Good old home remedies for colds
If you suffer from a cold, you basically have three options: you can cure it without any auxiliary substances , you go to the nearest pharmacy and stock up on a lot of medicines, or you can of course use home remedies to fight the cold before. The latter is one of the best options, with cold tea being the most popular. In addition, a cold tea also helps very well, especially if you make it yourself.
When should home remedies be used for a cold?
Of course, you should only use a cold tea or home remedies for a cold if you have one but have not yet developed into a serious flu. A flu is a viral infection and a cold is a bacterial infection, whereby the flu usually announces itself with bouts of fever, severe headaches and body aches as well as a dry and, above all, aching throat, including a cough. A cold, on the other hand, is accompanied by symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, irritated sinuses and sore throat. If you have a cold with the above symptoms, you certainly have the option of seeing a doctor, but as a rule, if you treat and cure the cold yourself, it lasts 7 days , but if you consult a doctor, it lasts a week .
Home remedies for common cold
Even grandma knew how best to fight a cold with proven home remedies. This included, for example, neck wraps or calf wraps, but also inhalation baths and a cold bath were part of this, in addition to the traditional medicine chicken soup, which you have to cook yourself, because a ready-made soup hardly brings any results here. But the most popular home remedy for a cold is and remains cold tea. You can now buy ready-made mixtures in pharmacies, drugstores and supermarkets, but here too, if you want the best possible result, you should do it yourself!
What ingredients for a cold tea?
When it comes to the ingredients for a cold tea, there are many choices, and if you ask around you will get as many answers as you will ask people for a recipe. The reason: Each individual swears by their own recipe! But the following rule of thumb applies here: The man or woman is himself! And very simple ingredients! Of course you can make your cold tea from aromatic herbs, which you also use in your cold bath. For example, you can use two tablespoons of peppermint and thyme, put them in a cup and then pour boiling water over it and let it steep for about 15 minutes before straining and drinking. Another variant for a homemade cold tea is the one with apples and onions, whereby the onion has an antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effect.
For the apple and onion cold tea you need:
- 3 large onions
- 3 apples, the variety doesn't matter here.
- Four liters of water
- First peel the onions and apples, quarter them and then put them in a pot with the water. Then bring the whole thing to a boil and then let it cook for another 20 minutes. Then let the whole thing sit for about 10 minutes and then remove the onion and apple pieces and throw them away.
- This homemade cold tea tastes best when it is refined with honey.
But such a recipe for cold tea does not necessarily mean that you have to drink the tea. Because the soothing ingredients such as chamomile or sage are an excellent recipe for making cold tea and this can also be used to soothe a sore throat by gargling the tea. To do this, take: 2 teaspoons of chamomile and sage, half a liter of boiling water, with which you pour the ingredients and then let everything steep for about 15 minutes. It is important that you gargle with hot tea several times a day and that extensively. Approx. 10 – 15 minutes are advisable.
Many more helpful and simple recipes:
It helps with the first signs of a cold
It starts to tingle in the nose, the eyes are watering and swallowing is also causing problems, if elderflower tea is now used, then the upcoming cold can be nipped in the bud. You can get elderflowers in pharmacies, for example, but it is also possible to collect them yourself in June and then use them to make a syrup. To do this, simply brew 2 teaspoons of dried flowers with 250ml of boiling water and leave covered for about 5 minutes. If you like it a little sweeter, you can sweeten the tea with a little honey. If you make the cold tea with the homemade syrup, then simply pour boiling water over a small shot glass. Due to the fact that the elderflower tea has a sweat-inducing effect and also has an expectorant effect, about 2 - 3 cups should be drunk throughout the day.
No more annoying chills when you have a cold
Anyone who suffers from a cold knows the severe chills that it brings with it. Thick socks and a thick blanket don't help, you're still freezing. A hot ginger tea can help here. For a ginger tea, grate fresh ginger or cut into small pieces and then pour hot water over it. Then sweeten with a little honey and, if desired, squeeze in some fresh lemon. Since fresh ginger is very spicy, you should vary the amount used according to your own taste. A fresh ginger tea warms the body pleasantly and can be drunk several times a day.
Helps against inflamed throat and tonsils. A cold often brings with it a sore throat and then the throat and tonsils are red. Sage has proven itself as an anti-inflammatory agent and is therefore already available in supermarkets as a ready-made sage-tea mixture in bags. But if you have a sore throat and your tonsils and throat are red, you should boil your sage tea yourself. Simply get dried sage leaves from the pharmacy and pour boiling water over 2 teaspoons. Let the mixture steep for 10 minutes and then strain. Then the tea is ready to drink. Tip: Strong sage tea is great for gargling.
Stingy cough here help the expectorant herbs
Cold and persistent cough, this combination affects many people. Thyme tea helps, especially if the cough does not want to go away, but peppermint and eucalyptus also have an expectorant effect. Simply take 2 teaspoons of the respective herb or mix them together and then pour 2 teaspoons of this mixture with a large hot cup of water and let it steep for a few minutes. This cold tea can be enjoyed several times a day, although it should be avoided in the evening. The reason is that the nightly sleep may be disturbed by the frequent coughing up.
The good helper against dry cough
The constant dry cough is more than annoying! When your throat is always tickling and tingling and you feel like coughing all the time. But here, too, nature helps with a medicinal plant, in the form of dried marshmallow root. Marshmallow was already valued as a healing plant in ancient times and was also used there in the cold season. For a tea against marshmallow root you need 1 tsp marshmallow root and 150 ml cold water. Pour the water over the marshmallow root and then let it soak for 1 – 2 hours. Then bring the tea to a boil and then let it cool down again. Now the tea is ready to drink. Its effect: anti-irritant and facilitates expectoration.
If you have a fever, you should:
- Pour 250 ml of boiling water over 2 teaspoons of lime blossom and 3 teaspoons of elderflower.
- Then let steep for 10 minutes.
- Drink 3 cups per day throughout the day and no more than three weeks!
