Has anyone tried Airborne?

[IronFist]

Link to the website (http://www.airbornehealth.com/). I've been using the orange flavor for a few weeks now. It tastes kind of like watered down Tang. It's kind of expensive ($5-7 for 10 tabs). The effervescent action is kind of cool to watch. If you break a tab in half and put both halves in a plastic water bottle and then tighten the cap, the pressure will force the bottom of the bottle to become convex (assuming it was concave to begin with).

So if anyone has used this, what do you think of it? It's got a lot of vitamin C as well as other stuff in it.

[GeneChing]

...Actually, I've been using airborne for years. I always carry it when I travel. My kid was sick last week, and I was feeling it, so I got a fresh container. That and Ban Lai Gen are my primary cold defenses nowadays...

[IronFist]

What's Ban Lai Gen?

[GeneChing]

That's ban lan gen (http://alternativehealing.org/ban_lan_gen.htm) - it was flying off the shelves last year due to the SARS scare. I've actually been using it for years beofre that tho... It's good stuff, not nearly as nasty tasting as many TCM pills or teas. I ALWAYS travel with some.

[Shaolinlueb]

So gene do you feel it actually works? shold i bring some airborne with me when i go to china?

[IronFist]

Does it just boost the immune system? Are there any dangers in taking it for too long (immune system supression)? Anticipate any additional or follow up questions I might ask and answer :)

[GeneChing]

I'd recommend it. I've had no problems with either supplement. My only complaint about Airborne is that it's a bit pricey. You can go through a tube in a few days. Ban Lan Gen really varies in quality, but after SARS, every TCM place stocked up on it so it's really easy to get now.

[norther practitioner]

Yin Chiao and EmergenC is what I do usually.

[GeneChing]

EmergenC is much cheaper and easy to carry than Airborne. I usually double does on that. I tend to use it more like an electrolyte drink, like gatorade, instead of a cold preventative.

I've used Yin Chiao but don't have a significant opinion on it. It seems milder than Ban Lan Gen.

eh, it's probably all just placebo, but I prefer a functioning placebo to a non-functioning drug.

[yenhoi]

I use airborne almost everyday.

:eek:

[jun_erh]

I heard it on Stern too. I've never tried it but recommend it based on his recommendation allthe time.

[mickey]

Greetings,

For dealing with the various early signs of a cold:

1- chicken soup: if I feel discomfort in the lymph nodes. Nature's antibiotic.

2- Gan Mao Ling: after being around someone with a cold and I am starting to experience weakness. This is a Chinese patent medicine that can be found in most Chinese medicine stores.

3- Black Label and rest: If the previous two do not work. The alcohol helps elevate my hormone levels, boosting my immune system.


It is always good to take a multivitamin and mineral formula daily during these times. I recommend Source of Life Vitamins or Centrum Silver (yes, they are for senior citizens but they have an excellent vitamin/mineral profile).

mickey

[FuXnDajenariht]

hehe...you know whats funny. i hear people say all the time that if you walk around without a jacket in the cold or in the rain your gonna catch a cold. and i gotta tell them that its impossible because colds are viruses so you can't actually catch a cold from being exposed to the cold. i think most people know this but they still say it..... its a tiny pet peeve. i know i annoy people when i say that since i been saying it since i was like 8. lmao....i just can't help myself.

then they'll also say...i've got a cold, im gonna ask the doctor for antibiotics. to which i say, thats a nice idea...but antibiotics dont work against viruses..... evil looks all around. lol maybe ill learn one day....

oh yea....OT......ive tried airborne but i really can't tell if meds work for me or not unless i get immediate results. im bad with that. maybes its just placebo which is also good. my mom heard it on Oprah by the way.....

[GeneChing]

I use airborne almost everyday. I'm not sure that's the best strategy. I was really into ginseng when in grad school. I took it almost every day - chewing the root, adding it to my coffee - that was until I got some advice on it. There's a school of thought that ginseng effects are cumulative and that young, healthy people shouldn't take it regulary because they'll have nothing to use when they get older. Since I've already developed allergies to other meds such penicillin-based drugs, dit da jow, and a host of allergy meds and remedies, I now avoid ginseng completely. For me personally, it's all about variety.

[Toby]

FuXnDajenariht, you're 100% right. Although I think if you get yourself cold you're weakening your body and making it more susceptible to attack from viruses, so being cold can indirectly affect your chances of getting a cold.

