By Jennifer Smith, Natural Medicine Practitioner and Certified in Holistic Nutrition
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These home remedies for cold can help you to feel better faster and get back in the swing of things. Are you suffering from frequent head colds? If so, you probably know how miserable they can be. You have coughing, sneezing, aches and pains, sore throat, congestion, and much more. Sometimes these symptoms can even lead to a longer term infection like sinus infections. If you want to stop taking so many over-the-counter medicines, here are some home remedies for cold that you might want to try out.
Continuing to get enough nutrients into your body isn’t the easiest thing to do when you don’t feel well, but it is essential for treating a head cold and many other illnesses. When you have a cold, there are a variety of vitamins and nutrients that can help your body heal faster, but especially vitamins C and D. Vitamin C is not only great at helping to speed up the healing process by supporting your immune system, but is good to have before you get a cold as well. Vitamin D is also essential for preventing and treating a cold. You can get these vitamins in healthy foods like fish, bell peppers, oranges, and citrus fruits.
A neti pot is a small pot that looks similar to a teapot, where you put in warm water and flush your nasal passages. This can be wonderful for preventing illnesses, treating infections, and definitely treating colds. With a cold, the neti pot will help to clear your congestion and sinuses, and give you some relief, especially in the case of a bad head cold. Plus, it can be soothing feeling that warm water going through your nasal passages, which might already be sore and uncomfortable from the congestion and frequent sneezing and runny nose.
Hydration is essential any time you are sick, including when you have a head or chest cold. Dehydration is common when you are ill because you aren’t eating or drinking as often as you typically do. You need that hydration, so drink as much water as you can, also opting for drinks with added electrolytes and trace minerals.
Antibiotics allow you to treat infections and viruses that invade your body and cause any number of illnesses or infections. For the cold and flu season, here are some natural antibiotic home remedies for cold that help fight illness and keep you feeling well throughout the season.
Silver is a trace mineral which is essential in the body and to the immune system. As we age, our bodies become less efficient at assimilating silver and other trace minerals. This decrease in available trace minerals and trace amounts of silver, weakens the immune system, which leads to infections such as colds, flu, all kinds of viruses, bacteria, fungus and even cancers in time.
Dr. Gary Becker in his research, noticed a correlation between low silver levels and sickness. Our soils have become depleted in all trace minerals, including silver because of the use of chemical fertilizers, GMO crops and conventional farming methods which do no rotate crops. Our foods have practically no trace silver anymore. Colloidal silver is the only safe way to obtain the trace amounts of silver that our diet is lacking. Colloidal silver is bio-available which allows our body's tissues to absorb it very efficiently.
A variety of spices and herbs can be used to help treat your head cold, but both garlic and ginger are high on the list. Ginger is a type of herb that can be used in its natural form, or purchased already ground or shaved. It is added to foods or hot tea to help soothe your nausea, digestive issues, and headaches when you get a cold.
You can also try garlic, which is great at boosting your immune system and helping you to fight off this cold, but also to prevent getting another one in the future. Garlic is a type of spice that many people are familiar with, as it is often used in cooking. But you might not realize it has a long list of health benefits, including being able to give your immune system a little natural boost. Garlic has been used for medicinal purposes for many years. It contains a lot of natural properties to make it a great healing spice, including being a natural antibiotic, antiviral, and antifungal spice. You are able to help get rid of bad bacteria that enters your body by adding more garlic to your foods. There are also garlic supplements you can take.
This might seem like an odd suggestion, but don’t count it out just yet. Cayenne pepper has many natural healing properties, just like other herbs and spices. Not only does it have natural antibiotic properties, but hot spices can really help to clear your congestion when you have a head cold. Cayenne pepper can simply be used in soups and other hearty dishes you are able to keep down while you are sick, or you can try making a tea or tonic with it if you aren’t quite ready to eat anything.
If you have a need for sweetening up foods or beverages, why not choose something natural like manuka honey? This not only allows you to only have natural sugars, which is great for overall health and dieting, but it also has other health benefits as well. Among the various medicinal benefits, manuka honey is a natural antibiotic and because of this, it is one of the best home remedies for cold and sore throat. It is one of the healthiest types of honey you can get, which is only from bees that are pollinating Manuka bushes. You also get antimicrobial properties in this type of honey. Use it on your skin for skin infections and to fight bacteria, or consume it for your immune system benefits.
Naturally, echinacea is going to be on the list, as it is on many ‘top’ home remedies for cold. Echinacea is a type of herb that helps to treat and prevent infections, including for the cold and flu. Historically, it was used to treat more severe diseases like blood poisoning and open wounds.
Jennifer Smith, BA, NMP, CHN, FBCC
Jennifer Smith is a Natural Medicine Practitioner, Holistic Nutrition Practitioner, and Faith-Based Clinical Counselor. She has a Bachelor's degree in Christian Counseling. She has completed advanced training in Functional Nutrition, Functional Medicine, Natural Health Consultant diploma, Biblical Heath Coaching Certification, Biblical natural medicine, and Biblical Eating and Clinical Nutrition. Jennifer has a virtual Natural Medicine practice in Naples, FL called Fx Remedies Virtual Care.
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