Natural Remedies to Tackle a Cold

Tackling the common cold naturally is easy. Here's how I recover when I'm feeling under the weather.

Like the beginning of my relationship with my husband, it all started with a tickle. It quickly progressed to a fever. (Fever! In the morning, fever all throuu--gh the night!). I had it and I had it bad.

Only this time I'm talking about a cold. 

I knew after a few weeks of irregular bedtimes, post-Valentines chocolate haze and some business decisions my body was telling me that it was time to take better care of myself. All in all I was only out for three days, but during that time I slept like it was my job. I'm feeling much better because, you know what? I've got some tricks up my sleeve.

Want to know what this ND does when a cold strikes?

Yes, you do. 

Licorice root tea

• Glycyrrhiza glabra is an anti-viral that tastes sweet and is my secret weapon against throat tickles, coughs and adrenal fatigue. I take several cups throughout the day to soothe a sore throat and gently stimulate my immune system to do its thing. Try Distinctly Tea's licorice root.

Ginger decoctions

• According to both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine, Zingiber officinale is both warming and drying. At the beginning of a cold, I slice up fresh ginger root, add it to a pot of water and simmer on the stove for 15 minutes. A few cups of this spicy gold will have you feeling nice and warm, less congested and slightly more human.

Warming socks

• It sounds strange. It really is. But it is also magic. Take two pairs of socks - one thin cotton pair and a thick wooly pair. Just before you go to bed, run the thin pair under cold water and wring them out so they are not dripping. Making sure your feet are warm, slip the cold pair on your feet as you are in bed. Next, put the thick pair over top. Your feet will start to warm the wet pair shortly, and in doing so, should also help to ease and congestion, support a healthy fever and give you a good night's sleep. You will wake up with warm dry feet. 

Yoga

• I had a healthy fever response of 102.9F. Which meant I was achy and cranky. Unused to sitting still for so long, I felt the urge to move around. Some basic yoga stretches like downward dog, triangle pose, warrior poses and sun salutations kept me from being too much of a handful. I also feel better when I move around - this also allows increased lymphatic flow, better circulation and a lot less blah feelings to accumulate. My favorite yoga site is www.doyogawithme.com

Sleep

• Trying to push through a cold by downing lots of Daytime Tylenol Cold & Flu not only suppresses the fever that supports your immune system, it is also essentially handing your body a big cup of shut up. When we consistently ignore what our body is trying to tell us, our body will eventually respond by screaming back at us. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. This is why I see a lot of IBS, migraines, anxiety and insomnia in my practice. I took this time to nurture myself, nap, listen to podcasts (these were my favorite) and generally re-coup myself.

If your family is interested in cold & flu prevention, naturally, book a FREE 15 minute appointment with me to learn how I can help you.

Be well.