10 Cold and Flu Home Remedies

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.

Posted by Ladyliza (Los Angeles, Ca) on 06/27/2011 36 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!

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.

Oregano Oil

Posted by Melissa (San Diego, CA) on 09/21/2007
★★★★★

I was suffering from a very bad cold/flu, specifically horrible sinus pressure and chest tightness and coughing, and clogged ears. I love ACV, Cayenne pepper, and hydrogen peroxide for many things, but none of these provided any releif for this. I also tried Grapefruit Seed Extract, sea salt, and borax to try to kill the virus. The last thing I tried was Oregano Oil. I used one drop sublingually and put a few more drops in water and felt immediate relief from the cough/chest tightness and sinus pressure as I was able to expectorate all the mucous. I think all the remedies listed for colds, sore throats, coughts etc. have merit but apparently different people require different remedies. So keep trying until you find the one that works for you. I was starting to get discouraged that I couldn't find any relief from natural remedies and figured I would have to succumb to cough syrup and sudafed. I'm glad I tried one last thing.

Vinegar Bath

Posted by Toma (Chicago, IL) on 06/26/2007
★★★★★

I had a cold for a month, tried everything - nothing helped, so I decided to take baths with a cup of white vinegar after an hour running, in 2 days all the symptoms of cold are gone.

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.

Lugol's Iodine

Posted by Sharon (Boston, MA)
★★★★★

I am exposed to a lot of viruses (around a lot of children). Twice this year I have clobbered the flu before it started by putting one drop of Lugol's iodine into a glass of water the second I start to feel weird. I have read that it is supposed to be 3 drops, but 1 seems to do the trick for me. I feel better almost instantly.