Natural cold and flu relief

Natural cold and flu relief

Rely on home remedies to alleviate the discomfort of nasty cold and flu symptoms.
Updated:
2009-10-01 10:55
Published:
2003-10-31 00:00
By 
Elizabeth Cole

Try spicy foods, garlic and onions

When dealing with a nasty flu or cold virus, relief may be found at the local grocery store rather than the pharmacy. 
Whether you're looking for drug-free alternatives or you simply prefer brewing home-made concoctions, find out why many swear by the following natural home remedies to fight cold and flu symptoms:

Spicy kick
Your favourite spicy dish might help you to breathe easy when you're congested. That's because the best mucokinetic (mucus-moving) foods are those that are spicy. These foods trigger a release of fluids in air passages that breaks up congestion by thinning mucus and flushing out sinuses.

The mouth-burning agent in chili peppers is capsaicin, which is similar to a drug found in many over-the-counter cough syrups and expectorants.

Garlic, onions and horseradish also contain agents that have a chemical resemblance to drugs found in drugstore medications.

For a strong - but nearly instant - method of breaking up chest congestion, try the following recipe from Jean Carper's book, Food, Your Miracle Medicine (Harpercollins, 1993): Mix a half teaspoon of hot sauce in a small glass of water and drink the mixture quickly.

Garlic power
According to research by Dr. James North, at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, garlic can prevent cold and flu viruses if taken early enough. North's findings show that garlic is effective in killing the human rhinovirus, which causes colds. Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. and author of Natural Health, Natural Medicine (Walker & Co., 1998) also believes in the cold-fighting benefits of garlic: "The best home remedy I have found for colds is to eat several cloves of raw garlic at the first onset of symptoms... Cut in chunks and swallow whole like pills... I recommend one or two cloves a day."

Onion it out
From Michael Murray, author of Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine (Prima Health, 1998) comes this recipe for Onion Cough Syrup: "Put six chopped white onions in a double boiler and add half a cup of honey. Cook slowly over low heat for two hours and strain. Take at regular intervals, preferably warm." A simpler suggestion, if you can manage it, involves eating one large, Spanish onion before going to bed. Raw or roasted, it doesn't matter - your cold should be much better, if not gone, by morning because onions contain the same antibacterial components as garlic.

Click to continue...

Page 1 of 2
Advertisement
Send to a friend

E-mail it

Natural cold and flu relief

* marked fields are required.

Your Comments

Post a Comment

  • Walter wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:46 AM

    What is truly amazing is that where do most people think the key compnents for medicines come from? These mentioned natural forms/ remedies have only been a 'secret' to the western world's "modern medicines" until recent years.

  • Ryan wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:46 AM

    Come on...Honey does nothing! Show me one study that says it helps, and I'll show flaws in that study.

  • g wrote:

    Nov 21, 2003

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    garlic really really workd when swallowed raw, i recommend it

  • Dan mcneil wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    Another home remedy: A couple of onions, cut up into pieces of a wool sock, wear the socks for the rest of the night. it will take away the fever of someone sick.

  • Indira Murli wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    I find equal parts of honey, lemon juice and water sipped a regular intervals throughout the day works like a charm.

  • cindy wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    Just before I get a cold, I start craving ceasar salad and french onion soup. No one can stand me but thats O.K. I also found herbal teas work well with the honey...

  • Aman wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    I am pregnant and got a bad cold and congestion. As I couldn't take medication, I tried these & they worked like a miracle. For a bad throat try taking equal quantities of honey & ginger juice (mixed well). It works.

  • Chris wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    "Your cold should be much better, if not gone, by morning because onions contain the same antibacterial components as garlic." now, since the cold and flu aren't caused by bacteria or even affected by bacteria, how can we possibly place stock into what's being said here?

  • Lindor wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    Everyone should know that these things work. Spicy food, ginger and garlic have been used for centuries to cure ailments. It amazes me that this Web site declares it as if it's a brand new discovery.

  • ReneM wrote:

    Dec 17, 2003

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    Wow, I'm amazed to see this here! I've followed my mother-in-law's advice on much of this for years - simply because it works! Even with recent bouts of flu - I used garlic & ginger and Vit C, son used only Vit C. I was only ill one day, while his lingered for a week!

  • Allison wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    I've used ginger/lemon juice/ & honey many times...always makes me feel better.

  • angry person wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    The flu and colds are caused by virii, not bacteria. If onions and garlic work to cure these virii, then it is in no way due to any antibacterial properties, but due to antiviral properties. Antibiotics will not cure a virus, but they will cure bacterial infections. Please make sure you get your facts straight when you write about virii and bacteria, bacterial resistance is caused by improper usage and abuse of antibiotics and is a severe medical threat. When people confuse virii for bacteria and try to treat colds with antibiotics, they contibute to the breeding of resistant bacteria.

  • Shannon wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    A spoonful of honey really helps. I was already aware of this one. My ex used to get me to do this all the time. I hated swallowing something so sweet all at once, but it helped almost immediately!

  • George Millar wrote:

    Jan 19, 2004

    2009-09-22 10:47 AM

    Add curry to your list. A nice hot curry (add extra onion and garlic) chases my colds. Don't forget to drink green tea or water and flush what 'ails' you away!

