How are we still in cold and flu season! Usually between the back to school season and changes in weather patterns, everyone starts to get sick before Christmas, but this year its certainly lingering! February half term and half the family are down with illness. There are many ways you can help ward off that icky cold and flu season, but sometimes we simply end up sick. Today I’m sharing a few natural home remedies for cold & flu relief, just in case you got hit with the sickies this year.
Salt Water
That stuffy nose you may have from being sick can easily be relieved with some salt water. I am not even joking, this old-school method is super simple and most everyone has the ingredients on hand to do this natural remedy for stuffy nose relief. Mix ¼ teaspoon baking soda with the same amount of salt in 8 ounces of warm water. Use a bulb syringe to squirt this mixture up your nostrils. Hold one nostril closed while you squirt the other one, then release and do the same for the nostril you had closed. You could pick up a nasal irrigation kit to make this process easier.
Get Some Garlic
I know many people who increase their garlic intake during this time of year when cold and flu is at an all-time high. Garlic can actually help minimise your risk of getting sick in the first place, but if you’re already looking for cold & flu relief, then get yourself some garlic supplements or grab those gloves at the store in the produce section. Use garlic in your favourite recipes to help utilise garlic’s antimicrobial properties to ward off those sickies that have taken over your body.
Homemade Chicken Soup
While chicken soup won’t heal you, there’s something to be said about this old-school natural remedy for cold and flu relief. The warm chicken soup allows your white blood cells to slow down and in turn spend more time in the sick areas of your body to fight off infection and bacteria. The key to using chicken noodle soup as a natural remedy for cold and flu relief is to make it from scratch with fresh vegetables and low sodium. There are many recipes online for delicious homemade chicken soup and you can even make it in the slow cooker if you’re too sick to stand at the stove.
Essential Oils
There are many essential oils on the market these days, I’m sure you’ve heard of what’s out there. Whether you’ve tried them or not, essential oils do bring us much relief during cold & flu season. Some of the options for a natural remedy could be using eucalyptus essential oils to treat the common cold as it has antiviral and antimicrobial properties. Peppermint oil is a natural fever reducer and decongestant, so that will give you some relief if you put it in your diffuser and lay down to relax. You can also put essential oils in a warm bath while you soak in essential oils and Epsom salt.
There are many natural home remedies for cold & flu relief, these are my top recommended as they’re the easiest ones to try and tend to work well long term. If you have become ill this year, then try to increase your garlic throughout the duration of your sickness as well as throughout your year to help your body build up a tolerance to not get sick again.