Theres a good reason its called the common cold. Adults get colds an average of two times a year, and children usually come drown with them a lot more often. Yet in some ways the common cold is unique. Experts have identified more than 200 viruses that can cause colds, and the viruses are changing all the time. Even when your immune system learns to recognize one virus, theres always a different strain waiting to take its place.
Doctors have been trying for years without success to find a cure for the common cold. In the meantime, theres a lot you can do to reduce the symptoms and help your body get well.
Take some echinacea. Echinacea is an herb thats renowned for its ability to strengthen the immune system. In fact, doctors in Europe recommend Echinacea as much or more than some prescription drugs. You can buy Echinacea in capsule, liquid, or even tea form at health stores. Follow the directions on the label and take it as needed. Make sure you take it at the onset of a cold, however, its much more effective in preventing colds that are on their way in than colds on their way out.
Keep the fluids flowing. To ease the scratchy throat and dry eyes that often accompany colds, its a good idea to drink plenty of water at least eight to twelve glasses a day. Getting more fluids not only water but fruit or vegetable juices too will help thin mucus in your nose and chest, so youll feel more comfortable.
Keep your hands clean. The viruses that cause colds can live on the hands for a long time. Washing your hands several times a day is one of the best ways to prevent colds. Even if youre already sick, washing your hands will help prevent cold virus from reinfecting you and prolonging the misery.
Think about zinc. Research has shown that zinc lozenges can help sore throats heal more quickly and reduce the amount of time that youve sick in some cases by as much as several days, doctors say. Ask your pharmacist about where you can obtain these pain-tamers.
Home Remedies for Common Cold
* honey and lemon Once again and in a variety of different ways this famous and already well-recommended cure-all will alleviate the symptoms of a cold and also comfort when misery takes over. Drink it hot and undiluted or with hot water and flavor with cinnamon, cloves, ginger or cayenne or even a mixture of each or some of these. It is also excellent with whisky, brandy or ginger cordial. A very good alcoholic ginger cordial can be made by using the above Granddad Freds recipe but substituting brandy for the whisky and using a more substantial chunk of root ginger. One of the good home remedies for common cold.
* Gingered beer Ginger mulled in beer is an old-fashioned remedy which improves sleep and is especially useful for restless fellows.
* Cayenne Half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper added to 150ml (1/4 pint) of hot milk or water is very warming but it is not appreciated by children. Do make sure that the pepper is well dissolved otherwise it may be a little more warming than intended. One of the popular home remedies for common cold.
* Bread and milk Butter slices of bread and sprinkle them with sugar. Cover with hot milk and eat before going to bed. This delicious milk mess will send you to sleep without a qualm when you are tired and cold.
Cold comfort with some another Home Remedies for Common Cold.
One of the first signs of illness is an excessive thirst which becomes worse as the body burns up energy combating infection, and which has the patient demanding coffee, tea and fizzy drinks, none of which are particularly good for them. A century ago none of these would have been easily or economically available and bran or barley waters and herb tea were used, not only to reduce thirst but to prevent dehydration and alleviate the problem with their own healing properties.
Lemon Barley Water
1 large lemon2 tablespoons pearl barley1 liter (1.75 pints) boiling water
Pare the rind thinly from the well washed lemon and place it with the barley in a large heatproof jug. Pour on the boiling water, cover and leave to stand overnight. The next day strain off the pale straw colored liquid and drink by the glass with or without honey. Save the juice from the lemons to make another drink but do not add it to the barley water. This is an inexpensive drink which soothes and nourishes and should be made fresh daily.
Lemonade
2 lemons1 liter (1.75 pints) water50g (2oz) sugar
Wash the lemon well and remove the rind using a potato peeper, taking care not to include any of the white pith. Put the rind into a pan with half the water and the sugar and bring gently to the boil, stirring well to make sure the sugar has dissolved. Cover and simmer for a few minutes. Pour into a jug and leave to get cold. Strain then add the juice from the lemons and the remaining water. Serve as it is.
Ginger Lemon Cordial
6 lemons4 oranges150g (4oz) seedless raisins3 cups clear honey75g (3oz) ginger root, crushed4.5 liters (8 pints) water
Wash the lemons and oranges well then grate the rind from them and squeeze the juice, which should be kept in the refrigerator until needed. Put the rinds and remaining ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for one hour. Skim and leave in jugs overnight to cool. Add the fruit juices the next day. Drink undiluted.
* Apple tea Slice washed but unpeeled apples and place them in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Simmer for one hour, strain and use hot or cold. This health-giving drink cuts colds to the quick. With honey added and diluted with sparkling mineral water it also makes a very good summertime drink.
Refreshing Herbal Teas
* Angelica tea This or a few drops of essential oil of angelica in a cup of ho water will clear a stuffy nose and improve the sense of smell. It can also be inhaled. Angelica and nettle tea fortifies and soothes.
* Basil tea Made with either fresh or dried leaves basil tea brings about a mild perspiration and with the addition of a pinch of ground cloves and cinnamon not only reduces fever but has a perfume so heady and redolent of hot Mediterranean heaths that it invokes a dreamy calm. One of the useful home remedies for common cold.
Trying Anything Once
The common cold has defeated scientists for centuries and, despite the money, intelligence and vast pharmaceutical resources poured into researching a cure, will probably continue to defeat us for years to come. Many of the strange and seemingly illogical folk methods of curing, or at least of alleviating, the misery of colds have their basis in strong commonsense and a more than passing knowledge of anatomy. Many of them work surprisingly well and are frequently given an airing by research groups and clinics.
