Home Remedies For Cough and Cold Symptoms

What are Home Remedies?

Before the era of modernization and the advent of medicine, our forefathers and mothers especially, used the various plants around them to cure every ailment they had.  Using this method from generations past is what has come to be known as home remedy.

Merriam-Webster defines it as: “a medicine made with ingredients available at home”

Wikipedia defines it as: “a home remedy (sometimes also referred to as a granny cure) is a treatment to cure a disease or ailment that employs certain spices, vegetables, or other common items.”

Do Home Remedies work?

Our grandparents weren’t right about everything, but they had some good tricks up their sleeves for the common cold, upset stomachs and toothaches to mention a few.  Also, Mother Nature has provided us with hundreds of colourful fruits, vegetables and herbs to keep us in balance and help us when our systems are down and out.

Do you know that Coca-cola was originally used as home remedy medicine?  “The drink Coca-Cola was originated in 1886 by an Atlanta pharmacist, John S. Pemberton (1831–88), at his Pemberton Chemical Company. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, chose the name for the drink and penned it in the flowing script that became the Coca-Cola trademark. Pemberton originally touted his drink as a tonic for most common ailments, basing it on cocaine from the coca leaf and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut; the cocaine was removed from Coca-Cola’s formula in about 1903.” (Extract from Encyclopedia Britannica)

Please note that if you are taking prescribed or over the counter medications, consult your doctor before you start any home remedy because some may affect how drugs work.

Below are some grandma-approved home remedies for cold and cough symptoms:

Honey, Ginger & Lemon Tea

This is for a sore throat and to support a cough. The honey soothes while also acting as a natural antiseptic particularly if you are using raw or Manuka honey, the lemon provides vitamin C and other anti-inflammatory nutrients while the ginger soothes and also acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-infective.

Ingredients

1 Big Lemon

1 big ginger

Honey

Method

Thinly slice both the lemon and ginger (I usually remove the skin of the ginger), layer them in a big mouth jar.  Once done pour the honey over it to cover them.   Seal the jar with its cover and place in the fridge.  After 24 hours it is ready to use.

How to use

Take a scoop of lemon, ginger and honey and place into a mug, pour hot water over it and allow to steep for 3 minutes then drink.

A Juice that Fights a Cold

By Claire Georgiou, Reboot Naturopath, B.Sc. HND

Want to keep cold out?  Then drink this juice! It has so much vitamin C at approximately 400 mg per glass!  Lemon, ginger, and the anti-infective powers of turmeric all thrown in together for a wonder drink. To really take it up a notch, you could be brave and add in a garlic clove to really help fight that cold! You can also use this juice to help fight seasonal allergies that may be cropping up at this time of year! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 oranges
• 1 large carrot
• 1 orange bell pepper (capsicum)
• 1 lemon
• 1 in (2.5 cm) piece of turmeric
• 1 in (2.5 cm) piece of ginger

Directions

1. Wash all produce.

1. Peel the oranges and lemon and remove the stem and seeds from the pepper.
2. Add all ingredients through the juicer and enjoy!

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