19 Tested Natural Cold Remedies I’ve Used for Years
Yuck, my family got hit with a cold this week. I figured it was the perfect time to share all of my favorite natural remedies that we use. Here are my top 19 natural cold remedies to help you ease your symptoms and boost your immune system and fight off that cold fast! These are the remedies we personally use in our home when we feel a cold or sore throat coming on or once we already have a cold. I also included my favorite “recipes” for some of the remedies.
The Top 18 Home Remedies for Colds
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is one of our household staples because it’s good for so many things! It’s one of my top natural cold remedies. Make sure you get the kind with “the mother” in it, which is the sediment that’s floating around in there. Braggs is my favorite! If you buy the ultra filtered almost clear looking ACV it won’t have the part you need to help you fight off the cold. ACV is fermented, and eating fermented foods can help your body have a better immune response.
Elderberry
Elderberry syrup is my first go-to when I’m coming down with something. I love the kind from Norm’s Farms that also has honey, cinnamon, and cloves because it tastes like a dessert! Elderberry is packed with antioxidants and has been found to help reduce how long a cold lasts and helps symptoms be less severe.
Raw Garlic
Garlic has been used as a remedy throughout history. It’s antiviral, antimicrobial, and antifungal and contains allicin which is thought to be the component that helps you fight off the common cold. It’s best to crush the garlic clove so that the enzyme alliinase is released which turns the alliin into allicin. It’s the most potent around 3-5 minutes after you crush or mince the garlic.
Raw Honey
Like garlic, raw honey is anti-viral, antimicrobial, and antibacterial and has been used as a remedy throughout time. When honey is heate and filtered it loses some of those important properties so raw honey is best. If you have a sore throat honey is also ultra-soothing. I like to add it to tea or just eat a spoonful.
Herbal Throat Spray
I had to add this one to the list because my entire family has been using it as our go-to natural cold remedy since the early 2000’s. Anytime we feel a sore throat or cold coming on we say “grab the throat spray”! This is the specific zand herbal mist throat spray we have always used but any throat spray with similar ingredients would be beneficial. It contains elderberry, tea tree oil & 7 other herbs including licorice root, echinacea root, sage leaf, hyssop, and marshmallow root.
Lymphatic Drainage Massage
If you feel a cold coming on or if you’re already congested, doing a lymphatic drainage massage on your face and neck feels amazing and helps all the fluid drain out relieving congestion and pressure within a few minutes! As you’re doing it, you may wonder if it’s working but, especially if you’re congested, all of a sudden after about 10 minutes you might be surprised that you can breathe again! In this video a physical therapist will teach you how to do the massage in about 10 minutes.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins for your body and helps with tons of functions. One of those being to support your immune system. It boosts your production of white blood cells that help your body against infection. You can take a vitamin C supplement and eat lots of vitamin C rich foods like broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, red peppers, strawberries and kiwi. Citrus fruits, like oranges and grapefruit, are well known for containing this vitamin, but it;s best to avoid them if you have a sore throat.
Zinc
Zinc is
Colloidal Silver
Silver is antibacterial and antiviral. To help soothe your sore throat gargle 1 Tbs of colloidal silver for 1 minute (make sure to tip your head forward and breathe in between so you can last for 1 minute) then swallow it. Alternatively, you can also spray 10 to 15 sprays into your throat and try not to swallow it for about a minute.
Ginger
Ginger has great healing properties due to the active compounds including gingerols. It has been used for centuries as a healing herb. It can help reduce inflammation and soothe your sore throat. I like to drink it as a tea with added honey.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is another healing spice that has been used throughout history. It can help reduce inflamation and is antibacterial and antiviral. Add some to your applesauce, add a cinnamon stick to your tea, or take cinnamon capsules.
Fire Cider
Fire cider is a powerful combination of the most potent ingredients to fight off your cold.
Hot Tea
If you have a cold you probably already know how soothing hot tea can be. I like to add raw honey to make it extra soothing.
Turmeric
Turmeric contains the compound circumin which has tons of health benefits. One of the most well known is it can reduce inflamation, which is great for a sore throat. It’s also a strong antioxidant to help you boost your immune system so you can fight your cold off faster.
Oregano Oil
Oregano oil or oil of oregano is known for being an antioxidant and having antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antiviral properties. I prefer to buy the capsules to easily incorporate this remedy into my day.
L-Lysine
L-Lysine is
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
The best place to get your vitamins is from the whole foods themselves! Make sure you are eating tons of fresh fruits and vegetables because they’re packed with nutrients your body needs when you’re trying to fight off a cold. If you have a sore throat though, you may want to avoid citrus fruits because the acidity can irritate your throat.
Steam & Humidity
Dry air makes your cold much worse. If you’re in a dry climate try to incorporate some steam or humidity to help soothe your cold symptoms. You can take a hot shower for the steam or add a humidifier to your home to get extra moisture in the air.
Rest
Although it’s at the end of the list, this is one of the most important things! Your body needs plenty of sleep and rest to be able to fight off the cold.
Make Sure to Limit These Harmful Things
Sugar
Sugar wreaks havoc on your immune system and causes more inflammation. Try to reduce and limit sugar when you’re trying to heal.
Dairy
Dairy causes your body to create more mucus so
Caffeine
Processed Foods
Processed foods are also known to cause inflammation so you’ll want to reduce or eliminate them when you’re sick. Whole foods like fresh fruits and veggies are best when you’re trying to fight off a cold.
Stress
Stress weakens your immune system so try to reduce it where you can. Your body will have a much better immune response if you can try to limit stress.
My Favorite Recipes for Natural Cold Remedies
Garlic Honey
Take a clove or two of garlic and mince it. Wait 3-5 minutes to make sure it’s the most potent, and mix in some raw honey to coat the garlic. I like to just swallow a small spoonful at a time (almost like it’s a pill). The honey coats the garlic and actually makes it taste fine! This was an old remedy my best friends grandparents always used and they swear by it!
Ginger Honey Tea
You can buy premade ginger tea in a bag, but I find that making my own from fresh ginger is way more potent! Slice or grate around 2 tsp of fresh ginger, put in a mug, and add boiling water to it. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then filter out the ginger. (If you love ginger, you can leave the ginger in the tea and eat it which is what my husband does). Add some raw honey and mix it in until it’s melted. Enjoy!
Honey Cinnamon Apple ACV Drink
Add a 1 Tbs of raw honey and a cinnamon stick to a heat proof glass (you can use regular cinnamon, but it doesn’t mix with water well and tends to just float on top). Add boiling water to fill about half the glass and stir until the honey is melted and the cinnamon starts to infuse into the water. Then add cold or room temperature water to the rest of the glass (at this point you will have warm cinnamon honey water). Now add 1-2 Tbs of apple cider vinegar (depending on how strong you want it. Make sure to add the ACV after you add the cool water, otherwise the ACV will lose some of it’s helpful properties when exposed to such a high temperature.
Don’t get carried away with feeling like you need to try every single one of these natural cold remedies. Just pick a few that you think will help you the most and try to be consistent with them to help fight off your cold faster. Your body will thank you!