Is It That Time of Year for Winter Colds & Flu? How to Tackle Them in a Natural Way!

When your body is fighting a cold or flu, it is really working overtime so you need to give it some help to get it back to normal.

We share some tips on how to achieve this...

• Stay hydrated and drink even more water than usual.  We know that we should be aiming for several glasses daily but don't always achieve that goal.  Now, you need even extra water because a stuffy nose produces extra mucus and you might not know that the extra mucus is actually formed from the water in your system. The extra water will help to detox your system too.

• Have lots of rest and that means real rest - in bed as much as possible when you actually sleep!

• Wash your hands more than ever especially after sneezing or blowing your nose – this is really to protect those around you. And when you sneeze, cover your mouth either with a throw away tissue or sneeze into the crook of your elbow rather than your hand if there is not time to grab the clean tissue. This will stop the spread of germs.

• Wear socks (preferably wool) in bed until you are completely better. Your feet let out a lot of heat but your body needs that heat to help cure the cold. A hot bath before bed is also beneficial, then add extra bedding if needed.  The heat during the night on your feet jump-starts your immune system. It is all part of the old adage of sweating out a cold.

• If your nose is not too congested, a saline solution works well when made with very warm water and salt. You use the spout of a Neti pot to pour the solution into your each nostril in turn to break up the mucus, allowing you to breathe better.

• Very congested?  Take some thyme and spread with some butter on a cracker or two. Thyme is an astringent and will dry up your sinuses. Taken with Fenugeek, it will help to dry up a runny nose in double quick time.

• Another herbal remedy to try: add a level teaspoon of turmeric to a mug of milk and heat until nice and warm. Meanwhile roast a teaspoon of carom seeds (also called ajwain and available from Indian shops) over the hob in a ladle until they go dark and start to pop. Put these into the hot milk with a knob of butter (it should make a "shh" noise when the seeds go in). Sip slowly, letting it sit in your throat and you will feel so much better. Turmeric is a natural antiseptic.

• Lemony ginger water is made by boiling water, grating a lot of ginger into the pot with grated lemon peel and finally add the squeezed lemon juice itself.

• A sore throat can be helped by gargling regularly with salt water. Make it quite strong too. You should also brush your teeth and tongue several times per day. Both of these actions will get rid of germs.

• If your have a poor appetite, bananas are easy to digest.  Chicken soup is also easy to digest and will help soothe a sore throat. Don't forget about fruit such as cherries, oranges or grapefruit to help you add vitamin C to the system. Anything that you fancy and tastes delicious and natural will be good for you. 

• On the subject of vitamin C, as soon as you suspect the first sign of a cold or other illness coming on, make the effort to take 1000 mg of vitamin C straight away and follow up with an additional dose every three hours or so to give your immune system a real boost.  You will often find that the initial symptoms will disappear.  You can safely keep on taking the extra vitamin C to bowel intolerance.  In other words, a loose stool will tell you that you have had enough! 

With a good dollop of common sense and a handful of these helpful hints, it won't be long before your cold or flu is on the mend and you will feel proud of yourself for recovering the natural way without the need for over-the-counter solutions which would possibly add toxins to your system.   

Sources

DiazGranados CA, et al. (2014). Efficacy of high-dose versus standard-dose influenza vaccine in older adults. DOI: DOI:
10.1056/NEJMoa1315727

Different types of flu vaccines. (2020).
cdc.gov/flu/prevent/different-flu-vaccines.htm

Fluzone high-dose seasonal influenza vaccine. (2020).
fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/vaccines/fluzone-fluzone-high-dose-and-fluzone-intradermal

Frequently asked influenza (flu) questions: 2020-2021 season. (2020).
cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2020-2021.htm