5 Ways to Soothe a Cold Naturally
Being sick is the worst isn’t it? We’re right in the midst of a terrible cold and flu season and it seems like everyone is coughing and muddling through it. One Hip2Save reader recently asked if I had any cold remedies that truly work so today I’m sharing five easy ways to soothe those awful cold symptoms naturally.
My mother-in-law swears by apple cider vinegar as a natural antibacterial agent and recently shared with me the idea of making a warm drink using it along with honey as a natural way to soothe a sore throat. I’ve tried it several times because I often get a sore throat due to allergies, and it really is very soothing! Plus, the honey makes it easier to drink the vinegar. For best results, use a high quality organic raw honey and an organic apple cider vinegar like Braggs. Organic raw honey retains more vitamins and antioxidants. I found both these items at my local natural food store.
Apple Cider and Honey Drink (for sore throats):
Mix a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with warm water, honey, and lemon. Sip on this like you would hot tea – it really does calm a sore throat!
Homemade Cough Syrup:
Try soothing a cough by simply taking 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of natural raw honey. We use this with my kids instead of cough syrup and it does work. (As always, consult your doctor and never give a baby under the age of one honey.)
Coconut Oil Winter Throat Soother:
(Recipe from Complete Organics)
Did you know Coconut oil is a natural anti-inflammatory? Combine 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon coconut oil, and the juice of 1 lemon. Microwave for just 20 seconds to melt – it tastes very yummy and is very soothing. I really liked the taste of this one especially if you can’t handle vinegar in the recipe above. 🙂
Ginger Root & Honey Drink:
(Photo and idea from Every Day Roots)
Try boiling a piece of ginger root and then drink with honey. I haven’t tested this yet, but I personally love the taste of ginger and know that it helps with nausea and digestive issues.
Garlic Honey:
(Idea is from Healthy Green Kitchen)
Garlic has been known as a powerful immune booster and so many people swear by it! I love the idea of honey infused garlic to make it easier to eat raw.
So now it’s your turn! How do you relieve cold symptoms naturally?
apple cider vinegar also helps with acid reflux, my mother knows many homeopathic remedies that have been proven to work. Also coconut oil on ezcema!
Can you please share detail remedies for acid reflux and make kids hungry or to have them eat more?
I like Judy’s post dated 5January 2014 for my granddaughter. Thank you
I have been looking for home remedies for eczema for years. Thanks for the tip.
I made lotion bars out of coconut oil, honey and olive oil (I found the recipe on pinterest) for my kid’s winter eczema. Works like a charm! And it’s great for chapped lips, cracked hands, etc. Very soothing.
I don’t see any recipes with these three ingredients. Would you share the link? All the recipes I saw use beeswax, which I don’t have.
Yup, there’s beeswax too. Sorry, I knew I was forgetting something! Here’s the link.
https://beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-do-you-make-lotion-bars-none-of.html
Thieves oil with coconut oil on the bottom of the feet and throat
What is thieves oil??
was wondering if it was a typo, but its a blend of essential oils. You can buy it or make it yourself – http://www.ehow.com/how_4947972_treat-flu-homemade-thieves-oil.html
I do love thieves oil too!
Is it anything like Vicks w/menthol? I have been putting Vicks (walmart brand) on my kids feet w/socks over it for night time coughing an it seems to really help. I even did it for myself and noticed I could sleep and not be coughing all night.
And one of the added benefits is you wake up with soft heels 🙂
I recently had pneumonia and I used the Vicks on my feet at night to stop coughing and it works. It actually works better then my prescription cough meds.
I will echo that garlic works! It has saved me from being full blown sick on more occasions that I can remember. I know it sounds nasty, but I just take a raw clove, peel it, run it through my garlic press and move it to a spoon. To make swallowing it down easier, I then add honey to the spoon and swallow in one go. It’s best to swallow without chewing if you can manage that. My stomach churns for like 20 minutes afterwards, but it beats being out of commission for two weeks-plus! The key is to do the garlic thing when you first get an inkling of feeling off… if you wait too long then the virus has already kick started and garlic won’t do too much to curb it. This method, because it’s natural, saved my behind while I was pregnant with my daughter, because I was such a paranoid first time mom I refused to take even tylenol while preggo. Another garlic trick I tried was to bring a minced clove to a boil with whole milk, strain then drink… very soothing when you get a monster cough. HTH!
