Natural Remedies For Cold and Cough

The cold winter already is gone this year, but the beginning of spring still is tricky. If you want to reach for pills when you have caught cold - stop it now! There are natural remedies that can help in a gentle way without harming your body and disrupting its natural balance. Yes, it has its own natural balance even when you have caught cold. Sometimes that's the only way your body can tell you "Please, stop for a minute!" We run, run, run and forget to take care of ourselves and our immune system, we catch cold and are forced to stop. By drugging yourself and eating pills one after another you don't help yourself. Here are some popular natural remedies that will help!

Firstly: protect yourself before you get hit by cold! Eat fresh, natural food as much as you can all year round and it will help to strengthen your immunity and pack you with vitamins for other seasons as well.

What you should include in your menu for cold season? My mom always taught me that garlic scares away not just vampires, but cold and viruses as well. She was right - smelly garlic and onions really don't let the cold come in. She also taught me that herbal teas with or without honey should be consumed daily in winter. Once again, she was right. Have you heard about the power of pine cone syrup? Well, let the summer come and I'll teach you have to make one - it's a great help if you want to get rid of cough, but this time about other things my mom taught me, I've learnt on my own and checked in practice. Nope, I'm to a "picture-perfect" and I catch cold as well from times to times, so here are my natural remedies:

Honey - if you have a sweet tooth, forget about sugar - add honey! Honey has its own healing powers already ancient Egyptians knew and appreciated. While honey is not recommended for infants, it's great for kids and adults. And when it comes to cough - honey has convincingly proved itself. Here are some options to make honey more powerful - infused honey:

• with ginger, lemon, cloves, cinnamon and cranberries. Cut ginger in small pieces, slice lemon, put in a jar cinnamon sticks, some cloves or cranberries and pour honey over it. You can use just one of these ingredients or combine together several of them depending on your taste, but they all make really healthy and tasty supplement for your tea or simply hot water. So choose whichever ingredients you want to mix with honey, cover the jar with a lid and let it rest for at least 3 days before using, but you can successfully keep this mixture in the fridge for up to 6 months. By the way, little jars with honey and other healthy pieces in it look great enough to make holiday gifts. 
• with onion. Really healthy option that fights cold and cough, although not that tasty one. Chop onion, mix with honey and give it some days for honey to squeeze the best out of onions before using.
• with Aloe Vera. Aloe Vera is another magical plant that should be grown in every home. Cut a leaf from Aloe Vera, with a spoon or knife take out the soft part and cut it in smaller pieces, pour over honey and give it at least a day to turn into healing infusion.
• with radish. This one smells really bad and tastes pretty disgusting, but it's the most powerful honey infusion for cough you would ever get. Honestly, some people simply can't get it inside because of its bad smell, but it has helped me to get rid of cough that didn't leave me for a month, so you also deserve to know how to make this natural remedy. Grate radish, mix with honey and leave for 1-2 days before using. Don't try to smell this mixture when you open the jar before using it, better hold your breath in, take one full tablespoon of this mixture 3 times a day and wash it down with water, tea or any juice. 

Steam inhalations are great to fight cough and rhinitis. When I was a child my mom used to boil potatoes with parings and when I was sick I had to cover my head with towel and inhale the steam for several minutes right after straining potatoes. I almost hated this procedure, but it helped. Well, now I've found some steam inhalations that are enjoyable a bit more than potato steam: 

• hot water with essential oils. Boil water, transfer it into a bowl and add into it some drops of eucalyptus or rosemary essential oils. Put your face over the bowl with water and oils, cover your head with a towel to keep the steam not going away from your face and inhale, if cough goes out, don't keep it inside - let it get out of you. Breathe deeply, and for rhinitis - breathe in only through your nose.
• hot herb infusions. Make strong, hot chamomile or rosemary tea and inhale the steam of it covering your head with a towel and breathing deeply.

Feet baths: 

• with sea salt. Bath your feet in hot water with sea salt while enjoying some herbal tea or reading a book! If you don't have any wounds or cuts, your feet will thank you for this procedure.
• with essential oils, especially good for colds are eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils, so add in a hot water a few drops of these and immerse your feet in there. 

Herbal teas:

• peppermint, chamomile, meadowsweet, coltsfoot, or waybread in any combination with honey and ginger root will keep cold away, but if you are already sick before sleep make a tea with valerian root and you can add also a bit of wormwood. Just a little warning about wormwood: add really just a little bit or your tea will be too bitter to drink it enjoying. 

Home made syrups: 

• So far I've discovered pine cone and waybread syrups. They taste good, you can intake them in spoons or add to hot drinks. I'm just waiting for summer now to show you how to make them at home. 

Clove essential oil on your feet:

• dilute clove essential oil with a carrier oil (olive, grapeseed, almond or coconut oils work well) approximately 1-2 drops of essential oil on 1 teaspoon carrier oil and apply on the bottom of your feet to keep them warm and comfortable. 

Additional reads: 

• You can also check my article I've previously shared on Leafshare: Natural Remedies to Keep Cold Away and Stay Healthy in Cold Season

• Here is another article I've shared 3 years ago: a little bit about honey, herbs, Riga Black Balsam and the magic of country where I live
• And another my article on "Be Natural, Stay Healthy" : 7 Ways to Treat Sore Throat With Natural Remedies

I hope you found something useful here! What are your favorite natural remedies for cold and cough?