I went the brandy route during round #1 and yes, it helped. Or at least made it more bearable, or I was really drunk at the time.....
I was actually feeling better for a while. It hit my wife worse than me. Then here sister came to stay with us for a week. Well, she had it really bad and didn't say anything until she showed up.
Round #2 has knocked me on my ass. Literally! It's bad stuff.
Sorry Raven, but I'll say that spicey food theory is BS. My wife is from Southeast Asia and everything we eat is spicey. Didn't help us one bit.
The jury is still out on Garlic. She cooks a lot with that as well. I think there are many benefits to garlic. I'm just not sure fighting colds and flu are one of them.