W hen sickness beats us down, your grandmother's old home remedies for the flu are the one thing that works, as well as give you that touch of love and warmth that might just be the best medicine on its own.
Many antibiotics and medicines prescribed for the flu can actually do more harm in the long run, especially if you take them a lot. In that case, home remedies aren’t just very helpful, but also quite effective since they are all diet-based with proven effects.
Whether it be a glass of orange juice and pepper every day or a warm cup of ginger honey tea, these remedies are delicious, as well as effective.
What’s there not to love?
- Chicken Broth
Chicken broth and soup have been the way to go for as long as we can remember. However, while chicken soup tends to dilute some of the good stuff that actually helps in curing flu, the broth is solely composed of it.
Add some spices, fresh vegetables, and have it steaming hot to let all the good stuff warm your chest. The vitamins and minerals in the vegetables as well as the broth help beat nausea and soothe the throat while also strengthening the immune system in waging a war against all the bacteria infecting you.
- Ginger Tea
Ginger is an ingredient considered as a medicinal marvel. It has been sworn upon for centuries and is now scientifically proven too. Whether you’re having ginger alone or putting it in something else, it’s incredibly healthy for the body.
However, its true marvel is ginger tea. A few slices of ginger in boiling water can easily alleviate a cough or sore throat as well as cure nausea accompanying influenza. A study recently found that as little as one gram of ginger can alleviate nausea.
- Honey
Honey is another magic ingredient with immense health and healing properties, especially when it comes to the common cold and influenza. Drinking honey with lemon or even putting in a bit of honey in tea can largely ease sore throats and help coughs.
Moreover, having a bit of honey before going to bed, especially when you’re sick, can alleviate cough symptoms and help you sleep better, letting you rest more which helps with flu as well.
If raw honey isn’t your thing, you can try having honey and milk with some cinnamon, ginger honey tea, or even just adding in a squeeze of honey to some tea to have before bed.
- Vitamin C
Getting more natural vitamin C in your system while you’re sick can vastly help improve symptoms. Whether it be a squeeze of lemon in and honey in some tea, lemonade, orange juice, or even having oranges and grapefruits as snacks, the immense vitamin C content helps strengthen the immune system and also provides relief from phlegm, coughs, and soothe throat pain.
Resting right after having vitamin C can also help you feel more refreshed and help with body pains that come with the flu. While vitamin C won’t be able to clear up the disease entirely, it can strengthen your immune system to make it go away faster as well as help upper respiratory tract illnesses, coughs, sore throats, and phlegm.
- Saltwater Gargles
While this isn’t a dietary home remedy, it’s definitely one of the most soothing and effective ones when it comes to flu. Simply dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in eight ounces of water and gargle the solution four times a day.
This moistens the throat and helps flush out any irritants, making a sore throat less itchy and painful as well as providing relief from coughs. Gargle gently and for about 15-30 seconds each time for maximum effectiveness and make sure to use warm water as that helps soothe coughs, feels more relaxing to irritated muscles, and dissolves salt a lot better.
While these are all quite effective, it is very important to rest and keep warm as the main remedies. You can not continue working and stressing yourself out while you’re sick and hoping home remedies for the flu will magically alleviate all your symptoms. Moreover, make sure to consult a doctor if the flu doesn’t ease in a few days to get professional help.
-
This post is tagged in:
- remedies for flu
- flu remedies
- home flu remedies
- home remedies
