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This $2 Remedy Beats Every Cold Medicine

Dr Brad Stanfield

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 The Problem with Common Cold Remedies
01:26 Zinc's Effect on Viruses
02:42 The Importance of Zinc Formulation
03:58 The Use of Saline Solution for Colds
05:54 The Effectiveness of Saline Solution in Clinical Trials
07:04 The Use of Honey for Colds
08:47 Practical Steps for Cold Treatment
10:44 Emerging Approaches for Cold Treatment

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Here are the links to the research papers referenced in the video:
Eby — "Zinc Lozenges For The Common Cold. Why Did It Take 30 Years?" — https://www.lifeextension.com/magazin...
Eby et al. 1984 — "Reduction in duration of common colds by zinc gluconate lozenges" — doi: 10.1128/aac.25.1.20
Eby 2010 — "Zinc lozenges as cure for the common cold – A review and hypothesis" — doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2009.10.017
Hemilä 2017 — "Zinc lozenges and the common cold: zinc acetate vs zinc gluconate" — doi: 10.1177/2054270417694291
Hemilä 2016 — "Zinc acetate lozenges: individual patient data meta-analysis" — doi: 10.1111/bcp.13057
Ramalingam et al. 2019 — "ELVIS trial: hypertonic saline for the common cold" — doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37703-3
Rabone & Saraswati 1999 — "Nasal lavage in volunteer woodworkers" — doi: 10.1093/occmed/49.6.365
Speir 1961 — "Effect of Inorganic Salts on Infectivity of Mengo Virus" — doi: 10.3181/00379727-106-263
ERS News 2024 — "Saline nasal drops reduce cold duration in young children by two days" — https://www.ersnet.org/news-and-featu...
Ramalingam et al. 2018 — "Antiviral innate immune response augmented by chloride ions" — doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31936-y
Wounds UK — "Honey: antimicrobial and antibacterial nectar of the gods" — https://wounds-uk.com/wp-content/uplo...
Eteraf-Oskouei & Najafi 2013 — "Traditional and Modern Uses of Natural Honey" — PMID: 23997898
Abuelgasim et al. 2021 — "Effectiveness of honey for URTIs: systematic review and meta-analysis" — doi: 10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111336
Oxford PHC News — "Honey better than usual care for respiratory symptoms" — https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/news/honey-b...
Hemilä et al. 2017 — "Zinc acetate lozenges within 24 hours of onset" — doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofx059
Hemilä 2011 — "Zinc Lozenges May Shorten the Duration of Colds" — doi: 10.2174/1874306401105010051
Cold-Eeze product page — https://coldeeze.com/collections/cold...
PA Center for the Book — "ColdEEZE: Curing the Cold" — https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/lite...
HDRUK News — "Clinical trial testing ancient cold remedy for COVID-19" — https://www.hdruk.ac.uk/news/clinical...
ELVIS Study — Nasal irrigation instructions — http://www.elvisstudy.com/nasal-irrig...
Mohandas et al. 2025 — "Broad-Spectrum Virucidal Activity of NO Nasal Spray (NONS)" — doi: 10.3390/v18010091
Tandon et al. 2021 — "Clinical efficacy of NO nasal spray for mild COVID-19" — doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2021.05.009
ECRAID News — "ECRAID-Prime and SaNOtize trial on antiviral nasal spray" — https://www.ecraid.eu/news/ecraid-pri...
Wardlaw et al. 2025 — "Nasodine for the common cold: Phase III clinical trial" — doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1565069

Thumbnail by James Kelly
Video edited by Troy Young
Script by John Milliken

The content contained in this video, and its accompanying description, is not intended to replace viewers’ relationships with their own medical practitioner. Always speak with your doctor regarding the content of this channel, and especially before using any products, services, or devices discussed on this channel.

20 Comments

@DrBradStanfield Creator 5 months ago (edited) Pinned

🩺 Get your personalized health plan: https://drstanfield.com/pages/roadmap

@S.Clause 2 months ago

Licensed Pharmacist in four states told me about Zinc, Honey and a lot more in 2 minutes.

@victordasilva5255 5 months ago

I snort cocaine and take Viagra when I have a cold. Not sure if it helps, but I have a lot of fun.

@ccarello1 5 months ago

I swore by Zinc-based Zicam nasal swabs and throat sprays when I began using them in the early 2000s. I went from getting colds all the time to almost never getting a full-blown cold. As long as I took it as soon as I felt that tickle in the back of my throat it would rarely develop into a full cold. For years, it was a God-send. Then at some point in the late 2000s it just...stopped working. Every tickle developed into a full blown cold from that point on. I couldn't understand. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the FDA required the manufacturer to remove zinc from zicam due to product complaints. The zinc really had made a dramatic difference.

