 hours of symptoms showing. I always recommend an echinacea complex to my customers! Get well soon xx

    Jo

  4. leetranlam says:

    Thanks guys, all good tips! Am feeling alot better now & agree, it’s all about getting in there at the beginning.
    I’ve got a back-up supply of echinachea & vitamin C & garlic & zinc vitamins to fortify me for next time (hopefully a long time from now).

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About

Hi, I'm Lee Tran Lam. When not blogging with my mouth full, I'm usually writing, presenting Local Fidelity on FBi radio, making zines, producing podcasts or continually breaking promises about how I really am gonna get through my book pile one day.

All the good pictures on this blog are by photography ace (and patient boyfriend), Will Reichelt, (all the dodgy ones can be credited to me)!

The lovely banner is by friend and ultra-talented illustrator Grace Lee.

This site redesign was made possible by the next-level generosity and expertise of Daniel Boud, whose code-tinkering ways are only outranked by his seriously inspired way with a camera.

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This is a blog I do for pure fun and zero influence – there's no sponsorship, sneaky advertorial or advertising. I pay for all the food mentioned, 'cos it seems the ethical thing to do.


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This is a blog about eating and drinking in Sydney, Australia (with the odd cross-border or off-topic detour). BYO appetite.

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