Combating Cold, Flu, Sore throat and Body Ache the Natural Way this Winter

Winters are officially here and people are falling sick due to the sudden dip in the temperature and cold air. Many people are down with body aches, fever, cold, cough, sore throat etc. So I am going to share some really effective natural remedies and products to enable you all, and to prepare you to combat these winters. Lets see how you can protect your kids and family this winter and of course yourself too.

These are 100% authentic and original remedies based on my own years of experience with them.

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FIGHTING COLD AND FLU:

The first measure is off course prevention. Keep your head and throat covered. Wear polo neck sweatshirts or wrap around a scarf or stole covering your ears and throat. Now once you have caught cold, it takes at least 5 days to recover.

The symptoms for cold and flu are the same but there is one major difference. When you have cold, fever is very very rare and that too mostly in children. But if you are experiencing high fever and body aches along with the cold symptoms (headache, runny nose, nasal congestion, sinus pressure, chest congestion, sore throat and cough), it means you have flu.

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1. If you feel pain in your throat, keep a clove in your mouth, without chewing it. The warm effect of clove will reach your throat through your saliva and pain will subside. Especially effective when you do at bed time. Once you have swallowed all the taste out of the clove, chew it. Do NOT drink water over it.
2. For really sore throat, put a pinch of black pepper in a spoonful of warm ghee and mix with your finger. Lick/swallow it and follow immediately with warm milk. This will take out all the mucus congesting your chest and will also help you recover without any side effects. Avoid medicines for cold and flu as the medicines let the mucus remain inside the body, which is harmful. Very helpful remedy for children.
3. If you are an adult and can bear a mild sting on the tongue, chew 3-4 grains of black pepper along with Mishri / Rock Sugar. It treats the sorest of throats and helps return your voice to normal at the earliest. Very helpful for people who are into singing, teaching or any other voice related profession. Just DON'T drink water for at least half an hour after chewing this.
4. For tonsils and painful sore throat, alum (phitkari) also helps. Grind some alum into powder. Press your wet thumb on the alum powder. Once it sticks to your thumb, take the thumb inside of your mouth and gently rub the alum on the tonsils and the palette/ roof of your mouth. It will cause a dry feeling in the mouth and you will simultaneously feel a lot of saliva in your mouth. Once you spit it, you will feel immediate relief from throat pain. Can be done with kids. One of the best homeopathic medicines for tonsils is Tonsilaid, which is equally effective for kids and adults.
5. For infants and really small kids, it is really heart tearing to see them down with cough and cold and medicines are very strong. Nutmeg (Jaiphal) is one of the best remedy in this case. Take a nutmeg and wet it. Rub it on the marble shelf or any hard surface to extract a few drops. Wet again and rub again till you get 4-5 drops of brown liquid. Simply add this small amount of extract to their milk and see the magic. Can be given on alternate days in winters till the baby/kid recovers. Can be used daily for a few days if you stay in a very cold country. Avoid in Summers as nutmeg is very warm.
6. For adults who take tea, add a clove while boiling your tea. Once tea is prepared, take out the clove from the tea leaves and put in your tea cup to chew it later. Also add 2 pinches of common salt. Keep your throat covered when you enjoy this tea. For really severe cases, you can also throw in a grain of pepper while boiling tea.
7. You can also turn your normal tea to herbal tea by adding some tulsi (holy basil) leaves, ajwain (Carom Seeds) and ashwagandha (indian ginseng) leaves while boiling the tea.
8. During cold, take a lot of fluids like soups, herbal tea, green tea etc. Avoid curd, plain milk, rice, carrots, radish, cold liquids, fruits, fried stuff, sauce, maggi and other maida (fine all purpose flour) based food items etc. These are really harmful during cold and even more at night. Citrus fruits can be taken during the day in sunlight, to get a boost of Vitamin C. Include a lot of mushrooms and black pepper in your diet. If you really cannot stay without junk food like Maggi, add a lot of pepper to it and cook it watery/soupy.
9. Add a few drops of lavender oil to hot water and inhale the steam. Not only does it help loosen up the cough and clear congestion, it also relieves the headache, fatigue and watery eyes caused by cold.
10. If gargles help you, make sure to wrap something around your neck and head to get full benefit from gargling. Gargling and then roaming around with uncovered throat and head right after is an open invitation to further worsen your condition.
11. If you have running nose, it is hygienic to use paper tissue or paper towels instead of handkerchief. You want to use and throw off the paper to avoid infection from spreading to other family members. Using a cloth handkerchief keeps the mucus around you and contaminates everything that comes in contact with that hankey.
12. Some people find honey and ginger juice to be very effective. But honey does not suit everyone. If you can't swallow it directly, you can grate some ginger to extract its juice, mix with honey and spread on a warm bread toast to enjoy and relieve your throat. Avoid if you are allergic to honey.
13. Aromatherapy: The immune boost and headache relief roll ons (read review here) that I had bought from Soulflower proved really helpful when I recently caught cold. Use any of these two liberally on your throat, behind your ears down to your shoulders, back of neck and shoulder blades to combat cold and the body ache caused by it. If you don't have the roll-ons but have lavender or tea tree essential oil at home, simply mix a few drops in any warmed carrier oil(jojoba/ sweet almond/ olive/ mustard etc) and apply the same way on the neck, wrists, inner side of elbows and other places. Since tea tree oil is antiviral, it has this added advantage over lavender oil when it comes to fighting the flu virus.
14. Some people like me don't get stuffed nose (zukaam) but rather a running nose (nazla) during cold. If you have a runny nose with water continuously running down nose and eyes, warm some ajwain (carom seeds) on a tava (sac/ saj) or a flat bottomed pan and stir with a spoon. Once heated, it will start releasing fumes. Immediately transfer these hot carom seeds to a clean handkerchief or a piece of cloth and tie into a knot. Sniff the fumes through it or keep it on your pillow next to you while lying down. Once cold, you can reheat the seeds and again inhale the fumes.
15. Keeping either your head or your feet covered really helps keep the body warm. The skin on these 2 areas is really thin, so if you cover either of these, it will help keep the body temperature warm.
16. Avoid working on the comp or your smartphone. Avoid any activity that puts strain on your already teary eyes and take good rest. To relieve your tensed nerves and exhaustion from too much coughing and blowing nose, add a few drops of lavender and or rosemary essential oils to your hair oil and massage into the scalp for a heavenly relief.

