The most common natural remedies are used for simple ailments, such as coughs, colds and headaches. If you have anything more serious or are in any doubt as to what your symptoms are, you should always consult a medical professional.
When you are ill, it’s important to keep your vitamin C levels in your body as high as possible. Vitamin C helps repair cells and helps you recover from colds and flu more quickly. Eat plenty of foods rich in vitamin C such as oranges and lemons, and wrap up warm.
Simple Remedies for Common Ailments
Cough: A simple cough syrup can be made using a jar of honey and fresh, young dandelion flowers. Dandelion flowers are available for most of the year, but in autumn, it’s a good idea to make a big batch of cough syrup to see you through the winter. To make the cough syrup, place around 100 dandelion heads in a saucepan, add the jar of honey and cover the mixture with cold water. Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce it to a simmer, stirring continually. When the mixture begins to set, sieve it through a colander and decant it into clean, sterile jars. Keep the mixture in the fridge until you come to use it.
Colds and flu: Lemon, ginger and garlic are essential ingredients in the battle against colds and flu. Lemon has a high vitamin C content, while garlic has antibacterial properties and ginger quells nausea. Mixed together, these natural superfoods make a potent flu fighter. To make a flu-busting drink, crush two cloves of garlic and mix with a 2cm piece grated ginger and the juice of three lemons in a mug of boiled water. Add two tbsp honey and stir well. Drink the mixture down in one go.
A long soak in the bath will help relax you and clear your sinuses. You can also steam out your cold by filling a bowl with boiled water and adding a few drops of peppermint or olbas oil. Lower your face over the bowl, covering your head and the bowl with a towel, so the steam doesn’t escape. This will help clear your sinuses and make you feel better.
You could also try drawing the heat out of your body with a relaxing foot bath. Simply grate a 3cm piece of ginger into a large bowl of hot water and place your feet into it. The ginger is thought to draw the heat away from your head, into your feet. This can help reduce headaches and congestion around the head during times of sickness.
Headache: If you have a headache, drink an infusion of chamomile flower heads to relax you, or valerian or St. john’s wort to relieve the tension that causes it.
Sore throat: A sore throat can be eased with a number of remedies. One is to make a tea of sage, which has mild antibacterial qualities. Infuse fresh or dried sage leaves in boiled water for 15 minutes and then drink the mixture. Alternatively, make a soothing mixture of honey and lemon. Simply heat the juice of four lemons and add two tbsp of honey.
Natural remedies are a great way to relieve the discomfort of illness and help your body’s immune system tackle the illness head on. Natural remedies help you recover naturally, without having to rely on artificial medicines; this will strengthen your immune system in the long run.
My kids love a peppermint and chamomile tea if they are feeling poorly with a teaspoon of honey normally gets them feeling better within 5 mins, we use homemade rosehip syrup year round to boost immune system they either take a spoonful in the morning or have on their porridge I also make a jam with it, rosehips have 20 times more vit c than an orange, and if they are feeling nausea then crystallised ginger does the trick its amazing how quickly it works. I use just cider vinegar in my hair and for a really mind blowing tip cut out the flouride in your toothpaste for a pain free life and decalcify your pineal gland in the process and yes it works I was using morphine patches for pain.