We believe something as a common sense, but it is sometimes an old information and is different from the information recognized as a common sense at present. The same can be said of a cold. The situations discussed below are in Japan, so please adopt the information useful for your life style.
 
At home in the morning
 
Q1. When you have a cold, it is better to force yourself to eat breakfast even if you don’t have appetite. True or False?
 
A1. True.
 
To fight against viruses by raising the body temperature by eating food. How not to make a cold worse is raising the body temperature. The immune system fighting against viruses becomes stronger by raising the body temperature. When you are in good shape, you can burn fat to raise the body temperature, but when you are not in good shape, you can’t burn fat. That is why it is better to eat breakfast to raise the body temperature except you really can’t eat anything.
 
The beginning of a cold is a condition that there is virus infection but there is no sweat. When you don’t have sweat, if you sweat comfortably, you can recover from a cold. If you can’t sweat comfortably, a cold lasts long. So it is important to raise the body temperature properly and sweat comfortably.
 
According to the research of Yale University, cold virus dies at 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F). cold virus dies and doesn’t increase at 37 degrees C, but cold virus quickly increases at 33 degrees C.
                                                                                                                                                                  Q2. When you have a cold, it is better to eat bread rather than rice. True or False?
 
A2. False.
 
Because eating rice warms the abdomen, but eating bread doesn’t. if you want to raise the body temperature instantly, it is better to eat porridge. Warm food is better like warm vegetables instead of salad.
 
Q3. It is better to put leaves of Daikon radish in a miso soup to prevent cold. True or False?
 
A3. True.
 
It is good to use the leaves of Daikon radish because they contain more vitamin C than the root, which can be expected to prevent cold.
 
Q4. The material for porridge which is expected to alleviate the inflammation of the throat is not egg but salt kelp. True or False?
 
A4. False. The white of egg contains Lysozyme which is expected as anti-inflammatory effect.
 
Q5. It is better to replace toothbrush which was used when you had a cold. True or False?
 
A5. False. You can wash away viruses with water.
 
Q6. The effect of the medicine is the same even if it is taken with hot tea. True or False?
 
A6. True.
 
Since you need to raise your body temperature, it is okay to take medicine for a cold with hot tea. In earlier times, the substance contained in green tea, tannin was said to obstruct the absorption of some substances in the medicine, but now it rarely happens because the medicine has been improved. It is better to avoid taking medicine with grapefruits juice because they obstruct enzyme to breakdown medicine, sometimes making the effect of the medicine too strong.
 
Q7. Kakkonto (Kudzu-based Chinese herb for cold symptoms) which is instructed to drink before a meal can be drunken after a meal. True or False?
 
A7. True.
 
Basically Chinese herbs should be taken before a meal and western-style medicine should be taken after a meal. Western-style medicine damages the stomach if it is taken before a meal. Chinese herbs can be less effective if taken after a meal because they are kinds of foods. However, Kakkonto has you sweat comfortably and recover from a cold, so it is better to drink it as soon as possible instead of waiting for the instructed time to take.

​Hormone is a substance that various organs in our body produce. Normal secretion of hormone regulates our body.
 
There are more than 100 kinds of hormone as far as being known. For example, estrogen, female hormone, plays an important role in the turning point in life of women such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. In fact, the amount of female hormone secreted during a woman’s lifetime is only a spoonful. This spoonful female hormone controls the health of a woman throughout her lifetime. Of course, there are other hormones such as adrenaline that elevates blood pressure when you exercise, melatonin that leads to good sleep, dopamine that makes you enjoy.
 
What a lot of people are worried about is bedridden that is caused by muscle weakness of the lower body. So what is discussed below is Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone that rejuvenates your weakened muscles.
 
Muscle rejuvenation Hormone is IGF-1 that is secreted from the liver and is a type of growth hormone to build up the muscles effectively. When IGF-1 secreted from the liver attaches the muscles, it promotes the growth of the muscles effectively.
 
But there are people who can’t secrete Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone efficiently. They can’t build up the muscles effectively even if they exercise.
 
6 women who were their 60’s and exercised daily checked the age of their muscles and the amount of IGF-1, and only one of 6 women has muscles younger than her age (30’s muscles) and also has more than required IGF-1. Other 5 women has small amount of IGF-1 and their muscle age is more than 70’s. The difference is the meal time that the woman who has more than required IGF-1 is much longer than other people.
 
The reason that eating slower increases the amount of IGF-1 is because it is related to blood sugar. When we eat food, the food is digested and sugar in the blood increases. This is elevation of blood sugar. If the sugar in the blood is too much, that prevents the secretion of IGF-1. As a result, IGF-1 is not secreted sufficiently.
 
Fig. 1 shows blood sugars after eating of a woman with a lot of IGF-1 (she eats slowly) and a woman with small IGF-1 (she eats fast). The blood sugar of the woman who has a lot of IGF-1 doesn’t go up even after eating. As a result, sufficient IGF-1 is secreted without the obstruction of sugar. On the contrary, the blood sugar of the woman whose IGF-1 is not enough goes up and this elevation of blood sugar is considered as preventing the secretion of IGF-1.
 
Nutrition that promotes to secrete Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone
 
The nutrition that increases the secretion of Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone (IGF-1) is arginine. Arginine is a kind of amino acid containing in protein. When arginine is absorbed in the intestines, it stimulates the brain and the brain instructs the liver to secrete IGF-1. That allows the muscles to grow easily. To secrete Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone (IGF-1) effectively, it is necessary to take 5 grams of arginine a day. In the above experiment, the woman whose muscles are 30’s was eating 9 grams of arginine, while the woman whose muscles are 80’s was eating only 3 grams of arginine.
 
It is necessary to eat protein products such as meats or soy products daily. In addition to that, the following ingredients are recommended to add to your usual meals to increase the amount of arginine to increase the secretion of Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone (IGF-1).
 
Abura-age (deep-fried bean curd): 0.3 grams per piece
Egg: 0.5 grams per piece
Tofu: 1.3 grams per piece
Katsuobushi (dried bonito): 0.5 grams per 2 small packs
Nori (seaweed): 0.5 grams per 4 pieces
Sesame: 0.26 grams per table spoon
 
To increase the secretion of Muscle Rejuvenation Hormone (IGF-1) and prevent bedridden, it is important to eat food containing protein slowly.
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