The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Zinc
Posted by Prioris (Florida, US) on 10/15/2014
FYI: There are several kinds of zinc that you can take for colds. But only two kinds of zinc are actually effective against colds.
The best kind is zinc acetate. It's the only kind of zinc that consistently slashes the duration of a cold in half. Zinc gluconate was the second best choice, but zinc acetate worked much better.
None of the other kinds of zinc were effective at fighting colds.
Why are zinc acetate and zinc gluconate effective and other kinds aren't? Because they both release zinc in the form of a positively charged ion. The ionic form is what makes the difference in whether zinc can cure your cold or not.
They discovered that zinc acetate was best. Zinc acetate releases 100% of the zinc in an ionic form. Zinc gluconate was second best. It only releases 70% of its zinc in the ionic form.
The researchers also found that you need at least 75 mg of zinc acetate a day to fight colds. And finally, they found that zinc is only effective when cold viruses are exposed to zinc for at least 20 minutes at a time.
Since zinc needs 20 minutes of exposure to fight colds? pills, syrups, or sprays simply won't work. You need slow-dissolving lozenges that release the zinc right where the viruses are.
Sea Salt
Posted by P (Middle, Fl) on 12/06/2011
★★★★★
Last couple of weeks I was assisting an elder to hospital & doctor visits and at the same time we cought a cold front. Well my hubby, son and myself caught a cold in the same order. Well I helped them get over it with my usual concoctions and made them to tea for myself, but I must have stopped a day too short because it hit me real hard the day after and man I haven't felt that in a long while! Being angry at myself for getting fever, running nose, sleep I went to EC my favorite site in the whole wide world! ;) and searched cold remedies, hoping to find a quicker remedy than the one I do; and low & behold I did!
1 teaspoon in a glass of water knocked it right out; like minutes later my congested head stop feeling congested, my nose immediately stopped running and my cough subsided, fever went down! Wow!
It suggests 2tsp, but I couldn't, it was too much! Maybe my new excitement will allow me to do it again.... U know; one for the road!
Vitamin C
Posted by Kathleen (Chicago, Illinois) on 10/26/2011
★★★★★
For colds, 4000 milligrams of Vitamin C spread out over the day (1000 milligrams after each meal and before bed).
I try to start the remedy as soon as I feel a tickle in the back of my throat or nose or nose congestion that I know signals a cold. Usually, I feel great the next morning or at the very least within two days.
The very best of health to everyone.
D3
Posted by Ladyliza (Los Angeles, Ca) on 06/27/2011 37 posts
★★★★★
For those who tend to get cold and flu, all you need is the correct amount of vitamin D and you won't get sick anymore. I take 5000 iu of vitamin D3, and I haven't had so much as a sniffle since that time, 6 years.
I will never get another flu shot either.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Kaite (Windows, Ontario, Canada) on 11/09/2010
★★★★★
I couldn't imagine going through any sort of congestion, runny nose or cough without this stuff. It brings immediate clarity to my sinus congestion as well, it actually breaks up the mucus build up in my lungs. Just recently I was diagnosed with bronchitis and was prescribed penicillin.
I'm not crazy about this particular antibiotic because it just wipes out all of my body's good bacteria, not to mention pills are hard on your liver. I told the pharmacist to put a hold on the penicillin and I will kill the mucus with the oregano oil. It worked, no need for the penicillin, within a week, my lungs had cleared up and I was my old self again. One thing that I also admired was the taste it left in my system; a lot better than tasting bile when you cough!
Garlic
Posted by Janet (Near Idaho Falls, Idaho) on 05/21/2009
★★★★★
Here is something soothing that really helps colds,
bronchitis, etc:
Bring 2 c. chicken broth + 2 c. water to boiling
Add 1 small onion, chopped
When done, remove from heat, add 3 cloves crushed
garlic, cover; let
sit for about 10 minutes.
Add sea salt to taste.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Brad (Ontario) on 09/17/2022
She used 35% H2O2, which can burn you at full strength. She didn't dilute it properly. I often find people misunderstanding the difference between 3% and 35% H2O2.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Kari (Phoenix, Az) on 08/30/2009
★☆☆☆☆
Hydrogen Peroxide did not work for me at all! In fact, I went on to have the worst cold ever. I then tried the 3x a day raw garlic and that works like a charm.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Ria (NYC, NYS) on 03/15/2008
★★★★★
I had pink eye and cold at the same time. I tried hydrogen Peroxide in ear stuff (3%) in my ears in 10 min also sniffed peroxide into my nose it was painful but I wanted to ged rid of cold completely then gargled with cayenne pepper with camomile tea after I had some of them. 5 hours later no more itchy throat, and I felt much better. For pink eye I tried tea method it was fine and got rid of some of redness but what worked for me was wash it with bottled water and salt. my pink eye got instantly became clear!