Just wanted to echo Lina on how important it is to get the raw, unfiltered vinegar (and not the cheap Heinz brand ;). I’ve used ACV to cure yeast infections (put one TBSP of ACV in water and drink on empty stomach, 2x a day before each meal).
For colds:
1. Hot water, fresh lemon or lime juice, LOCAL honey and a punch of salt.
2. Reflexology lots of water afterwards to flush the toxins out of your body.
Taking mass amts of vitamin c right now and lots of tea. Already feeling better.
coconut oil rids ear infections too! Used it many times before. Garlic oil too, but coconut oil is way less stinky
I’m obsessed with coconut oil! Great tip! Thanks
Coconut oil also cures pink eye!
Silver also cures pink eye! Can be found and health food stores! Also so doe’s breast milk
Lina, I grew up in India (southern region) and we only cooked in coconut oil, oiled our hair atleast 4 times a week in coconut oil, and most of our cooking included coconut in oil, shredded or milk form. In fact most houses will have few coconut trees in their yard. Indian cuisine always has ginger, garlic, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and turmeric in almost all our recipes. Turmeric is also another spice that has a lot of good properties helps with a variety of health issues. For cough and cold use mix of 1/4 tsp with warm glass of milk and drink it.
That’s so interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Turmeric is also a good fat burner. Helps with belly bloat. I sprinkle it on my dinner about 3-4x a week. Great in soups and sauces. I call it my magic powder. Be careful though it can stain your white counter yellow-orange though. LOL.
This essential oil blend on the bottoms of the feet will treat most anything viral-https://heritageessentialoils.com/plague-defense.php
This blend will treat most of the bacterial bugs going around-once again on the bottoms of the feet-https://heritageessentialoils.com/warrior.php
I am finding that the flu like illness going around takes both to knock it out. Knock out the viral part first and then the bacterial part.
ACV always cuts my cold down to about 3 days instead of two weeks. I take a tablespoon or two at least eight times a day on the onset of a cold and it totally works.
I’ve put VapoRub on my kid’s feet and cover with socks when they go to bed. They love it and it stops them from coughing at night. I thought it was weird but it’s been a life saver! Also helps with congestion.
Yes! That’s a good one too 🙂
Valerie, I recently tried this and it really works!
I prefer the most natural remedy of all…your body’s own antibodies. I have never understood how is an oil extracted in a factory “natural”?
I will also clarify – I am not anti-drugs or anything. I just don’t see why “natural” remedies are so preferred. The underlying assumption seems to be increased safety and decreased side effects – which is utterly false.
You could easily extract coconut oil at home from a whole coconut…I consider that to be a whole food. I buy the extracted oil for convenience. Oils like canola, soy, etc…that’s another story 🙂
If you’re extracting only the oil from the food (at home, in a factory, on an island, in bed), I don’t see how that is a “whole food”? It seems no more a whole food than juice is a whole apple. Once you start tinkering with what nature made, it is no longer natural, no? Regardless, I was referring more to homeopathy and essential oils 😉
“As always, consult your doctor and never give a baby under the age of one honey.”
Haha this made me laugh. 🙂
Why do you find that statement funny? Just curious.
I’ve heard that the darker the honey, the better it is for you. Too much honey can have a bit of a laxative effect on people.
I swear by probiotics. Sure, it’s a pill, so it’s not “natural,” but it is very helpful to your immune system. My kids also take them, and we hardly ever get sick anymore.
I purchased coconut oil to use for my daughters ezcema and she had a severe allergic reaction to it. She has alot of allergies though. Just wanted to share that before you cover your whole child’s body in it just in case. Maybe do a test patch first.
Jennifer, My almost 2 year is highly allergic to coconut, garlic, egg and all tree nuts and peanuts. We found out when she was about 3 months old and was being breast feed and she would constantly have rashes from me eating these ingredients . We never even imagined she would be allergic to these let alone coconut and garlic. We are from India and I have been using these things all my life plus my older 2 absolutely have no issues. But now I am very careful about reading labels and we still use these in our daily use but just keep my 2 yr old away and avoid cross contamination. Hopefully she will grow out of it and will be able to enjoy multi cuisine and these days almost everything has garlic in it. Bath and body works hand sanitizer has coconut in them and so on. For your child try VaniCream. Our allergist had suggested it and has worked well for our child .
