Home Remedies to Help With the Common Cold

It’s that time of the year again… no, not the holidays. Flu and cold season. People from New York to Los Angeles are getting sick with cold and flu symptoms, and looking for remedies to help with them.

Here are some of the affordable home remedies that have been known to help with the common cold, making the symptoms less severe and the duration shorter, so you can get back on your feet as soon as possible.

Zinc Lozenges

Any Zinc lozenges are great to help get rid of your cold. Zicam sells some that dissolve under the tongue, getting that Zinc into your bloodstream as quickly as possible. They also sell a spray that does the same thing. However, Zicam does cost about $12.99 per box. You can just get regular Zinc lozenges from your local grocery store or pharmacy and use those. Take them under the tongue and let them dissolve without chewing for best effect. Repeat every 2-4 hours until the cold subsides.

Zinc is not a preventative solution, but rather a curing solution, so do not take Zinc unless you actually do have a cold. Taken too often (when not sick), Zinc can make your body fail to absorb other minerals correctly. Taken properly when needed, it helps shorten and weaken colds, and can actually be pretty effective.

For best effectiveness, find Zinc lozenges that have as few extra ingredients as possible. Many (including Zicam) have way too much other stuff in there that actually reduces the effectiveness of the Zinc (and therefore makes you have to take more of them so the company makes more money).

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a preventative measure you can take to actually try and prevent catching the cold in the first place. If people in your home or workplace are sick, you should probably start taking this right away, along with other vitamins and supplements.

Just get a bottle of Vitamin D pills and take the recommended dosage.

Vitamin C

Ah, Vitamin C! Vitamin C is perhaps the single most popular and effective remedy for the common cold. The great thing about vitamin C is that it’s effectively impossible to overdose, because your body just dumps the excess (which can cause diarrhea if you’re not careful). You can usually take up to 3000 mg per day without any problems, and sometimes as much as 4000 or more.

The easiest way to take Vitamin C is to just take one or more 500 mg pills. They also make chewable tablets, though the pills are easier and faster to take.

For faster and potentially more effective consumption, you can also use Emergen-C packets, which dissolve in water. These packets contain a lot more than just Vitamin C, and often contain the Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Zinc, and other vitamins and minerals that are helpful during a cold.

Thanks to the fact that you can’t overdose on C, you can also take lots of it as a preventative measure if people around you are sick, to prevent coming down with the illness yourself.

Garlic

Garlic is one of the most potent illness fighting remedies in nature, and it’s really simple to take. Basically you want to take as much garlic as you can stand, and its better if raw.

I personally take raw garlic, shred it in a garlic press, and then mix it with honey to mask the flavor (honey is good for you too). Then chase it with orange juice (which contains Vitamin C) to wrap things up.

Its best to take Garlic before bed or on days where you don’t have to go anywhere, because it can and often does cause bad breath, body odor, and other smelly things.

The reason for this is simple: the garlic is cleansing your system of impurities, and your body needs to get rid of these toxins somehow, so it forces them out any way it can.

Don’t take more than one or two cloves at a time, because the acidity of the Garlic can burn your stomach if you take too much at one time. This is another reason to mask it with another thing like honey.

People who are allergic to things in the lily family, such as chives, onions, or leeks should not take garlic because it is in that family. Pregnant women may also want to avoid garlic as a supplement because it can increase the risk of bleeding in certain cases. People who are taking drugs to reduce their blood sugar should also avoid using Garlic as a remedy because it also has the same effect of lowering blood sugar, so if you combine the two, your blood sugar might drop too low.

Overall, Garlic is a very potent, powerful remedy that has been distinctly proven to reduce the severity and length of colds, and to be effective in preventing them altogether by making you only half as likely to catch the cold in the first place.

Echinacea

Echinacea is an herb that has been shown to increase the potency and activity of your immune system when taken, so it can help fend off any illness if taken as a supplement.

There are many ways to take Echinacea. The easiest way is probably the Echinacea pills, which can simply be taken like any other. Echinacea tea is another great way to take the herb, and will soothe a sore throat or cough in the process.

You can also take Echinacea drops and put them in a drink such as fruit juice or a smoothie. Be aware that the drops are very strong in flavor and will need a very strongly flavored drink to mask their flavor.

Echinacea, like Zinc, is a cure-type supplement. It should not be taken for more than 6 weeks straight, because the body becomes used to it, and eventually it loses its effectiveness. You can take Echinacea every 4 hours or so during an illness, or to prevent one from happening, if you are surrounded by sick people.

There are many, many other remedies available for the common cold, far to many to list here. Perhaps enough for another post? We’ll see.

For now, stay healthy, get better, and beat that cold!