It’s no secret that Cold and Flu bugs just love cold weather. We’re all bundled up indoors at home, work or school, breathing the same air. Then holiday gatherings come around, and suddenly, you feel like you’re living in a pumpkin spice-scented petri dish.
This year, we’re trying to get ahead of things before we start the gauntlet of holiday gatherings. We all know little cousin Timmy’s been licking door knobs at school, and now he’s double dipping in the cranberry sauce too.
As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and it’s never a bad idea to give your immune system a little boost.
I’ve put together a list of my favorite herbal remedies for cold and flu, mostly homemade immune boosters but with good store-bought options too, because, you know, not everyone has mushrooms they can forage right in their backyard.
Read More: 16+ Herbal Remedies for Cold and Flu
Herbal Guides
Looking for more ways to stock your herbal medicine cabinet?
Immune-boosting herbs, plus a few jars of home-canned chicken soup stashed in the back of the pantry, are my favorite go-to remedies when someone starts getting sniffly in my household, but I’d love to hear your ideas!
What have I missed?
I would love to hear your time-tested remedies for cold and flu, herbal and otherwise. Everybody knows about Grandma’s Chicken Soup, but what other tricks did she have up her sleeve?
Leave me a note in the comments below.
(Comments only, please. Emails tend to get lost in my inbox, and as much as I’d love to get back to each and every one, my screen time is very limited…and things fall through the cracks, and emails get buried in my inbox. If you comment here, they’re all in one place, and it’s much easier to get back to every single one.)
Until Next Time,
Ashley at Practical Self Reliance
I found the recipe on line where someone had traveled to Tibet and was served this when ill. I tried it--amazing! 1:1:1 ratio of honey, lemon juice and powdered ginger in a mug. (I tsp. of each) Fill with hot water and drink. I don't love ginger, but here it is fantastic. It has sort of a peppery sensation, that, if you have a sore throat, feels really good. I had had a really bad infection of some sort; you know, with green mucus, and by the next morning, that had cleared up. I mixed this up for a few days and had it a couple of times a day. It's warming and delicious. Highly recommended.
Hi Ashley
The best thing I find is good old fashion fasting!
Yep go to bed with a good book and a hot water bottle and get lots of sleep, and let your body clean out the junk it has accumulated over the past 12 months of pushing yourself too hard to do what you "need to do".
Listen to your body, it knows what it wants you to do.
When not hungry don't eat.
When sleepy then sleep.
We don't need to suppress the body with pills or potions.
While herbs and good food are great for feeding the body, when it is not hungry, and has a fever, it doesn't need food, it needs rest and care and love and mercy and kindness.
Love yourself, don't ignore your body telling you what it wants you to do.