A new ‘winter warmer’ drink developed to help fight the common cold could significantly reduce the number of scheduled working days lost to sickness absence which costs the UK economy an estimated £13.2billion each year.

The natural drink contains immune boosting and anti-viral nutrients and can be taken in place of a daily cup of tea to help maintain the body’s defences against the common cold, which recent research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) (July 2007) suggests is amongst the most common causes of sickness absence days, accounting for over 95 per cent each year.

“Despite all of the cold remedy products on the market, there is still no cure for the common cold as modern medicine only treats the symptoms”, explains Dr Nigel Plummer, who developed the product known as WinterWise.

“Up until now this has meant that we must already be suffering from the symptoms of the cold before we are able to do anything about it, forcing us to take unwanted time off work to get over them.”

“Our immune system is in fact the best defence we have against developing the common cold. We’ve taken zinc, vitamin C and beta glucans, all of which have strong supporting evidence to show that they boost our immune system and hence help us fight the cold from within. These have been mixed with elderberry and bee propolis, both of which have been shown to have antiviral properties which help fight the cold virus.  Together, these ingredients can help the body prevent and fight off colds before the tormenting symptoms develop.”

Recent research published by market research company Mintel suggests that consumers are more likely than ever to turn to natural remedies to treat their ailments.  Our national spend on complementary medicine has grown by a third (32%) since 2002 to £191m and is expected to top £250m by 2011. Nearly half (49%) of British women have used complementary medicine and herbal remedies such as WinterWise are the most popular and fastest growing sector.

WinterWise is available in all good natural health stores, or online from www.verywisenutrition.co.uk, priced £3.98 for 10 sachets.