Well, we’re heading into cold season, folks. Actually, anyone who teaches, works in the public sector or has little ones at home knows that it never really goes away, but only gets worse at this time of year.

We all know there’s no “miracle cure” for colds. But I do have a sure-fire way of fighting them head-on!

When Main Street was getting busy last year and heading into Christmas-gig craziness, I started getting panicky. Not because I was nervous about our up-coming gigs, but because I always get sick around this time of year. And face it, you know I never do anything half way. When I got sick, it wasn’t just with a stuffy nose or sore throat. No, every year I would get something horrific, like full blown pneumonia, or massive sinus and throat infections, where I’d be begging people to just put the pillow over my face and put me out of my misery.

I’m not a good patient, so you have to know they were sorely tempted.

Last year I put out a distressed profile update on Facebook saying I was getting sick, probably blaming my kids (since that’s what I do), and one of my friends who is the principal conductor of a symphony orchestra east of Toronto immediately told me to go and get some oil of oregano.

He’s told me about it before, but frankly it sounded like more herbal nonsense to me, and I’d ignored him. Echinacea never worked for me – at all – so I wasn’t big on trying anything else. Until then – I was desperate! I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it, so off I went to Wal-Mart to get me some.

Did he warn me about how absolutely vile it tastes? No, he did not.

Did he warn me that I would belch oregano for an hour after taking it? He did not.

Did he tell me it works and would stop the cold in it’s tracks? Yes he did, and he was right!

So… maybe he thought I could handle the oil on it’s own, and didn’t bother to tell me that you could get it in soft gel form (much more expensive though). Turns out I’m a bit of a pansy, so I couldn’t. Well, wouldn’t. Whatever. What I did was seek out a health food store and buy some empty gel caps.

Put 4 drops of the oil in, swallow it happily since there’s no wretched, lingering, burning after taste when you do it that way, and wait for the oregano burps. A very small price to pay to avoid getting sick, let me tell you.

Here’s what I do: Take 7 empty gel caps, and put 4 drops of undiluted Oil of Oregano into each. Put ’em in a baggie, keep them where you’ll remember to take one every morning, and take one every day. Don’t take it for more than a week. You don’t need to.

I’ve become a supplier for our group – well, ShaMoo bought her own, so I guess I’m just a supplier for the guys. I look very much like a drug dealer when I hand J-B his little baggie, and I make sure I take a guilty look around in all directions before I slip it to him, just to complete that image. It’s all very clandestine.

Folks, I haven’t been sick since I started doing this. I’m not kidding! Every time I feel a sore throat or sniffle coming on, I take OoO (J-B’s nickname for it, which is awesome) for a week, and I never get a full blown cold. Never mind that though – I haven’t had pneumonia or a sinus/throat infection either!

ShaMoo’s husband explained it to me one day last winter. He’s a geneticist and knows what he’s talking about, so I tend to listen when he speaks about stuff like this… oil of oregano acts to slow down cell growth in your body, which allows your natural immune system to step up and combat whatever is trying to take hold. Simple and straightforward – no mystery involved. However, because it slows down ALL cell growth in your body – both good and bad – you shouldn’t take it for longer than a week. Oh, you’ll find people doing just that, and so-called experts touting the benefits of doing so. Simple fact is, you really just need to take it when you start to feel like you’re coming down with something (or your spouse/kids are sick), and then only for a week. And of course, I’m talking about people who are otherwise healthy – if you’re not, you should ask your doctor about it, and do some research yourself. Common sense, right?

Because little ones can’t take it orally, that sort of leaves them out of the benefits, doesn’t it? Nope – spend some quality time after their bath at night and rub a couple drops into each foot. It will absorb into their skin, and still work the same way – and because you’re doing the rubbing, you’ll get the benefits to some degree too. I tried this on Wee One a couple weeks ago when she was sneezing up a storm, and the sneezing lasted all of a day and a half, and required no other cold meds! I rubbed her feet every night for almost a week, which she absolutely LOVED by the way, and she was right as rain and felt great. It absorbs well, doesn’t leave an oily residue, and really doesn’t smell too bad. After the first night, Wee One started asking for it, and even offered to go to bed early to get her foot rubs. Holy smokes… I’m a child-whisperer!!

You can get oil of oregano pretty much anywhere that sells organic and health products – I’ve seen it in our local Super Store, at Wal-Mart, and all drugstores. Haven’t seen it at Costco yet.

I only WISH this were a paid endorsement of the stuff – I completely swear by it.