The number one treatment is black elderberry extract, particularly Sambucol.
Black elderberry extract can be found in a syrup form, lozenges, or capsules.
There are also natural cold and flu fighters:
* Green tea--capsules are more potent than tea. Green tea works as an immune system booster, an anti-viral and it also has anti-bacterial properties. Decaffeinated green tea is probably the best way to take it so that you're not hyped up and unable to sleep which definitely lowers your immune system.
* Garlic--nicknamed 'Russian penicillin,' this herb has broad antiviral, antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-yeast properties. Odorless garlic is less effective because it means the manufacturer has removed all traces of the most essential nutrient. Instead, enteric-coated garlic pills dissolve deeper in your digestive track and therefore doesn't produce garlic breath or give you garlic odor. Enteric-coated garlic is absorbed better so it can get into your system and seek out and destroy flu and flu-like illness viruses.
One caution is that like aspirin, garlic is a blood thinner, so if you're already taking aspirin or more serious prescription blood thinners you have to be careful and consult your doctor.
* Echinacea and goldenseal--while there have been recent reports that question the efficacy of Echinacea, like anything else in human disease and treatment people respond differently to different treatments. The same is true for Echinacea. It doesn't work for everyone but Echinacea has been around for a long time because it is effective for some number of people, maybe not the majority.