Cold and Flu Remedies that Work

During cold and flu season, you need remedies that work – that actually cure your symptoms, rather than just mask them. Here are my personal favorites.

Cold and Flu Prevention

The most important step you can take during the winter months is to protect yourself before the sick days come. Common sense applies here. Sleep long and deep (about 8 hours) every night, stay hydrated, eat your vegetables, and get plenty of sunshine, fresh air, and vitamin J (joy).

But is there more you can do? I believe so. Like maidens with garlic to ward off vampires, fire cider seems to nip viruses before they can get established. The principle of fire cider is to preserve the anti-microbial qualities of several plants in a vinegar base, then take a spoonful every day.

Fire cider recipes abound on the internet. They all include garlic, onion, ginger, horseradish, and apple cider vinegar. Some use lemon, cayenne, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, or other ingredients from your pantry. I have used recipes from Mommypotamus, Wellness Mama, and Mountain Rose Herbs.

My favorite way to use this cold and flu remedy is to incorporate it into an oil and vinegar salad dressing, using the fire cider in place of the vinegar in the recipe.

Immune Support that Works

When you feel that scratchy throat just beginning, or the chills setting in, you need nutrients to switch your immune system into high gear. Keep a cold and flu remedy box in your medicine cabinet that contains vitamin A (retinol form), vitamin D3, vitamin C, and zinc picolinate. At the first sign of illness, take the following doses each day for 7 days:

• 10,000 IU of vitamin A
• 5,000 IU of vitamin D3
• 2,000 mg. of vitamin C
• 45 m.g of zinc picolinate in 15 mg. doses spaced 4-6 hours apart

As a bonus, you can take an astralgus supplement twice a day for two days.

Fever Remedies

There is a difference between gently drawing down a fever and suppressing it. When you suppress a fever with aspirin, ibuprofen or Tylenol, you hamper your body’s ability to fight the virus inside. So when the pill wears off, you experience a more virulent fever than if you had just let it run it’s course. Alex Pinchot, ND, says, “When we get in the way of our bodies innate ability to fight an infection we end up prolonging the illness and are more uncomfortable for longer.”

It is wonderfully soothing to lay a vinegar-soaked washcloth on a hot forehead, or to put vinegar-soaked stockings on your burning feet. You’ll keep your fever low-grade while still allowing it to work against your cold or flu virus. Here’s how to do it: dilute 1 cup of apple cider vinegar with 2 cups of tepid water. Wring your fabric out before applying it. If you are soaking socks, wear wool socks over the top of them and re-soak them after about 3 hours when they are dried out.

Another important principle to remember about fevers is that our greatest discomfort comes when we begin to get dehydrated. You don’t have to limit yourself to water in order to replenish your body’s need. Herbal teas and especially bone broth are particularly nourishing and restorative. I also like electrolyte powders, such as Ultima Replenisher, added to my water.

A Restorative Remedy for Malaise

I understand how difficult it is to budge when everything aches and the fatigue goes bone deep! However, movement can get lymph flowing better, moving waste away from our cells, and it can open up airways, reducing congestion. Yoga teacher Adriene Mishler presents a most relaxing and rejuvenating sequence you can do on your sick bed.

Zinc Works for Sore Throats

You’ve seen supplements that combine vitamin C with zinc. That’s logical since the immune system uses both to fight pathogens. But have you ever thought of applying zinc directly to your inflamed throat tissue? Ahhh, it’s truly soothing! And it doesn’t just numb; it actually provides immune support to your throat tissue. My favorite spray is TheraZinc.

Other Cold and Flu Remedies that Work

• Cough: Did you know that according to this study, honey is just as effective as dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in most cough syrups? I like mixing it with a little lemon juice and warm water. Others stir it into oil and vinegar, or combine it with cinnamon.
• Headache: Several different essential oils can be effective when rubbed on the temples. I am partial to peppermint or spruce.
• Congestion: Hydration is paramount. I find it helpful to temporarily omit dairy and to sip a cup of steaming herbal tea, such as peppermint, eucalyptus, or ginger.

Don’t Forget to Support Your Spleen

It’s a forgotten organ, but your spleen is a blood purifier and is challenged in its filtering capabilities when you are under viral attack. A few drops of burdock tincture or a cup of burdock tea every few hours can be quite healing. I also recommend skin brushing to keep your lymph from stagnating and putting additional burden on the spleen.

The Most Important Cold and Flu Remedy

Last, but not least, take a day off – or several. Stop pushing. Let your body do the work of recovering without fighting against you. It needs the energy to address the viral threat, not to meet work deadlines, run the kids to soccer, throw in another load of laundry, and fix dinner for company. Don’t just take an over-the-counter symptom treatment to keep going. Give your body the grace to heal by truly resting.