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.
Turmeric
Posted by Mary (Sydney, Australia) on 02/21/2008
★★★★★
Thank you for this fantastic website. I have had the 'common cold' now for over two weeks and taking everything that the Dr ordered, I still couldn't get better. After taking 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder, 1/2 lemon and 1 tablespoon maple syrup, I'm well on my way to recovery. Slept all night for the first time last night and feel great today. Thank you once again for giving us the information on this wonderful herb.
Garlic
Posted by Esther (Lymanville, Pennsylvania) on 11/08/2007
★★★★★
Chewing raw garlic, which is hard on the stomach and bad for the breath, or drinking garlic tea, which is neither, is very effective against colds. To make the tea, chop a garlic clove or two into a cup, add boiling water, followed by lemon and honey to taste. The garlic will settle to the bottom. Be sure to spoon it up and chew well when you have drunk the liquid. Drink a cup of garlic tea frequently, at least once a day, when everyone around you is passing a cold back and forth, or at the first hint of a scratchy throat or runny eyes and sniffles. I am religious about this, and have not had a cold in years.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by SHIRLEY J (Ft. Myers, Florida) on 07/02/2007
★★★★★
# 1 cure. My grandson, age 11, had about 20 warts on his abdomen. Some had been removed by his Doctor but was a painful experience. I recommended he tape a small piece of banana peel to each wart. He did. Within a week they were all gone! Thanks you Earth Clinic! #2 Cure At the very first sign of a cold or flu put 3 drops of Peroxide in one ear. Lie still for 20 minutes. Repeat in other ear. A miracle!
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 Jens (North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) on 03/22/2007
★★★★★
We mix H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) down to 1%. At the first sign of a cold we put an eye dropper full into each ear, one at a time. Do one ear first while lying down so the solution does not run out. After about 10 min turn over and do the other ear for another 10 min. This should nip the bug before it starts. This is safe for children as well. Be careful with the strength. You will hear bubbling which is the H2O2 working.
Gargling With H2O2
Posted by Nana (Oak Park, MI) on 12/10/2006
★★★★★
At the first sign of a cold (scratchy throat) I use H2 3% by gargling. I use it straight from the bottle. I've never had the flu. (I'm 56) (I don't take flu shots.) If I do get a cold, (I haven't had one in 3 or 4 years), if I gargle with H202, the cold only last about 2-3 days. If it comes at all! I believe in it healing powers and told my sister to try it on her foot where she has a horn. Her Dr. doesn't know she using it, but is totally surprise that the horn is not growing like it should! She can now walk on that foot with out pain! The Dr still wants to do surgery on her foot, but I asked her to hold off for a while to see what will happen with her using the H2. It has cured colds, cleans the wax out of my ears. I tell my grandsons to use it for their pimples. I use it on the fungus on my toe nails. I didn't know about using it for plants. I will try that next! I love the stuff.
Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Marie (New Providence, NJ) on 11/27/2006
★★★★★
I used to get a sinus infection with every cold I got. then I would take an antibiotic and it would go away. for the last 3 years, I have taken 2 drops of essential oil of eucalyptus directly on my tongue at the first sign of a cold. As a result, I have not had the sore throat and stuffy nose that usually came with my colds AND they have not turned into an infection. I haven't had any antibiotics in 3 years. I recommended this to my sister in law who suffered from the same ailments and she swears by it too.
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.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Jaime (C'ville, PA) on 11/17/2005
★★★★★
I found that the peroxide in the ears is one of the best home remedies there is. A few drops of slightly diluted hydrogen peroxide can cure almost any type of common cold or flu. Thanks for the advice everyone!
Lugol's Iodine
Posted by Cindy (Shady Cove, OR)
★★★★★
I use Lugol's iodine anytime I am getting a cold. I was a chronic user of antibiotics because of asthma. I have not had a bout with bronchitis because anytime i am getting a cold or virus I put 6 drops of Lugol's in water 3 times over a 24 hour period and the infection is gone. I actually have one day colds now. I follow up with acidophilus for my stomach and milk thistle for my liver. This really works and probably will work for Bird flu if you keep a supply in your cupboard.
Cold Showers
Posted by Tim (NSW Kitchener, Australia)
★★★★★
I decided to finish every normal 'hot shower' with a blast of totally cold water, after reading a book by an old healer by the name of Jethro Kloss. Anyway, I am a bad asthmatic, and used to get sick around 6 times per year. When I got sick it really affected my chest, with huge amounts of mucous, and real bad asthma.
