4 natural remedies for colds

woman with a cold sneezingLast week I woke up with a cold. I kind of new it was coming as I’ve been very busy lately, stressed and not listening to my body’s need for rest and some TLC.

When we don’t take care of the subtle messages, our body-mind finds other ways of getting us to listen!

Here are my four tips for getting over a cold using natural, effective and safe remedies.

Diet

There is an old saying, “feed a cold and starve a fever”, so it’s time for nourishing and nurturing foods. For me this is light, easy-to-digest foods such as organic porrage with fruit, steamed or raw vegetables and whole grains.

Yesterday I had a jacket potato (satisfied my need for comfort) along with roasted beetroot and lots of steamed broccoli and carrots.

Ideally I’d eat raw to maximise on vitamins and minerals, but I just wanted warmth, so I gave my body what it craved.

Water

Lots of water is the key every day, but especially when you need to support your immune system. I usually drink 1 1/2 – 2 litres of water daily so I increase this when I’m losing fluids through sweating or blowing my nose. I prefer my water warm as chilled drinks require energy from the body to warm it up and I want all my energy to go towards healing.

Rest

The one luxury many of us fail to give ourselves. We are encouraged to pop a pill and get on as usual whereas our body is asking for rest. When resting try not to watch TV or be using the computer. Instead curl up in bed or on the sofa, use a hot water bottle if you’re feeling cold and use the time for positive visualisations or uplifting reading.

Essential oils

My number one medicine is essential oils. Having a cold can be debilitating so the use of uplifting and anti-depressive oils is the perfect way to a speedy recovery. My oils of choice were benzoin (warming and comforting), rose (full of healing, calming energies), lemon (powerful antibiotic) and bergamot (stimulates the immune system and is anti depressant).

What about you? What are your chosen natural remedies when you have a cold?

3 Comments

  1. Flavia on January 9, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    First of all thank you for being so inspiring! The world needs more people like you , and we should all do our best to help it! You seem to have done wonders!
    I do agree with your tips on helping colds, even though some people think there is no remedy I do beleve we can help ourselves as you say. I do also use olbas oil do do some inhalations, and use essential oils directly on my throat and chest. The have incredible healing power. Plus ifthe oil are of very pure quality they can be added, a couple drops at the time to ur tea!
    My best wishes for all of us to be more like you!



  2. Mrs Green on January 12, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    @Flavia: Hi Flavia, welcome to the site. Thank you for your lovely comments. I’m a great fan of essential oils; they are my number 1 medicine for everything from colds to feeling grumpy and irritable πŸ˜‰



  3. Cinnamon Vogue on January 19, 2013 at 1:42 am

    The best natural remedy is β€œ Apple Cider Vinegar β€œ.Heat the water in the microwave for 30 seconds, then only then add the 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). Repeat every 8 hours for one day. Do not go over this limit. Do not heat the ACV and do not refrigerate. However you must take it within 15 minutes of getting a sniffy nose or itchy throat. After that it’s too late. As someone who owns a number of preschool where germs are a constant problem I learned this from hard experience. My teachers have not been sick for years. I have even thrown away all my allergy tablets too. This works! Get the Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. Then I took it one step further and added Ceylon Cinnamon. I use Cinnamon Leaf essential oil to clean and disinfect all my schools. Not only is the oil a powerful and safe anti-bacterial disinfectant, the aroma of Cinnamon gives a well-known winter pick me up. In fact I was so surprised by the sheer scale of its benefits, that I started my own Cinnamon Company. And anyone wants to visit my schools in California you are more than welcome to come and see.