10 Cold and Flu Home Remedies

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.

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!

I'm new in here. I experimented with a cold by adding 2 oz of white vinegar into a cup of water and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and heated that mixture almost to a boil and breathed the vapors. Wow, did that wake me up, slight stinging/burning sinsation in the nostrils, but no pain really. Now that cleared me up fast so I could breathe easier! It was not a cure all, but it did give relief and I would do this several times a day when I got real stuffy. IMHO it did a good job.

P.S. I drink or attempt to drink ACV daily with Mothers, 3 teaspoons, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a pinch of baking soda in 24 oz bottle of water. It has killed my acid reflux so I don't have to take pills for that, but I have to take my mix daily or the acid reflux will return, but that's due to my love of food, but I'm off my pills. Walk daily if u can, watch the sky, and read some good thoughts................. best to u all.

On the first sign of a cold and sore throat, I had 1 heaped teaspoon organic turmeric powder, mixed in 1/2 cup whole milk heated to a boil (apparently fat from milk is needed in properly digesting the turmeric), a bit of freshly ground pepper, and 1 teaspoon agave or any sweetener.

I had this concoction in between meals. I did this 3 times on the first day, and twice the next 2 days, and did not suffer from what would have been a full blown cold/cough and congestion. Incredible. Please try it!

The turmeric in my case made me slightly constipated, so I took some extra magnesium before bed those days.

Onion is such a simple cure, but people don't like the smell...Well boo hoo, you must not be very sick then!

There are a lot of excellent remedies on this site that I use. However, to really halt a cold it has to be stopped early. I thought I had allergies, so I didn't catch my cold early. I tried everything: apple cider vinegar, Jean's famous tomato tea, cayenne pepper pills, colloidal silver... Maybe some more I'm forgetting. Nothing seemed to help and I was definitely sensing that this was a cold that wasn't going to go away for at least a few days.

So, I went back to my favorite site and saw Ted's cold remedy. I didn't follow the whole thing, but I tried a hydrogen peroxide bath. The first time, I read it wrong and ended up putting the equivalent of a cup of 35% hp (about 12 cups of 3% hp). I immediately felt better--could breathe better, wasn't snotting everywhere, etc.

I wasn't totally better, but that was definitely the start of getting better. Went to work the next day, took a few more hp baths. This is definitely my new remedy I'll be researching and trying out!

It's never really a good idea to stop eating beacuse eating the right foods will give you the proper energy you need to fight off cold and flu symptoms. It is important, however, that you avoid starchy, processed, and deep fried foods and consume only fresh fruits and vegetables and whole organic foods, but fasting all together is never a good idea.

Eating raw garlic shortened my cold to about 2-3 days. On a Thursday morning, I woke up with an awful sore throat and congestion. By Friday evening it had become a full blown cold, so I went to this site to look for remedies. I decided to try the raw garlic by mincing up 3 cloves and eating it in a tortilla with cream cheese. This was just my way of making it palatable to eat. The only side effect was garlic breath, so you might want to eat it at night. By the next morning my sore throat was better and my congestion was minimal. That evening I was able to go out and felt almost better. My cold ended up lasting from Thursday morning until midday Saturday, which is about 2 1/2 days. Usually I have symptoms for up to a week, so this was amazing. I also advise taking lots of vitamin C. The best part is I did not even need cold medicine at all! Very natural and inexpensive.

cold -OJ, whiskey, honey

Now this recipe never CURED my cold, but it ALWAYS made me feel better. My dad always made it for us when we were younger, and I just remembered all about it! It defintely made us fall asleep ;-) and feel better, though. He would take about a cup of orange juice, a splash of some kind of whiskey (or rum-whatever), and a spoonful of honey. He mixed it and gave it to us hot.

I have just found this site during my current cold. Having not caught it early, I am having to use several of the remedies and just hoping to shorten the cold and prevent complications. I'm also not being very scientific about it, I am trying ACV, cayenne, garlic, tomato tea remedy, H2O2 (in ears and sniffing method)and eucalyptus oil. If I feel better tomorrow, I will have no idea what to attribute it to. All seem to give some relief, but nothing has cleared it up yet.

