Sickness

Taking zinc can shorten the life of the common cold, says a review of numerous medical studies. And while chicken soup might soothe the soul, zinc can make symptoms like a runny nose and sore throat feel less harsh and also shorten the length of a cold by a few days. The only catch is that it must be taken at the very first signs of a cold to work.

Fifteen studies looking at the effects of zinc on the common cold were reviewed by Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and results showed that the benefits of zinc "were significant," reports The New York Times. In one study, zinc cut the life of a cold from seven days to four days, and in another study, the duration of a cough was reduced by three days. What doctors don't yet know is why zinc seems to work or which zinc products work best. And with so many zinc products on the market, this unknown piece of knowledge can make for a confusing shopping spree. While all of the studies used various forms of zinc in a range of doses, the general consensus is that it does work to shorten colds and make symptoms less severe. Have any of you found success with zinc?

Here's a lesson on suffering from the OnSugar blog An Outside Eye.

In my last blog I went on and on about how, when I finally succumbed to the plague for the first time this season, I took pristine, unwavering, ferocious care of myself and immediately started to feel better.

But alas, that wasn't the end of the story.

On day two of my plague, I decided to brave leaving the house in order to go to my Buddhism class at Spirit Rock. I bundled up, made a thermos of hot herbal tea, turned the heat as high as it would go in the Subie, and off I went.

That night, our class was all about the First Noble Truth: There is suffering.

As I sat through the dharma talk, I got colder and colder, and sniffier and sniffier, and felt more and more like dying. The next morning, I woke up with amplified, exponential plague.

I totally get that suffering is optional.

I totally get that it's the story we create around our experience that causes suffering.

I totally get that, with practice, we can step back and disassociate ourselves from the suffering.

I know all these things in theory. But in practice it's a whole different story. I'm not sure if it's ironic or apropos that the morning after the dharma talk on suffering, I felt more suffering than I've ever felt in my life (yes, I'm exaggerating, obviously).

To find out what Joslyn learned about suffering continue reading.