  • Jeff wrote:

    Oct 15, 2007

    2009-09-22 10:49 AM

    Wow, thanks a bunch I almost forgot about the spicy foods to help sweat it out. Flu's, colds, coughs, whatever virus is attacking your well being, drink LOTS of water to flush the virus out of the system. It's just another way of cleaning your system out. Drink plenty of water, eat natural foods (ie; fresh vegetables and fruit.) that Mother Nature grows for us. And lastly, stay AWAY from the junk foods, fatty foods. These are only congesting the immunity system.

  • Amanda wrote:

    Jan 17, 2005

    2009-09-22 10:49 AM

    They forgot to add chicken soup to this list of all natural remedies......

  • Ginette Raymond wrote:

    Jan 17, 2005

    2009-09-22 10:49 AM

    Garlic is a natural antibiotic which has been used for centuries. Ginger is a wonderful plant which also helps digestion.

  • Rajiv wrote:

    Oct 10, 2006

    2009-09-22 10:51 AM

    I am a doctor (psychiatrist), and not someone easily won over by claims about magical remedies; I do believe in the value of randomised controlled trials to exclude the placebo effect. But I found this article very useful. I do believe that there are very useful remedies in herbal medicine. I wish these are better studied and more widely used.

  • Ellen wrote:

    Oct 15, 2007

    2009-09-22 10:51 AM

    I loved this article, and am going to go and have a cup of Lemon tea and some Garlic. Thanks for the info!

  • Caley Gibbons wrote:

    Mar 15, 2006

    2009-09-22 10:52 AM

    I have been using a nasal spray called Sinol that is all natural and made from pepper but does not burn. It works for me and my sinuses better than anything I have tried.

  • Sandra wrote:

    Mar 15, 2006

    2009-11-18 3:00 PM

    I almost choked to death trying to swallow the garlic .!!!!!!!!!

  • sue tremblay wrote:

    Nov 01, 2004

    2009-11-18 3:00 PM

    I always make a hot drink of lemon, crushed garlic & honey when I feel a cold come on. The lemon is for vitamin C ( a natural anti-histamine ), garlic has anti-biotic properties, & the honey is an expectorant.

  • Armand DuBois wrote:

    Nov 18, 2004

    2009-11-18 3:00 PM

    I have been eating fresh cloves of garlic cut into pill form pieces for the last 3 winter seasons before reading your article. My wife and family members have made fun of me and have said that its all in my head about garlic really helping me along the flu season. At times when I did not seem to eat enough through the winter season, I felt the beginning of the dry throat in the morning, during the flu season. I am pleased to now know that it really does prevent and possibly even help the flu.

  • Amanda M wrote:

    Nov 01, 2004

    2009-11-18 3:01 PM

    I was reading up on the flu vaccinations which had this site's link. I rather have natural things rather than those vaccinations. The vaccinations are a few strains that the doctors think is gonna be the hard hitting ones for the yr.

  • Jarod wrote:

    Feb 26, 2007

    2009-11-18 3:02 PM

    Want a sure fire remedy to a cold? Try what's recommended above but in this order. I'm no doctor, but I've done it for years and haven't had anything more than a sniffle on the first day of a cold in over 7 years: #1 -Chop up two large cloves of garlic and swallow them like pills with water. DO NOT chew them! Swallowing them eliminates the odor that comes through the pores when chewed. #2 - If it's still awhile before bedtime, (and make it an early bedtime!), try repeating the garlic dose every 4-6 hours. Along with the garlic, take 2000, yes two thousand milligrams of Vitamin C. What your body doesn't use, it will just purge. What it does use will go to excellent use! Before your bedtime, eat a well-balanced and sufficient meal full of all the ingredients that everyone recommends. Leafy greens, onions, spices in the food and the proper amino acids, (a fish dinner will suit you just fine!). Try a blackened snapper meal with a spinach salad and chopped onions in the salad. #3 - (and this is crucial), GO TO BED EARLY after taking the Vitamin C, garlic and drinking ONE beer. I can't remember where I heard the beer trick, but it seems the level of alcohol in one normal 5% can/bottle of beer kills germs and it also makes you tired so you get a good sleep with deep REM cycles. I've tried one glass of wine...no go. Stick to beer. I think its the hops and barley too. #4 - GO TO BED EARLY after a HOT shower that makes you sweat and wake up revitalized! Remember, when you have a fever and you sweat, it's your body's way of getting rid of toxins. Same with a hot and sweat inducing shower. Try sleeping alone if you have a bed partner. You'll probably sleep deeper instead of being awakened by snoring or your partner waking you for snoring in their ear. Try these things...what harm can it do? I guarantee it works for me and I'm almost certain it will for you. Good luck and good health!

  • Werner wrote:

    Jan 17, 2005

    2009-11-18 3:02 PM

    Garlic, it works the best, I have used it for years ,it`s good for other things as well.
Add Comment

All fields are mandatory.

Advertisement

Sign up for Insider Access,
Our Free E-Newsletter

Contests, recipes, member-only perks and more! Get Homemakers.com's monthly newsletter.

Newsletter

get your
Download of the Month

Patio party planner's checklist

Get a free printer-friendly checklist of everything you need to plan the best summer party of the year.

Download now!

how to
Follow Homemakers Online

Contests

more contests

Partners

Weblocal.ca Find. Rate. Share.

Find Local Businesses

Find Local Businesses

Advertisement Advertisement

Transcontinental Media contact information

Médias Transcontinental
Street Address
1100 Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest
Extended Address
24th floor
Locality
Montréal
Region
QC
Country
CA
Postal Code
H3B 4X9
Latitude
45°29' 55" N
Longitude
73°34' 13" W
Work
+1 514 392 9000
Fax
+1 514 392 1489