Some of us have found that splashing the face with cold water will relieve the misery of running eyes and nose and sneezes. Hay fever sufferers will have tried sea water, ice bags, sniffing copious snorts of water up each nostril and complete immersion daily. Since civilized man endowed the Eskimos with the common cold they have discovered their own method of curing it by sniffing snow up their noses and there is a very good reason for this and any other cold nose cure. The icy cold snow contracts the swollen membranes within the nose and this in turn creates an expulsion of accumulated mucus The mucous membranes are no longer irritated and inflamed and the cold disappears.
Without the help of ice and snow you can make your won remedy by taking 2 cups of ice-cold water (place the water in the freezing compartment of your refrigerator for a few minutes) and stirring into it 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts. Stir well and then dip a folded cloth into the solution. Wring out the excess water and place the cloth over the nose and sinuses for as long as it takes for some relief to become apparent. Keep the solution cold and the cloth refreshed.
Food and sleep figure strongly and in a contradictory manner: do you feed a fever and starve a cold, or is it vice versa? Should we wrap up warmly and take a long, brisk walk? Or should we take the sensible advice of a writer on the subject of influenza who stated unequivocally, I cannot stress strongly enough the necessity for the patient to stay in bed for a long period of convalescence after this dangerous illness. To arise too soon and to attempt to carry out ones normal duties can, I fear, lead only to paralysis and insanity. Strong words but bearing in mind the at present fashionable belief that M.E. (myalgic encephalomyelitis) may be the result of flu perhaps we should not scoff.
Delving into the realms of fantasy also provides some entertaining theories. Certain tribes of North American Indians chewed the leaf of the creosote bush to ward off colds whilst sailors of a century or so ago chewed tarred rope, both of which probably contained some of the constituents of modern-day medicines. Country folk slept with a piece of garlic or liquorices root between teeth and cheek or carried a piece of black sheeps wool well larded with butter or olive oil and egg around their necks. All of these remedies to keep infection away worked, I am sure, on the principle that you did not smell sufficiently pleasant to get close enough to infect although none could possibly be quite so effective as the Russian solution of tying a hank of dried herring around the throat.
Inhalants, rubs and Gargles
The majority of the recipes and remedies to be found under Chest Infections, Coughs and Asthma work equally well on patients suffering from a cold or flu.
* Onions Make a strong brew of onions, the steam of which should be inhaled through mouth and nose. It goes without saying that garlic is also recommended. A good strong sniff of raw onion was also believed to drive a cold away!* Olbas oil This may be used as a hot-water inhalant but is much better if applied to handkerchief or tissue. (Always burn tissues, most especially when colds are in evidence.)
* Eucalyptus, chamomile or angelica rub The essential oils of any of these, a few drops at a time, added to 1 tablespoon of almond or sunflower oil, can be used to gently massage the congested areas of face and throat. The two latter herbs are particularly kind and soothing on the sensitive areas around eyes and nose.
* Gargles Gargle with a few drops of iodine in a large glass of warm water. Quinine is reputed to have the same healing effect. A tea cup of barley water with 1 teaspoon each of salt and vinegar stirred in is also a reasonably gentle gargle.
Starve a Cold
It is undoubtedly better for a patient who is suffering from a bad cold or influenza to eat as little as possible and in fact they will probably reject most foods unreservedly. Staunchly old fashioned remedies such as milk, butter, honey and garlic or onion, barley water and cod liver oil, which were designed to both prevent and cure colds, will do nothing to improve that situation. Onions are comforting and warming with many therapeutic qualities and so are garlic and many herbs, all of which can be incorporated into a nourishing broth. Beef tea and chicken soup were great favorites as was blancmange, particularly a savory variety made with carrageen. Fruit sorbet made with orange or lemon juice or one of the soft fruits high in vitamin C slides down a sore throat without trouble whilst porridge is warm, sustaining, easily digested and a great improvement upon gruel. The best food, though, for sad and sorry people is yoghurt with wheat germ and honey.
Fruit juices have already been mentioned and both grape juice and the juice of carrots are thought to improve the chances of a good recovery. Some sources have also been known to advocate the juice of turnip tops which are very good for you but perhaps better served up as a vegetable with a lemon and oil dressing. However there are plenty of very pleasant and appetizing foods to choose from which will both tempt the patient to eat and also improve their general state of health. More importantly they are excellent nourishment to take when the body is cold and weary and at its most vulnerable.
Onion Soup
4 large onions1 large clove garlic5 tablespoons olive oil teaspoon each dried thyme, sage and savorysmall piece of bay leaf1 liter (1.75 pints) good strong chicken or vegetable stock1 tablespoon fresh lemon juicesalt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel the onions and cut them into very thin slices and finely chop the garlic. Put the oil into a large saucepan and cook the onions and garlic in this until they are golden brown and transparent. Do not allow them to burn. Stir in the herbs and add the warmed stock a little at a time followed by the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer very gently for one hour. Children will prefer the soup strained and it should be served hot with garlic and tomato bread. I prefer to give invalids this onion soup rather than the thicker one made with milk which may exacerbate catarrhal infections. Truly strong men will take their soup liberally laced with cayenne pepper for maximum benefit.
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