Turmeric
Posted by Shireen (Khartoum, Sudan) on 12/13/2007
★★★★★
I am a true believer that every illness has a cure in nature without being tampered with, but I have never heard of turmeric to cure coughs and sinuses.Since I found your website by sheer coincidence, while searching for a natural remedy for my wheezing cough and river-running nose, I thought I'd give turmeric a try( 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp honey with 1 cup of warm milk)VIOLA! I could breathe again. Thank You So Much EC, you're a life saver.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Regina (Seoul, South Korea) on 06/09/2007
★★★★★
I really can't believe this. But I'm an insulin dependent diabetic so my immune system is compromised and I get more colds. I felt a cold coming on but I have two finals next week and a thesis due the week after. In addition, I'm working and have my job duties to attend to too. Basically, I CAN NOT get sick. I found a great apple cider vinegar cure when I got a bad bout of food poisoning from this site and decided to see if there was anything on how to prevent that developing cold in its tracks. Well, I found the hydrogen peroxide remedy. It sounded completely crazy, but I figured what the hell - why not try it? It's cheap and at least my ears would be cleaner ;-) I tried it. I bought some peroxide on the way to the library. I set my cell phone timer for 10 minutes, had some tissue handy, tilted my head to the side, poured the peroxide in (I bought a small bottle with that has a nozzle so it was easy) and let the peroxide go to work. I switched ears and then did it again on both sides for about 5 to 10 minutes for each ear. It worked! That itchy throat I had is gone. That feeling that I was going to wake up sick tomorrow is gone. I truly can't believe it but I'll be doing this again at the first sign of a cold. This is great!
Garlic
Posted by Jane (Los Angeles, California) on 04/07/2007
★★★★★
I noticed that when I came down with a cold - I would always start to crave raw garlic. So I thought I would try it the next time before the cold took hold. It worked like a charm! Now I use it every time I feel a cold or flu coming on. It has to be raw garlic. I chop a few large cloves (as much as I can handle) finely and sprinkle it on buttered toast or in my food. You should be sure to chew the garlic to release the essential oils. I continue this once or twice a day until i'm better - could take a few days to completely get well - but I have managed to fend off every cold since I discovered the "garlic cure." (this is good for colds and flus except if you are coming down with a stomach bug - in which case it could aggravate your stomach.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Rodney J (Kaysville, Utah) on 03/12/2007
★★★★★
This is something I saw on another site. Warm up a tsp of Hydrogen peroxide under some hot water, put in your ear at the first onset of a cold, stuffy ears, or sore throat. Let this stuff stay in your ears for about 10 - 15 minutes and it really has a good effect at killing the ear ache, sore throat and the sniffles. We do this in our family and have very good success with this.
Turmeric
Posted by Anj (UK) on 10/06/2006
★★★★★
Mum always used this when the cough/cold would not go away. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 1 teaspoon of turmeric and couple of drops of water to make this into paste. Wrap cotton wool around your finger or toothbrush and put the paste on the cottonwool and try and paint the inside of your throat as deep down the throat as possible.
Garlic
Posted by Jim (Magnolia, TX) on 09/17/2006
★★★★★
Garlic for colds. When a cold first starts, place a whole clove between the cheek an teeth. It will shorten the effects of the cold.
Mouthwash
Posted by Tony (Miami, FL) on 02/15/2006
★★★★★
The next time that you feel as if you are coming down with a cold, gargle Scope or Listerine, diluted with a little water, for one minute when you wake up in the morning. It can prevent you from even coming down with the cold, and will entirely prevent you from having a soar throat if you do catch the cold. These mouthwashes will kill all of the viruses in your throat, before they can cause any havoc.
Gargling With H2O2
Posted by Donna (Aspen, CO)
★★★★★
I gargled with a capful of hydrogen peroxide mixed into 1/4 cup of water and also swished it around my mouth and the next morning my cold was gone.
