home remedies to treat cough and cold

With the sudden change in weather in a few days, my nose has not stopped running. An average adult catches cold twice a year and I stand an exception in this area. What irritates me is that some people do not cover their mouth while sneezing when all of us know that it is contagious. Given below are some of the common symptoms of flu and cold

1. Body ache
2. Watery eyes
3. Fever ( it can be mild or low). In case you catch a flu, the fever can be high.
4. Runny nose and/ or sore throat
5. Join pain or/ and body pain
6. Headache

I am not good in taking medicines. I forget taking them on time and they never work so well for me (well at least I think so). As a kid my grandmother used to prepare herbal tea for me which I liked much better than taking those dreadful tablets. Years later, I still prefer the herbal tea over the tablets. Home remedies work best for me and I am sharing some with you all.

• Headache??? drink ginger tea. It has antiviral properties and it will also reduce the effect of cold. My husband and I have ginger tea every morning.
• Try the all time favorite chicken soup! Avoid fried food.
• Have some herbal tea. In case you have sore throat then mix honey with the herbal tea.
• It has been found out that those who consume garlic in their daily food catch cold less often because garlic is known to be one of the best immune boosters. In case you do not like garlic much, use onion. Though garlic is better in terms of immune boosters as compared to onions.
• Add a little chili in your food/ soup. This will open the nasal passage. Chili like garlic has antioxidant properties.
• Mix honey and lime juice in equal proportion and consume it twice a day. I use to apply this mixture on my face also! This mixture softens skin and reduces pigmentation.
• Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water and say no to alcohol. Do not stress your body much.
• Gargle. It is better to use saline water to gargle. Mix 1/4 tsp of salt to 4 ounces of water. A different variation in this is to add tea tree oil and lemon juice. This will give relief for those who have soar throat.
• Steam inhalation is one of the best and effective home remedies. You can add a few drops of eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil.
• Take a sponge bath with warm water and do keep blowing your nose as often as possible.
• Boil 2 cups of water, add 3 chili pepper , 1 piececinnamon, 1 black cardamon and 3 basil leaves. Boil till the quantity of water is half in measure. Drink hot. ( be careful and do not burn your tongue! )
• Mix 1 glass of milk with a little less than 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Tastes really bad nut is very effective for relief from cold.

These remedies have worked wonders for me and I hope it does for you too!