Friday, November 06, 2009

Tips for fighting colds!

These are my tips and I am not a doctor, but these are things that have definitely worked in our home time and again!!! I really swear by them. These tips are mainly to fight colds: sore throat, coughs, etc.
The earlier you start these when symptoms appear the better.

1. Squeeze half a lemon, add enough honey and water to make it palatable. Drink several times a day. The sooner you do this after the first hint of sore throat or scratchy throat the better. A hot cup of water, with a whole squeezed lemon with honey is nice alternative, hot lemon tea. It's good.
2. Start taking echinacea with the first symptoms of cold or flu. This is an immune booster. It is known to shorten the length of illness. Studies at the UofW, have shown this. (Wish I had a link to the study, James, can you find one?) Take no more than 2 weeks.
3. Garlic is a well known anti-viral, anti-bacterial. Take as raw as you can. I make garlic oil and sneak into the shot glass of echinacea juice for my kids. Yes, the older ones notice the floating but it's medicine...put a little honey in it and they won't complain too much. "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."

Some other tips I've found to work:
If you child complains of ear pain, make or get some garlic oil and put a few drops in the complaining ear. In no time at all the pain is gone.

My friend Carrie has posted on Immune Boosters to fight the flu! Check it out!
The healthier you are inside the easier it is to fight any bugs trying to make their way in.

Again, I'm not a doctor, these are tips I've found after researching on my own. You can do some research as well: Herbal Remedies for colds. Yes, it is not "orthodox medicine" but after trying, I've changed my mind.

3 comments:

Pres. Kathy said...

My mom used to always put garlic oil in my ear when I had an ear ache. She said she remember her grandmother in the village back in Greece would give her all these natural remedies because that is all they had.

Liz in Seattle said...

The lemon/honey/hot water trick is a time-honored tradition among singers. It works VERY well during Holy Week, to soothe aching throats and keep the gick out (and probably wash away germs as well when it "flushes" things away). I never start Holy Week without a big bag of lemons :-)

Susan Sophia said...

Pres. Kathy, That's all they had AND they worked! They still do today!

Liz, I say one should never start cold/flu season without a big bag of lemons always on the counter! We have chased away many sore throats with this remedy!