I was surprised not to find any mention of Neti Pot or other nasal irrigation method under the colds section. Saline nasal irrigation really helps me to breathe easier, and I'm sure it is keeping lots of that gunk from settling in my throat and lungs and causing complications later. You put 1/4 t of salt (there is special salt made for this but I use table salt) in the Neti Pot (is there a brand neutral term for this?) and fill with warm water. You want it about body temperature, and about the salt concentration of tears. Tilt your head to one side so the water will not come out your mouth, but out your lower nostril as you pour the water in your upper nostril. You should be able to breathe through your mouth while the whole thing pours through. blow nose and repeat on other side with a new batch of salt water.

My husband made me promise to go see a western doctor since I am sick while he is out of town. The Doc said that Neti Pot was a great idea and keep it up, that ENT's he knew thought that it had prevented the need for nasal surgery in some of their patients.

A combination of the following cured my cold. I took liquid phyto-caps (2 capsules 5 times a day for 4 days) which contained echincacia and black elderberry. I also used zinc swabs in my nose 3 times a day. In addition I drank that tomato tea remedy I found on earth clinic (v8, crushed garlic-4 cloves, a couple spoonfuls of chilli pepper hot sauce, and a few drops of lemon juice). My colds usually last 3 weeks and end up as sinus infections. This one was gone in 2 days, a record for me.

December of 2008 I had gotten a really bad cold, it felt like it was attacking my entire body, I found your site online and was reading about Oil Pulling. It made sense to me so I decided to try it. I immediately felt better, I had more energy, colors seemed brighter, I felt so much better. I kept doing oil pulling faithfully. I then got a really bad cold, I have never had so much mucous. I am wondering if it is because of the oil pulling and if it pulled the virus to come to the surface? I also had read about ACV and I am a true believer. I did not realize how much my digestive system was unbalanced until I started using ACV. I had had a problem with bloating and gas for over 6 years, everyone said it was just old age (I am only 54). So after 1 day of drinking ACV 3 times a day, 2 tsp. with 1 tsp of honey I am cured. Thank you, I have told all my friends and family about your wonderful website. I hope they are as enthusiastic as I am. Thank you Ted and Deirdre and all the wonderful people that have written in their testimonials.

Catarrh, Colds, Coughs, Flu:

I use the following for myself and my son, with reguarly great success-

I make an decocation / infusion of a mixture of
1.guaicum - helps so much with coughs (it the herbal form of guaifeisin often used in cough medicine)
2.peppermint ('menthol'also found in cough medicines)
3.echinaecea

(about 1 tsp of each)
i also add chamomile often for added pain relief, relaxation. i think it may help with fever too.

Other herbs I may add also for extra support include:
Liquorice
Hawthorn Berries
Elderberries

Salt Water (1/4 tsp per 250ml if i remember correctly), is also excellent for clearing the nose-
it can be bought ready made as saline drops, or made at home.
It can be squirted up in a dropper, used as a nose bath, or in a neti pot(ceraminc perferably).
A neti pot is excellent for cleaning the nose out, you have to get it in the right position though for it to work, and for it to work without hurting!

Also-
Putting a few drops of either
eucaplytus
olbas oil or similar
a couple of menthol crystals
in hot water, and inhaling this (a towel over the head helps too) helps clear the nose well too.

I also make my own 'vicks vapourub', by diluting eucalyptus oil or olbas oil or similar in some grapeseed oil, and rubbing on the chest, neck etc.

I'm so glad I have these remedies- transforms a persistent repetative cough to an occassional or zero cough, to no cough at all.
Often after drinking the tea, my parents have doubted that my son had been ill at all, even though a hour or so earlier he had been coughing so much!

Without guaicum, the peppermint etc tends to last a few hours, with guaicum, it can last up to a whole night, I find- so we drink it every 6-8 hours until infection is cleared.

I googled guaicum and couldn't find any other information on it. I was curious, does this have another name? I know some herbs have many names, and I wanted to know more about this one.

Organic White Tea with Raw Honey and 1 Slice of Organic Lemon (eat the lemon, peel skin), preferrably with 16 oz. of Hot Distilled Water, cures and prevents colds. Have it for breakfast, it will prevent you from having a cold, if already have a cold, drink at least 3-4x a day. I used to get the worst colds ever during the fall and winter months, but I don't anymore.