FIGHTING COUGH AND EXTREME SORE THROAT

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Cough can really last long and gets very uncomfortable after a few days. Even after the mucus has dried out or has been completely removed from the body, the dry cough stays which even cough syrups cannot cure. The worst thing is when it spreads in the family. So here is a sure shot effective medicine against cough, that you can make at home. 2 decades ago a wise old lady (God bless her soul!) in the neighborhood had shared this recipe with my mom when my whole family was down with some chronic cough. In the past years, I have shared this with many people and it always works like magic. Especially good for kids since it tastes yummy.

This medicine is also helpful in severe cases of sore throat when someone has almost lost their voice.

Ingredients and approximate quantity:

• 5-6 Badaam/Almonds (soaked, then peeled)
• 5-6 Munakka/Seeded Raisins (remove the seeds)
• 3-4 green cardamom seeds
• (optional) 3-4 pepper grains (or black pepper powder) 
• Misri / Mishri/ Candy Sugar/ Rock Candy/ Crystallized sugar lumps according to taste. More for more sweetness, less for less.

In a mixer grinder, first grind and powder the dry ingredients: Mishri, Cardamom seeds and pepper grains. You can skip the pepper grains if you are making this for children.

Next, add the peeled soaked almonds and grind again.

Finally add the Munakka pulp (Seeded raisins with seeds removed). This one is sticky and on mixing blending, it will take in all the previous ingredients and a sticky mass will form. Make small pea sized balls with this paste.

Put one ball in your mouth whenever cough starts or you feel irritation and tickling in the throat. It tastes like cardamom toffee. Just suck it like toffee. Do NOT consume water for at least 30-40 min after this medicine and avoid food too. Best taken at night after dinner. 

I will put pictures of this medicine when I make it these winters.

FIGHTING BODY ACHE

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Body ache mostly accompanies cold (it is called flu then). The easiest way to combat it is by adding a few drops of lavender or rosemary essential oils in warm bathing water. Else mix these essential oils in a carrier oil of your choice. You can use Olive, mustard, sweet almond, avocado, castor or any carrier oil. Warm up the carrier oil on low flame and then add a few drops of essential oil after removing from flame. Massage it into the body to relieve aching muscles.

There are also readymade massage oils available in the market. I have one from Soulflower and they have a variety of such massage oils which are a blend of many essential oils and carrier oils. There are many other massage oil brands I checked out but the best blend of oils is currently being provided by Soulflower only. These massage oils are extremely effective and not very costly. Muscle cramps, pain and bodyache is relieved within 5 minutes of applying the massage oil.

These are the tips that I have actually followed for years. Do let me know if you found these tips helpful and feel free to value add your own tips.