@WayneGolding-r1d 4 months ago

Thanks for sending me down the rabbit hole of trying to find zinc lozenges without citric acid doc 😅

@shrimpbread7284 5 months ago

Instead of “decades of research” my brain heard “dickheads of research” 🤣. Thanks for the informative video top notch as always

@martinwallace5734 5 months ago

When I was a boy, my friends and I enjoyed body surfing at the beach. We noticed that if you had a head cold, a good, rough surf - where the salt water would inevitably get up your nose and down your throat - seemed to cure us. We thought it was just washing the virus away, but now I understand that the salt in the sea water was playing a crucial role.

@tobias-1001 5 months ago

10:33 Looks around kitchen for honey... finds honey mustard. Close enough.

@muleface1066 5 months ago

I've used both zinc and saline--and I seldom have a cold for more than a day or so. The key is to catch it (no pun intended) early. I will try honey. But another thing that helps a lot with sleep during a cold is to sleep with your head raised. A recliner works very nicely. Fluid collects in various parts of our bodies driven, at least in part, by gravity. With your head raised, it won't collect as much in your head, so you will have less congestion. In that position, it's also easier for mucus to flow down your esophagus (rather than your trachea), so it may also reduce throat irritation. And mucus is no match for stomach acid.

@CheatDayKerry 5 months ago

Most real world helpful health video Ive seen in awhile.

@AMcDub0708 5 months ago (edited)

Weird, garlic absolutely works anytime i start to get a sinus infection. But I realize that’s not the same as a cold

@Ave_Xavier 2 months ago

Texan raised in the 1970’s here. We knew the zinc connect before 1979. I don’t know how it was known, but I was given zinc supplements when I got sick. I was to keep it under my tongue. I feel like my grandfathers doctor suggested it.

@wren460 5 months ago (edited)

Well....family of 4 here. We always were getting a cold 2 x a year. Then covid came about and we got tested for vit D and the 4 of us were very deficient , between 8 to 15 ng/ml. We started dosing 5,000 IU a day the 4 of us. Since covid we have been sick maybe once, yes, once in 6 years. Our vit D levels today are in the 50-70 ng/ml and personally I am in the 95-110 ng/ml. Vitamin D does work, or at least it works extremely well in people that are deficient who happens to be the majority. Vit D regardless of whatever I read has been a life changing supplement for us.

@CosmicVortexX 5 months ago

I use Whiskey 🥃. Kills viruses 🦠 in the nose and throat. I did a controlled double-blind study at my local bar. It works.

@aclearlight 3 months ago

Thank you for this marvelous chemical detective story! As a former educator I have to tip my hat whenever I see someone craft science lessons as topical, fun, and engaging as what you've done here. 👍🏼

@alnm951 5 months ago

Be careful with Saline Nasal Irrigation, don't use tap water or boil it first and let it cool. Use only distilled, sterile water. Otherwise you could get some nasty bugs that can be life threatening (meningitis)

@mattytap 5 months ago

This has to be one of the most significant health videos out there.

@hoqianhe 5 months ago

I'm in Melbourne Australia and I get sick like 10 times a year. I couldn't find lozenges with enough zinc (4mg each tops) for a 75 mg daily dose, unless I have almost 20 lollies a day. I improvised crushing zinc gluconate tablets 30mg each and swallow with a teaspoon of honey 3 times in 24 hours.
The night before I started to have a sore throat and coughed, started this new tool yesterday morning and felt better within a couple of hours. Today I woke up having a sore throat that's gone within 2 hours but still I took the zinc anyway. I have a feeling its working for me, I hope this will be helpful to get me through this flu season

@yogimaster1 5 months ago

Zinc gluconate is the active ingredient in Cold Eeze and I realized that worked when I first bought it at Walgreens in 2002. Quercetin increases the cells absorption of zinc, so it could be good to take alongside the zinc (onions and capers are good sources). I read about some studies during the pandemic where saline irrigation of nasal passages decreased hospitalization by a significant amount and I was telling everyone who got covid to do saline nasal irrigation. Honey is known to work better than cough suppressants.

@tridoc99 5 months ago (edited)

I thought the reason the original Zicam zinc gluconate products were discontinued in 2009 was at least in part due to the FDA saying there was no evidence of effectiveness and some consumers even claiming harm like Zicam having caused anosmia. Anecdotally, they seemed to work really well for me particularly the nasal swabs and I was disappointed in the product’s removal. This video finally helped me understand why it did work and why the FDA said it didn’t. Unfortunately it’s stuff like this that makes people not “trust the science”particularly when it’s the government pushing the narrative. Thanks!