Elderberry syrup! Great for prevention and shortening the duration of cold and flu! https://wellnessmama.com/1888/how-to-make-elderberry-syrup-for-flu-prevention/
I always always always take a Zinc vitamin at the first sign of a cold coming on. 25 mg or 50 mg. Then I’ll take one when I wake up the next morning. It never fails! & I’ve been working with children for 13 yrs now. Note that you are only supposed to take one every 24 hrs but at the beginning I take the two like that a few hours apart so it knocks the cold out of my system. By that day I always feel better. If not I’ll continue to take one zinc a day. It will help the cold get out of your body faster.
I drink ginger root tea with agave nectar in it for anti-inflammatory properties and I can tell you that it works better than over the counter Tylenol or Aspirin and works in about the same amount of time. It’s good stuff and doesn’t harm your liver. Plus a warm drink+couch+blankie is nice when you feel under the weather.
You might want to be careful with the fresh garlic infused in honey. If this acts anything like fresh garlic in olive oil then it can cause Botulism. You can’t leave garlic and olive oil out at room temperature because of this, so you might want to do some checking to see if the honey and garlic could act the same way. I am a health inspector Since it is questionable, just store it in the fridge to be safe.
here is a link with some info from a person who researched this:
https://nouveauraw.com/raw-foodism-blog-posts/garlic-honey-throat-cold-and-flu-remedy/
Thanks! Good tip.
Debbie are you saying you shouldn’t mix garlic and honey together to consume? I’ve never heard this before.
I believe she is saying refrigerate if you have a jar of garlic and honey. Thanks!
Thanks Lina. I thought maybe that was what it was but wanted to be sure. I love the garlic and honey together! 🙂
Do you have a printer friendly version? I would like to keep a copy of this so when I have a cold next time I can try it. Thanks.
Hi Anna!
You can click on the printer icon to the right of the post title to print (and easily delete information that you do not want to print). Or if you prefer, you can save this post to your Hip List to access at a later time. Hope this helps! 😀
I love your teal pottery mug! Can we buy it anywhere?! Also, thank you Lina for all the nummy recipes! My husband thinks your awesome for your stir fry recipe!!
Take about 1-2″ ginger root and peel with spoon. Slice into thick slices. Take 1-2 lemons wash well and slice. Boil lemon and ginger root for 12 minutes. Strain and pour into cup. Add honey and sip. Best thing EVER! If you REALLY need to kick a cold fast add 1-2 chopped garlic cloves to the water before you boil. Peeling the ginger and slicing it first before boiling helps bring out the qualities of the ginger much better. 🙂
None of this worked for me…just have the body go through it. Oh well.
Thanks so much for these! But just so people know, microwaving the honey will ruin the benefits of the raw honey. It will also cause the coconut oil to not work AS well (if it’s unrefined coconut oil. If it’s refined, it shouldn’t matter but unrefined (unheated) means more health benefits.) Just FYI…. 🙂
If we aren’t all on a SAD diet and incorporate more ginger in our food then we wouldn’t have to mix in organic this and that lol.
These all sound great except for microwaving. You could boil a small amount if water to dissolve ingredients in
Thank you for this. I am always doing something natural. The latest thing is called Master Tonic. I hope to see more of these topics.
I’ve been making honey-lemon-ginger tea for a few months! I grate up a chunk of ginger, cut up a lemon, mix in organic raw honey, and store in the refrigerator. I microwave a big mug of water for 99 seconds and then mix in 2 teaspoons to 2 tablespoons for a delicious and soothing tea.
I’ve been giving about 1 teaspoon of honey undiluted to my 5 and 2 1/2 year olds for sore throats or coughing, and they love it. They’ve tried the “tea.”
HINT: Grating FROZEN ginger is super easy, and creates a fine snow-like powder for easy mixing. I did that with my first batch. I didn’t with my current batch, and it’s more chunky or stringy in texture. I also peel it with a spoon as mentioned above.
Well this sounds awesome!! 👍
On Guard is a great protective blend that naturally boosts your immune system and eliminates antsy crud.
Breathe works wonders on coughs, congestion, sinuses, etc.
https://www.iact1.com/doterra/ShoppingCart/Shop.cfm?CurrPage=FrontPage&NextPage=CategoryDetail&CategoryID=73&pid=12252029398982233
I just started as a distributor for Young Living Oils, do not even have my website up yet. Thieves is a great anti-bacterial oil, plus Breathe Again, and Purification are great to use when you are sick. PM me if interested.
You’re a really useful web site; could not make it without ya!