Home Remedies for Colds
The most common illness today is the common cold, yet no one has discovered a cure for it yet. Fortunately, home remedies for colds can reduce the duration of the symptoms and their severity, so you don’t have to spend a small fortune on over the counter cold medications.
Preventing Colds is Best
Preventing a cold is the best course of action, and it’s relatively easy to boost your immune system and stay healthy by taking vitamin C daily or making sure you eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C to boost your immune system. If you already have a cold, taking vitamin C supplements twice a day will help you recover quicker and minimize the congestion, aching muscles, watery eyes and other symptoms. You can safely take up to 1000 mg of vitamin C each day.
You can add zinc lozenges to your vitamins to increase the effects of the vitamin C if you like. Try sucking on a lozenge two or three times a day. You’ll discover they also soothe a sore throat and cough and keep you from getting that “dry mouth” feeling you sometimes get when you have a cold.
Essential Oils to Relieve Colds
There are several plant extracts that can be used in home remedies for colds, including lavender and eucalyptus. Add about 8 drops of either essential oil to two cups of steaming hot water, then inhale with a towel over your head to trop the steam. About five minutes of this will break up the mucus and congestion in your sinuses.
For relief of sinus pressure and congestion when you can’t use vapor, try a damp washcloth zapped in the microwave. Make sure it isn’t too hot, then relax with the warm cloth over the bridge of you nose. The direct heat and soothing moisture will encourage clearing of the sinus passages.
Lavender, peppermint or yarrow oils can be used in a soothing balm that you rub on your upper chest. The gentle vapors will ease tightness in the chest and sinus congestion. Put a few drops of the essential oil in a body cream or lotion; you don’t want to put an essential oil directly on the skin undiluted.
Home Remedies You Can Sip
Studies have shown that chicken soup really does help you recover from a cold. The combination of a warm, soothing broth with the inhaled steam from the soup eases congestion and helps you breathe easier. The nutrients typically found in chicken soup also help you recover more quickly.
If you enjoy a cup of hot tea, try switching to green tea when you have a cold, it’s one of the best home remedies for colds available. Simply steep either Oolong or Ocha tea and drink at least one cup a day. These teas have natural antihistamines that reduce the painful swelling of sinus passages and help dry up congestion.
One of the home remedies for colds is the regular use of saline solution. Sea salt dissolved in distilled or boiled water can be gently sprayed into the nose with a small squirt bottle. The saline solution will clean a wealth of bacteria and viruses out of the nose. After using the saline solution, blow your nose to clear out the loosened mucous.
If you want to prevent frequent congestion, colds and other respiratory infections, consider getting a Neti pot. Although it takes some getting used to, this system flushes out your sinuses by irrigating them with a two cups of saline solution. It’s an inexpensive home remedy that takes just a few minutes each day.
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