10 Safe home remedies for cold and flu
Cold, cough and fever cause a lot of discomfort and misery to all us, especially to children. The best thing of course is for the patient to sleep it off. When it becomes too difficult to bear, the doctor’s advice and medication are needed.
But a lot of the time, home remedies can be applied to give relief and to control the fever.
Here are ten home remedies for colds, coughs and fever:
- LEMON AND HOT WATER: Lemon is a very effective home remedy for a cold. It is beneficial in all types of colds, coughs and fevers. It has vitamin C and it increases resistance, decreases toxins in the body and reduces the duration of illness. Take a quarter of a lemon and squeeze it in half a glass of hot water. Add half a teaspoon of honey and give daily to your child.
- GINGER, HONEY AND HOT WATER: Take five small bits of ginger and boil in half a cup of water. Strain it and add half a teaspoon of honey. Give this to your child daily. The heat of the ginger helps to clear the throat. However, try and avoid honey if your child is younger than 18 months.
- HOT MILK WITH TURMERIC: If your child has a blocked throat, this is very effective. Add a pinch each of turmeric, ground black pepper, salt and sugar to taste in a cup of hot milk. Give this to your child before he goes to bed.
- SALT WATER AND TURMERIC: Take a cup of warm water. Put a pinch of salt and a quarter of a teaspoon of turmeric. Your child can drink or gargle( if he can) with it. Turmeric has antiseptic properties which give relief from colds and sore throat. Daily use prevents and stops colds.
- GARLIC SOUP: Boil one or two cloves of garlic in half a cup of water. Strain it. You can give this to your child twice daily. Garlic has antiseptic and antispasmodic properties. It has an oil that opens up the respiratory passages. It also flushes the system of all toxins and helps bring down fever. It can be given to your child once a day.
- TULSI: grind small quantities of black pepper, tulsi leaves, ginger and moti elaichi; squeeze the juice into a ‘katori’. Add the same amount of honey. This should be given four times a day.
- TULSI TEA: Boil tea leaves, tulsi leaves, black pepper and moti ilaichi. Add sugar to taste. Strain and give to your child.
- MULLATTHI: It is the bark of a tree. It looks like cinnamon- but it is mustard yellow and green in colour. Chewing on the small pieces of mullatthi with a little sugar or “mishri” helps relieve a sore throat and cough. The juice of this bark soothes the throat.
- INHALATION: Doctors advice steam inhalation using plain hot water. Take hot water in a bowl. Cover your child’s head with a towel as you keep his face over the steam. Be careful that his face does not get too close to the hot water.
- LADY’S FINGER: Cut a few lady’s fingers and boil them water. You can get your child to inhale the steam in the same way that you do for plain water inhalation.
Inhalation causes the mucus in the nose and throat to be loosened. This can be brought out through blowing of the nose or spitting.
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