Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Natural Cold Remedies

On our previous post we discussed the most common ingredients found in popular cold and cough medications.  For those interested in alternative methods here's a list of home remedies that may improve symptoms including sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneeze, and cough:



GARLIC
  • Garlic is an anti inflammatory agent which is also has antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. 
  • Garlic can help lower blood pressure so caution should be taken by people taking medication to lower blood pressure
  • Garlic cloves can be added to  food or chewed raw
  •  Cloves can also be boiled in hot water and drank with honey

MENTHOL

  • Menthol salves (ie Vicks VaporRub) can help with nasal congestion when placed under the nose or on the chest
  • Soothing ointments like camphor and eucalyptus can aid in numbing the skin around the nose which may be raw and painful from constant rubbing with tissue




HONEY
  • Honey helps soothe an irritated sore throat and can be added to teas and hot fluids or taken raw

WATER and other CLEAR FLUIDS

  • Water, lemon tea/water all help loosen nasal and throat congestion helping removal of mucus.
  • Constantly drinking clear fluids (while avoiding alcohol, soda, and coffee) will also help with congestion and dehydration.

 SALT WATER
  • Salt water gargles can temporarily relieve a sore throat
  • Mix 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of iodide free salt with an 8 oz glass of water and gargle for 10 seconds before spitting out.




GINGER
  • A known expectorant and anti inflammatory, ginger is an excellent cure for the common cold
  • Ginger can be added to teas, drank with boiled water, or chewed raw


MOIST AIR
  • Cold viruses thrive in dry air, one of the reasons why they are more common in the winter
  • Humidifiers, hot showers, and inhaled steam (by covering your face over a pot of boiling water) can all help with congestion 




CHICKEN SOUP

  • Everyone's favorite cold remedy, chicken soup contains anti inflammatory properties, with the clear broth helping to prevent dehydration.




REST
  • Resting will allow your body's immune system to fight off the infection rather than working on operating several body systems at the same time (muscular, neurological, endocrine,etc)


Why aren't Vitamin C and Zinc on the list?

  • Several studies on Vitamin C have shown that contrary to popular belief, it is not effective in the prevention or reduction in severity of the common cold.
  • Zinc was once thought to decrease the duration of a cold howeever research has shown that there may be no acte beenfit of taking zinc to improve symptoms of a cold
    • The FDA recently released a warning against zinc containing nasal sprays due to cases of permanent loss of sense (anosmia) after use.

More remedies can be found at Mayo Clinic

What are some of your favorite remedies?

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