Mountain Tea is very effective against the common cold. Drinking tea made out of the Mountain Tea flowers is remedy that has been in my family for a long time. We find it very good in relieving congestion and shortening the length of a cold. The tea itself is very light and has slightly citrusy flavour. One drawback is that the tea it is generally difficult to find. It is primarily imported in limited quantities from Greece. There is a good article about the health benefits of Mountain Tea on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_tea. I'hope this helps.

[Yea] First, let me say that this is a great website! Thank you so much to everyone for sharing. I was surprised to see someone write about Mountain Tea! This tea is very popular in Greece, but I have never seen it for sale in Canada. This tea is supposedly very good at killing cold germs (at least that is what my mother says). I rarely get the opportunity to drink it, but as a tea lover, I must say that Mountain tea tastes amazing, and does seem help you get over a cold. Usually, my relatives bring it back with them when they come home from holidays in Greece. Does anyone know where to get it in Toronto?

Funny, we have been drinking the tea for years but its only now getting popular - I was just in Germany where its pretty popular now. Our Mom make the tea for us everytime we had a cold or allergies. Though we are a Greek family, I know the tea is also popular in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Turkey. Though we get ours from back home as well, I have actually seen it in Toronto at the Big Carrot (www.thebigcarrot.ca), sold in the tea aisle by a company called teas by voudou or something. Good luck.

You can get Mountain Tea all over Greektown, on The Danforth. We get ours at The Friendly Greek butcher, in a big bag as the whole herb, it's very inexpensive! I can imagine the selection at The Big Carrot would be pricey

Wake up the dead juice: When I was younger I used to get a lot of fatigue, loss of appetite, and body aches as a result from a cold. It would be those types of colds that just basically gave you those symptoms. It would have none or very little fever, coughs, stuffiness and sneezing. So I used to say to myself i would go to school if I had the energy. That's when I started drinking "Wake Up the Dead" juice.

There are a few ways to make this. You can either boil some water and add sliced onions to it. Or boil water and add chopped garlic to it. I usually mix both onion and garlic to the hot water. I leave the chunks inside. You can remove them if you wish. Drink that water as hot as you can take it. Another way people do it is by mixing about 2 cups of cold water and 1 chopped onion and/or some garlic chunks all in a blender. They can either drink it hot or cold. But drinking it hot is better. It is extremely important that you drink this as soon as you get up on an empty stomach. One cup is fine and 2 is better. The more onions and garlic you put in it the better it is. It tastes very disgusting but it will give you one hell of a boost. It will last anywhere from 3 to 6 hours. Then you have to drink it again. You should only drink it twice a day.

I'm inclined to think it's more likely the symptoms of the cold or possibly even an inner ear infection as well. I've had H2O2 put into my ears since being a small child, although generally for wax build-up, and never experienced dizziness or biliousness. I've also suffered vertigo from a middle ear infection and your symptoms mirror that problem.

The same happened to me. I tried H2O2 in the ears and the next morning woke up to some distressing vertigo. Room would spin every time I lay on my side. I swabbed my ear out the evening after and it got better. Since I've had many colds in my life, and this is the first time trying hydrogen peroxide in the ears, I'm inclined to think it's the hydrogen peroxide that caused the vertigo. It may have something to do with the temperature of the fluid, as another poster suggested.

.. I also drink Tonic Water around the cold/flu season to divert an oncoming cold.

I've been sick for about three days. I try to avoid medications and doctors visits because I don't really have the money to spare, and I'm not a fan of over the counter medicines like DayQuil (nature never intended anything to be that orange!) Today is my last day of vacation before I have to return to school, sad story, I know. And my boyfriend is home from college so I want to see him, only natural. But the last thing I want to do is get him sick, or feel crappy while I'm with him. I usually just wait out a sickness, let my body fight it off. I don't have time to waste in bed any more though. So I came to Earth Clinic and read about the Cayenne Pepper but I don't have any of that. Then I read about TABASCO! Funny thing was while I was sifting through the medicine cabinet I looked at the bottle and though "I bet that would clear my sinuses" but I didn't want to irritate my throat. So I mixed it with hot water, lemon juice, and honey. It's sweet with a nice spicey kick I love it and in five minutes I can breath out of one side of my nose and my throat doesn't hurt anymore! I really hope that this helps long term as well but if you need instant relief, try this!