I drink a little wine or beer from time to time, but I'm not much of a hardware guy.
However: When it comes time to fight a cold or upper respiratory infection or strep throat, I reach for the bottle of ordinary Jim Beam and a sack of fresh lemons, and I drink hot whiskey sours until the invading forces are burned to oblivion by the citric acids and alcohol.
I can usually tell that it is safe to knock off the sours when I can't hear a wheeze when I draw breath.
I just finished this regimen a few days ago. I successfully knocked down one of the worst summer colds I have had in ages, but it took me nearly three weeks to do it.