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.
Oregano Oil
Posted by barbara (camden, ar) on 09/05/2007
★★★★★
I have been using oil of oregano every time I feel that I am coming down with sore throat, it stops it almost immediately and it does not turn to sinusitis as in the past. I would recommend it to any and every body!
Hydrogen Peroxide Sniffing Method!
Posted by Kathi (New Brunswick, Nj, Usa) on 05/06/2011
★★★★★
Wow this really does work. Had cold (possibly flu?) symptoms yesterday and used the hydrogen peroxide sniffing method twice -- what a difference! I used this in conjunction with tomato tea (which I spike with a little extra vitamin c), and am feeling much improved today.
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 Nixa (New York, NY) on 04/03/2006
★★★★★
Garlic tea cured my severe cold with a constant irritating cough. I had an annoying cold that wouldn't go away. I got a recipe for a garlic tea from a coworker. Cured my cold in a couple of days. Garlic Tea Recipe: Pour 1 cup of boiling water into a mug. Add 2-3 cloves of smashed garlic. Let it sit for a min or two. Add 1-2 tablespoons of honey and stir. Trust me. It doesn't taste as bad as it sounds. The honey helps a lot!
Vitamin C
Posted by Isabel (Austin, TX) on 10/09/2005
★★★★★
At the first sign of a cold, take 1000 mg of vitamin c every 2-3 hrs for as long as you feel symptoms. This has kept the cold from getting bad and ended sooner.
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.
Turmeric and Ginger Tea
Posted by Valcie (Uk) on 03/27/2020 4 posts
★★★★★
YAY Strengthening the immune system and ward off cold: Take a big cup add Grated fresh ginger Turmeric Pour hot on..then add honey and lemon with a pinch of black pepper, and drink
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 Art (California ) on 01/12/2017 2891 posts
Hi Timh,
I have not experimented with CS and lecithin or glycine. The CS I make is capped, so I think that will pose a problem with those two. The capped CS will withstand stomach acid easily, allowing the CS to reach the intestines where the capping agent is broken down and the CS can then do its thing. Try putting uncapped CS or ionic silver in a mixture of hydrochloric acid and salt to try and simulate the stomach and they do not fare very well. I have tried to do lypo experiments with a sonicator, but it was way too under powered and I eneded up with problem mixes that didn't hold together consistently or seperated in a relatively short period of time. I also could not tolerate the taste of the lecithin mixes so those experiments only lasted about a few weeks before I threw in the towel. The lecithin also seemed to be hard to clean up afterword......it's like it "clings" to everything!
Bottom line, I have no idea of what I actually made in terms of a "real lypo mix" or not. With ozone bubbling in CS, I would think you better be able to drink it down super duper fast!!
Art
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 01/17/2017 2041 posts
Art, back again after another ordeal, and on topic with infection in my left shoulder. This is a recurrence from about two months ago. My big Magnet applied for about an 1 hr for two or three days usually puts the infection back for months. This time it appears that my acidic condition once again took on radiation which worsened the situation dramatically, leaving the entire blood & body trying to defend against the potent infection. Two nights without LDN was a big mistake. More Magnet, Zapping, and Heat Pad have me temporarily stable but more needs to be done. I am considering heating C.S. and saturating a washcloth to be place on the shoulder, and try diffusing Ozone into the cloth, or adding DMSO.
I have always wondered if C.S. could be used in combo with synthetic antibiotics, so thanks for the info. Yes I make my own C.S. and to a lightly milky color but don't have a ppm gauge. In time it turns a golden color; is this bad? Mine is an open half-gallon mason jar in which I cook for about 3 hrs. The great thing about C.S. is that oxygen has an affinity to it just like Iron. The C.S. plus oxygen is way more potent than either alone. Try a few drops or up to a dropper of DMSO in a cup of C.S. and you will feel the difference as the combo of Silver, Sulfur, and Oxygen are fantastic.
Colloidal Silver and Vitamin C
Posted by Mama to Many (Tennessee) on 06/22/2014
★★★★★
Last week I was coming down with a head cold. Constant sneezing and that "run down" feeling. I was sort of ignoring it because I was busy. So by bedtime I felt awful. I felt like I had the flu (aches and terrible sinus headache) and had a low grade fever. I really didn't have time to be sick so I got really aggressive with colloidal silver and vitamin C. I would take the C by the gram frequently during the day.
With the silver, I was practising Dave's method - in the nose, in the ears, gargle and guzzle! Every few waking hours I would gargle and swallow a couple of Tablespoons of CS. Then I put some into the palm of my hand and snorted it up into each nostril until I could feel the sting. (I would call it "burn." Really felt awful but I was encouraged that it was helping. I did notice the burn was less intense if I repeated the process pretty soon afterwards.) At night when I felt too bad to get out of bed, but kept a bottle of CS by the bed. If I woke up I put some in my ears, in my mouth and into my nose with an eyedropper. I didn't even had to sit up. It was less intense but it was better than nothing.
I felt a good bit better in 24 hours. In 48 hours I felt almost normal. I am continuing the routine for a few more days just in case.
Thanks Dave for all your patient and encouraging posting on the process. I sometimes need to read and study something a number of times before trying it myself. I have had colloidal silver in my house for years and used it here and there during that time. Now I find it is in use daily, it seems.
And thanks everyone for posting your stories. The details and variations are so helpful! Jeanne's recent story of healing a sore throat with silver was in my mind as I was doing this.
Have a super day! ~Mama to Many~
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.
Zinc
Posted by Joyce (San Marcos, Ca) on 10/16/2012
★★★★★
This is not a cure, but a preventive. About 17 years ago, when I moved from one location to another, I got a really bad cold -- one of the worst I've ever had. Since then, in 17 years, I have had only 3 colds, only 1 of which lasted more than a few days. My prescription is zinc lozenges. I can't remember where I heard about them, but they've worked wonders for me.
The key to their effectiveness, I think, is taking them immediately on the first sign of a cold -- a sore throat, sneezing or stuffiness. Chances are that sometimes I've taken them when a cold wasn't actually coming on, but I'd rather take the extra precaution than risk getting a cold.
I start out with just 1 lozenge and may take as many as 3 if the symptoms persist. A bottle of 100 will last for a couple of years, and they're quite inexpensive.
For years scientists have said that zinc lozenges were not effective in preventing colds. Now they're saying their studies show that they can shorten the length of a cold. I'm not sure what they've based their studies on, but I think, again, that taking them immediately upon any symptoms of a cold is the key to their effectiveness.
Tomato Tea Feedback
Posted by Greenergoods (New Castle, In, USA) on 06/24/2012
★★★★★
I had some [spicy tomato juice]. First day of real cold symptoms, though I realize now it's been creeping up on me. Put some in a coffee mug, added half a garlic clove (crushed in garlic press), water, lemon juice, ______ Seasoning Spray and heated in microwave for 2 minutes. Finished it 5 minutes ago and already feel 80% better! No runny nose anymore, that quick! Noticed I have started to sweat a bit. Will drink some ACV in water throughout day and have another cup of this mid-day. Wonderful.
I have previously touted cayenne pepper "tea" as a cure for a sore throat (gargle it. don't drink---see this site for recipe) and realize now that the acidic properties of juice, antioxidants, raw garlic and peppers quickly cure whatever's ailing us.
Great recipe. Thrilled to find it. I can alwasy count of Earth Clinic!
Sea Salt
Posted by Heather (New Zealand) on 01/12/2026
Do you mean just 1 teaspoon of salt and that's it with the water?
