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.
Cayenne
Posted by Ray (Williamsport, PA) on 01/04/2007
★★★★★
After feeling run down and fighting the chills all night, body aches, and oh yeah, a sore swollen throat that I suspected was Strep, I tried the cayenne remedy as laid out. Within minutes the pain subsided, the body aches and chills left, and I returned to the woods to finish out the day hunting. It helps if you like hot stuff!
Chinese Remedy Yin Chiao
Posted by Lynn (Deming, NM) on 12/18/2022
★★★★★
Decades ago, a nurse told me about a Chinese remedy called Yin Chiao to take at the first sign of feeling unwell. I tried it, and it worked. And it worked the second time. My husband, a doctor, was more than skeptical, but now, he wouldn't be without it. You want to order the original Yin Chiao, which has little containers of tablets inside the box.
Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamon
Posted by Kathy (Vancouver, Canada) on 09/23/2011
★★★★★
I found this home remedy in Vasant Lad's "The Complete Book of Ayurveda Home Remedies". My whole family, including my 4 year old grand-daughter, have benefitted tremendously from this. It has become a "must have" product in everyone's kitchen.
Mix together:
3 parts cinnamon
2 parts powdered dry ginger
and a touch of cardamom powder.
In 1/2 glass warm water, put 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of this mixture and 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon honey.
Provides immediate relief from cold, flu, cough, congestion.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Sarah (Charlotte, North Carolina) on 02/02/2014
★★★★★
My ear canals get itchy right before I get sick. Maybe it's dry skin, maybe it's the virus, maybe it's fungal, but this time the hydrogen peroxide has just been making it worse. Then I got the brilliant idea to put coconut oil in, via a Q-tip. Coconut oil is great for dry skin, kills 99.9 % of viruses, and also kills fungi. It worked.
I see here that taking a T or so of coconut oil has helped others, so going to do that now. This is my second day with this year's flu, and it's not bad for me, so far. I'm just achey all over, cranky as hell, and I have to blow my nose a lot. But there's not much sneezing and no coughing at all, and I can't get fevers (wish I could! ) because I'm hypothyroid, but not hypothyroid enough for the MD's to help me.
Coconut Oil
Posted by WT (Spartanburg, SC) on 05/31/2008
★★★★★
Whether it's Bird flu or the regular flu. If any virus is classified a flu virus, coconut oil will kill it.
Any flu virus is contained inside a Lipid envelope. If this membrane is ruptured the virus dies. Apparently the fats in Coconut oil lyse this membrane on contact causing it's destruction.
I used to get colds just about every year and the flu maybe every 2-3 years. Upon switching to coconut oil for cooking, I've been cold and flu free for nine years now! I've even been around others with my business who were fighting the flu and didn't catch it!
We fry stuff in it once a week or so and I try to eat fried eggs weekly for good measure!
For kids in day care you won't believe the difference it makes! Those days of them coming home with a new bug every few days will be a thing of the past!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Jill (Wisconsin) on 01/31/2008
★★★★★
I have been taking coconut oil , not every day, but maybe 2-3 times a week, and I have not got sick once since I started taking it 4 months ago. I am usually the first one to get a cold or flu in fall and winter, but thanks to coconut oil, I have remained Healthy!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Tony (Quezon City, Philippines) on 08/27/2007
★★★★★
I used to be a regular sufferer of flu. About 3 years ago, after reading in a book that coconut oil can kill the influenza virus that causes flu based on in-vitro studies, I took 4 tablespoon of Virgin Coconut Oil when I had flu, went to sleep and woke up after about 6 hours later and found my flu amazingly gone. Since then, I take at least 1 tablespoon of Virgin Coconut Oil everyday, and when I feel an onset of flu, I increase the intake up to 4 tablespoon and predictably the flu would not continue.
Cold Showers
Posted by Gerald (Sydney, Australia) on 06/07/2009
★★★★★
I have taken a cold shower in the morning for over ten years, and can attest that I suffer less cold and flu symptoms than other workers in my office. In fact when the flu virus strikes Sydney each winter, I am normally the only one unaffected. When I am in the shower I also do some stretching. I hold onto the top of the shower screen and stretch my spine, to release stress. Which is great, because I have a stressful job. For years I have told others my theory about the benefits of cold showers, but am usually met with derision. So I am glad I found on this website a community of like-minded enthusiasts. I had my blood tested and my white cell count is three times higher than average. So I am sure that a wider scientific study would verify the health benefits of the cold shower. Gerald.
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.