Now I rarely get sick (it boosts the immune system as well as circulation), and if I do it's usually just a mildly sore throat. I wish I could better explain the massive difference this has made. Even if you feel sickness coming on, a cold shower will often stop it in its tracks.
Vitamin C
Posted by Debbie (Calgary, Canada)
★★★★★
This one has been good for me when I have had a bad cold. Take 1 cup of cranberry juice and add in 2-1000 mg dissolvable tablets of vitamin C and heat in microwave until very hot. I have found this to really help when I have been sick. Repeat the next day.
Honey Lime Drink for Summer Colds
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 06/13/2017
MtM, last summer I was making lemonade with honey and it took forever to melt the honey by stirring. Now I see how to do it: melt it in a little hot water!! Thank you!!
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 01/12/2017 2042 posts
Good observation, Art. I experience much the same. I have been drinking 2 cups?? concentration C.S. for several yrs to fight the chronic infections. I too have noticed an immediate improvement of symptoms nubulizing C.S. So this method is effective beyond killing mycoplasma in the lungs. Back to the oral; lately I have added one dropper of 99% DMSO to one cup C.S. with much better results. I have yet to experiment with C.S. absorption & utilization by adding maybe one spoon of Glycine and one spoon of Lecithin; maybe you can try this. Are you familiar with LET method of nutrition & drug delivery? The above recipe may be effective but may also need sonicating. You may also try Zapping fallowing the C.S. Bob Beck must have come to the same conclusion as you concerning oral administration, so he added zapping and swears this combo can kill all pathogens. You can also bubble ozone in a cup of C.S. but must drink quickly. H2O2 will stay in solution but I find it abrasive.
Garlic and Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Armadillo17 (Chicago, Il) on 01/28/2015
★★★★★
For me, one of the most miserable aspects of a cold is the nasal congestion that blocks the taste buds and causes endless nose-blowing. This time, I took a clove of garlic, broke it into small chunks, and put a chunk up into each nostril. Leave it there as long as you can stand it, it will probably prompt you to sneeze eventually, after a few minutes. Do this repeatedly and your congestion will be gone in a day. Also, chew a little garlic all day and keep a peeled glove in your mouth to suck on. This, plus a dose of apple cider vinegar in water 4 times a day, got rid of 90% of my cold symptoms in 24 hrs.
Liposomal Vitamin C, Colloidal Silver
Posted by Dave (Fountain Inn, Sc) on 12/09/2013
Mary to Many,
The timing is not an issue if one uses the Colloidal Silver as an irrigation. Most colds begin in the sinus cavity. To learn the irrigation (Neti pot idea that Opra has propelled) is very effective. The neti pot is like a pouring cleanse. The idea with CS is to pour a teaspoon into palm of hand and sniff into both sinuses. If an infection is there one will definitely feel a stinging usually more on one side than the other.
Tomato Tea
Posted by Laura (Dallas, Tx) on 04/01/2013
★★★★★
The Tomato Tea WORKED--Knocked out a cold in under two days. Actually I used a three pronged "tea" combination for a serious head cold I picked up from my 20 month old: 1) ACV tea at meal times/3 x day with 2 Tblsp dosage to each mug and 1 Tblsp Honey. 2) Made a pot of Tomato Tea for the morning and afternoon getting about three mugs out of each. I used Half a bulb of Garlic (cloves smashed) to 20-30 oz V-8, the juice of two lemons, and multiple dashes of cayenne pepper. 3) Lemon, Juiced Ginger and Cayenne Pepper tea ( with honey).
The ACV immediately went to work reducing the swelling in my nasal cavaties allowing me to breath ( and have some hope). The tomato tea helped get the cold a moving. ( suffered through a sinus headache about 20 hours into the remedy period). The lemon/ginger/cayenne pepper tea was a bonus immune system booster.
While you have a cold you cannot smell anything. Also the tomato seems to mask the expected garlic smell. I didn't smell like garlic per the family I was with. And all teas tasted phenomenal to me despite having no ability to smell.
This saved me a $75 co-pay to visit an urgent care doctor, no medicine head, no dry nasal passages from antihistimines. Still drinking the tomato tea and ACV tea on day 5 - just one mug or two a day each as the cold is on its last leg.
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Llloyd (Seneca, SC) on 12/09/2012
★★★★★
All my life I've been prone to sinus infections and colds turning into chest colds. I've used ACV also but find colloidal silver... a tablespoon ever hour and sniffed into sinuses kills the virus more effectively than anything else.
