Jan
27

Natural Remedies For Common Cold and Flu

Woman SneezingAs mentioned in the article “Your Immune System and The Common Cold”, there are ways to reduce your risk of getting common cold or influenza (flu) virus and suffering from its symptoms for a long time. However, mostly everyone will get a cold or flue every now and then.

The cold symptoms you then feel are not the virus though. Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, and aching are signs that your immune system is fighting an infection that somehow got in your body because your defense system was not working as it should have.

These symptoms, though unpleasant, are helping your body get rid of the influenza virus. For that reason it is not a good idea to completely suppress the symptoms as this will also suppress the effectiveness of the cleansing the body will be able to do. Instead, build up your immune system and let your body take care of the cold or flu. Taking the right approach can significantly shorten the duration of the cold or flu and ease much of your discomfort.

Antibiotics can help if you are dealing with a bacterial infection. However, if you are reading this page, you already know that antibiotics should only be used if nothing else helps. Using it for a virus is worthless. In fact, it may even become harmful.

The following natural cold and flu remedies have a very good success rate to make you feel better soon. The more of them you incorporate, the better and quicker the recovery:

  • Get lots of sleep. During sleep your body can regenerate. The reason why you feel more tired when you have a cold is because your body is trying to communicate his need to you. Your body needs lots of energy to heal. Running around would be sabotaging that. So, instead of having yet another cup of coffee, soda or tea, see that you can take it easy and get more sleep.
  • Eat only if you feel like eating. Then eat whatever you feel like eating as long as it is wholesome and preferably organic.
  • Eat warm soups and drink plenty of warm teas. Most likely you feel more chilly than usual while dealing with cold and flu symptoms. Don’t follow the American way and keep on drinking your iced drinks. Instead listen to your body and give it what it asks you for.
  • Chicken soup has a long history as an effective doctor approved natural remedy. A 1978 study published in the medical journal Chest reported that chicken soup is very effective clearing mucus from the nose. The hot soup nourishes, hydrates and steams open clogged nasal passages, so that the mucus can get out faster. Chicken soup furthermore contains anti-inflammatory properties that ease congestion and discomfort.
  • Miso soup with scallions is an old Asian cold and flu remedy. You can buy Miso in health food stores in the cold section. Just heat up the water. Add chopped scallions, pressed garlic, hot pepper and other vegetables you have in the house. Add 1 Tbsp Miso paste. Stir well until it is dissolved. Do not bring to boil.
  • “Honey-Garlic-Onion” mixture. This is a natural antibiotic and well worth trying first before using a pharmaceutical one. It does not taste great but this remedy has shown to work wonders and it is perfectly save even for small children. All three ingredients; honey, garlic and onions have anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-septic properties. Take 2 Tbsp of raw honey; add to it a slice of raw onion and garlic (best use a garlic press). Take 1 Tbsp three times per day until symptoms leave.
  • Sip on homemade ginger tea. Take about ½ inch of fresh ginger root and squeeze into a thermos with very hot water. Make sure you also add the dry part that remained in the garlic press. Steep for 5 minutes or more. Sweeten with honey or enjoy unsweetened. Ginger also has powerful anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. It furthermore has a warming effect on your body. You may want to add some lemon or lime juice and cayenne pepper.
  • Be generous with spices like turmeric and hot peppers- saute veggies in olive oil and add the spices.
  • If you want something sweet; combine 1 Tbsp of raw honey with the juice of ½ lemon or lime. Mix well and enjoy.
  • Grate apples, carrots and ginger for a delightful afternoon snack.
  • Take a 250-500 mg Vitamin C supplement (derived from whole food sources) 4 times per day. (Make sure you also get 15 mg of zinc per day for better absorption of Vitamin C)
  • You may want to mix Fortune Delight instant tea into your ginger tea (best with Fortune Delight lemon flavor) to seriously boost antioxidant power and to help clear mucus.
  • Take a hot bath. I like Kandesan Bath Salts as it contains the famous “Quinary” formula (51 herbs that nourishes and strengthens the immune, circulatory, endocrine, respiratory and digestive system). You will feel so relaxed afterwards and all you will want to do is go to bed. If you do not have the Kandesan Bath Salts, you can use Epson Salt or Dead Sea Salt with ½ Tsp of Eucalyptus or Lavender oil.

 

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