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Jennywren (Australia) on 09/16/2013
★★★★★
YEAH. I had a full-blown flu virus and could barely move for the aches and pains. After day six, I gave up on OTC medicine and turned to colloidal silver. I had been taking it in 5ml doses morning and evening but it clearly wasn't cutting the mustard. I upped the dose to gargling and swallowing 20ml every 3-4 hours, and bought a colloidal silver in nasal spray form to spray up my nose every hour or so. I also nebulised colloidal silver into my infected lungs for 5 minutes morning and night. It's important to treat nose, throat and lungs (and even ears) with colds and flus. By day 2 it felt noticeably better and by day 3 it was pretty much gone! (Note: It's important to drink lots of water and take a good probiotic when ingesting this much silver.)
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Pr (Houston, Texas) on 01/11/2013
★★★★★
I had the unfortuned experience of getting the flu this year. I will say my normal herbal and vitamins remedies did not budge this flu. Infact I relapse 3 - 4 times. Just when you think you where done it was back worst. I had to finally use colloidal silver 1/2 cup three times a day to get rid of it and keep it away. I started with 1/4 cup and worked up to the half cup. I am still taking 1 oz two times a day for maintenance, don't trust this strain. Xylitol nose spray was a huge help and you can spray this as often as needed. Sometimes I sprayed it every five minutes. As you feel like you are drowning in mucus and than it settles in chest which is hard to get rid of. I also sprayed colloidal silver in nose mixed with Xylitol. The netti pot helps too.
Colloidal Silver and Manuka Honey
Posted by Katzie (Calgary) on 12/30/2015
★★★★★
My 14 yr old son had the 'flu for 4 days while at his father's house. When he came home he was still feverish and hadn't been eating. I gave him 1 TBSP Colloidal Silver and 1 TBSP Manuka Honey in the evening. The next morning he was better, eating, drinking, no fever, and he was smiling again. I got the idea to try these from this awesome site! It should be noted that this same "cure" also worked equally as well on his head colds.
Replied by Dave
(Fountain Inn, Sc)
12/30/2015
Replied by Katzie
(Calgary)
12/31/2015
Colloidal Silver, Wild Oregano Oil
Posted by Maddy (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) on 05/16/2008
★★★★★
I have not had a cold or the flu for 4 years despite having asthma and COPD (brochiectasis). When I feel that my nose gets a bit stuffy and sometimes get a bit shivery I immediately take 1 tablespoon of Colloidal Silver which I keep in my mouth for 1 minute (it gets absorbed through the mucus membranes) and then swallow and 2 gel capsules of P73 wild oregano oil. I repeat at night and cold or flu does not progress. This way I also avoid having the flu jab which used to make me ill. Hope this will help someone. Regards, Maddy.
Echinacea
Posted by Barb (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) on 09/26/2011
★★★★★
This is to address generalized immune issues: colds, viral and bacterial infections. I won't go into our long and drawn out medical history but, believe me, when your doctor says to you that there are only two remaining antibiotics left to try - something goes "boom" in your brain! I took extreme issue with our doctor as to medication over prevention practices and, to his credit, he took a big risk and did, finally, step up to the plate. he told us that we were not to tell anyone where we got the information he was about to pass on to us and, to this date, I have not (and I will continue to never divulge his name) but I tell everyone I can about echinacea. we took a. vogel echinacea tincture and have never - N. E. V. E. R. - been sick since. we took the maximum dose everyday until we stopped getting sick - around a year then we took the maintanence dose for about two years afterward. when we realized that we were not getting sick at all anymore we slowly stopped.
I also agree with eating foods that keep the body in an alkalized state. that's all I have to say on the subject except maybe that everybody's system reacts differently to mainstream as well as alternative therapies and some therapies may not have been stuck with long enough to show results.
Elderberry, Vitamins C and E
Posted by Cl (Florida, US) on 01/20/2015
★★★★★
Everyone in my family had strep and flu, I was just beginning to feel bad. I read somewhere on this site that Elderberry tea would help, and Vitamin C and Vitamin E. I could not find the Elderberry tea so I got Sambucol Elderberry Extract, I took a teaspoon a day with a small amount of water in it like the box said (The internet said take 3 times a day for 5 days, however I only took it once a day and it worked), I also took 1500 mg of Vitamin C Chewable and 400IU Vitamin E a day along with that, and it knocked it out by day two, I was trying to avoid the strep, right before Christmas when I took my granddaughter back to the doc for a second strep test. I had not been sick at all, but my throat that morning a felt a little scratchy, but I ask the Doc to run a strep test on me while I was there and it was positive, which she put me on an antibiotic, however I never ran a fever or anything with my strep so I think the home remedies helped there and I never did get the flu. I made sure I did not take my Vitamin C within 4 hours of taking my antibiotic.
Now everyone is getting the flu again and I felt like I was trying to get it so I started back on the Elderberry, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. I also do the Emergen-C orange or raspberry if I don't have the chewable C with me and it works really well.