It also ****es me off that people take antibiotics for colds. Thankfully most docs around here are smart enough to not give them to people with colds.

[herb ox]

Well, if Brother Gene finds good results from ban lan gen, by TCM standards, he dosen't really have a cold but rather excess or toxic heat. Ban Lan Gen is a bitter, cold herb - if you had true internal cold, you'd want some ginger and green onions in your jook! :D

hope everybody's feeling fine today...

herb ox

[GeneChing]

You're not the first to say I'm too hot, herb ox. ;)

[Odin of Wei]

I take Airborne...I also take flitsones vitamin along with like this ultra (nasty tasting) vitium C tablet in the early morning everyday I wake up for school.

Just recently I experenced increased mucus and constant snezzing...and thus blowing my nose. But that was it...its now gone and that was all I had for the year so far.


And I really needed a sick day today too. :p



Originally posted by GeneChing
I'm not sure that's the best strategy. I was really into ginseng when in grad school. I took it almost every day - chewing the root, adding it to my coffee - that was until I got some advice on it. There's a school of thought that ginseng effects are cumulative and that young, healthy people shouldn't take it regulary because they'll have nothing to use when they get older. Since I've already developed allergies to other meds such penicillin-based drugs, dit da jow, and a host of allergy meds and remedies, I now avoid ginseng completely. For me personally, it's all about variety.
My dad takes ginsing like an insane amount.



...and raw onions....smells so bad I want to kill him sometimes. :mad:

If only there was a different way...I cant stand it at all!

[herb ox]

I use raw onion and raw garlic for a good cure for sinus probs. Clears it right up. And keeps away the Chupacabra.

h.o.

[Odin of Wei]

Originally posted by herb ox
I use raw onion and raw garlic for a good cure for sinus probs. Clears it right up. And keeps away the Chupacabra.

h.o.
Chupacabra?!

Your thinking vampries, yea?



And my dad takes it because he says when he was wrong a doctor told him he will never get sick if he does.


F*cking hell, I rather be sick than smell like sh!t and not have anyone like me. :confused:

[18elders]

The Gan mao ling helps me out when i feel a cold comming on.
There was another one i would take but i forgot the name.

[herb ox]

Could it be Yin Chao?

I find it to be one of the best for my constitution. Little green pills...

[fanzi]

My mom takes Airborne, the ingredients look good: jing jie, fang feng, ban lan gen, zinc, vitamin c and others.

When I feel a cold coming on I take Pine Mountain brand Yin Qiao San which includes Ban Lan Gen and Chuan Xin Lian. I also take extra Zinc and Vitamin C. Works great.

Herb Ox: while Ban Lan Gen and Chuan Xin Lian traditionally are in the toxic heat category, they have a clear anti-viral effect. I think combining them with Yin Qiao is great to stop the progression of a viral infection. If it is cold out and you have more chills and stiffness, ginger tea is great to dispel the constricting cold.

Also, many believe that in this day in age, and in warmer climates, most people don't expereince a true wind-cold invasion but either have wind-heat or a wind-cold that transforms into wind-heat. By that logic, the heat clearing herbs would be more appropriate.

I agree with the person who posted that exposure to cold or rain can compromise the immune system and allow a virus to invade. It doesn't happen to everybody. Research has shown that cold constricts blood vessels and decreases circulation; this is why people with heart conditions are told to avoid the cold weather. By the same logic, cold restricts circulation at the exterior of the body and can result in chills, stiffness, headache, and neck pain.
If cold rain is falling it could have a similar effect. Cold and rain are not viruses but they shouldn't be discarded because they can be a culprit to disease.

[herb ox]

excellent info... thanks! I agree with you on the wind-heat issue, especially given the common American diet, which tends to make my body run a bit 'warmer' than I think is optimum.

Back on track, one of my students came by last night with some Airborne, as I was complaining of coming down with a cold. I took 2 doses over 3 hours along with 2 solid doses of Yin Qiao taken with Xiaosheng wine. Note to self: feeling MUUUCH better today!

looks like either Airborne + Yin Qiao is the secret combo or maybe the placebo effect is substantially stronger when you take more than one remedy at a time ;)

In any case, I believe my 'feeling under the weather' largely due to my poor diet these past few days travelling on road and working, not eating properly - gonna get me a proper lunch in a few minutes here... that'll set me on a better track.

peace

herb ox