Cold is one of the commonly encountered conditions that affect your nose and throat. As a result, water starts running from the nose, and makes you feel chill, slight fever, headache, dryness and soreness of throat, aching all over the body and feeling of rundown condition.
Common cold is not a serious health problem but is very irritating and disturbs the daily routine work of a person. It is caused by the viral infection and is commonly known as influenza. Exposure to cold is the primary cause of this condition.
The person affected with cold suffers from running nose, sneezing and obstruction of nasal passage. He feels irritation in the throat and his nasal passages inflamed due to congestion of its mucus lining. There is an abrupt onset along with tickling sensation in the nasal tract. The spread of the infection may result in earache, bronchitis or pneumonia.
You can decrease the duration and severity of your cold with natural remedies. Home remedies for common cold and flu are more popular than ever and are an alternative to those who do not want to subject themselves to allopathic medicines. Natural cold remedies can help lessen the duration and effects of cold on your body.
1. Lady's fingers (bhindi) are a valuable home remedies for treating throat irritation and dry cough. Lady's fingers are rich in mucilage and acts as a drug to relieve irritation, swelling, and pain. Cut about 100gms of lady's fingers into pieces and boil in about half a liter of water to make a decoction. The steam coming from this decoction should be inhaled once or twice a day to relieve throat irritation and a dry cough.
2. The roots of bitter gourd (karela) are also beneficial in relieving cold. Make the paste of the bitter gourd roots. Take one tablespoon of the paste and mix an equal quantity of honey or the juice of holy basil (tulsi) leaves. Take this mixture once every night for a month. This acts as a wonderful home remedies for common cold.
3. The best way to prevent common cold is to eat Indian Gooseberry (amla) in a regular basis. Amla is a rich source of vitamin C and improves your immune system. If however, a cold has already appeared, large doses of amla will relieve the symptoms and shorten its duration.
4. Another popular home remedy for cold and throat irritation is turmeric (haldi). Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder in a glass of milk. Boil it for five minutes. Then allow it to cool to a bearable temperature and add little sugar. Drink this milk once or twice times a day for 4-5 days to get relief from the cold.
5. Soup prepared from garlic (lahsun) is very helpful in reducing the severity of a cold. Garlic contains antiseptic and antispasmodic properties, besides a number of other medicinal qualities. To make the soup, boil 3-4 cloves of chopped garlic in a cup of water. You can add a little black pepper (kali mirch) and salt to increase its effectiveness. Take this soup at least once daily.
6. Soup made of tamarind (imli) and pepper (kali mirch) is an effective home remedy for common cold. Dilute 50mg tamarinds in 250ml of water. Boil the tamarind water for few minutes with half a teaspoon of black pepper powder and a tablespoon of hot ghee. This steaming hot soup should be taken thrice daily. It is very beneficial in clearing the nasal blockage.
7. Garlic (lahsun) oil is of great use in the treatment of common cold. It aids to open up the respiratory passages. Add five drops of garlic oil in a teaspoon of onion (pyaz) juice, and dilute in a cup of water. Drink two to three times a day. This is very effective home remedies for common cold.
8. Ginger (adrak) is a valuable herb that is a good home remedy for cold and cough. Cut about 10gms of ginger into small pieces and boil in a cup of water. Strain and add half a teaspoon of sugar added to it. Drink this decoction when hot.
9. Chicken soup is one of the popular and effective home remedies for cold and flu. It contains protein and other nutrients that your body requires in this condition. It gives a warm and soothing effect and relieves sore throat, cold and cough.
10. Eat fruits rich in vitamin C. It boosts your immune system and prepares your body to fight cold and flu. Vitamin C is one of the powerful home remedies for cold you can take to fight off this condition.
11. Eat spicy foods that contain garlic, onions and cayenne pepper. These foods contain powerful antioxidants and immune system compounds that will help your body in expelling the virus.
12. Nasal congestion is very irritation and annoying. Hot steam helps a lot in clearing the nasal blockage. Vaporizers and personal steamers work by adding water to a base and then heating it up until it becomes steam. You breathe in the steam and it clears your system, allowing you to rest easier.
13. Gargling with salt water is an effective natural cold remedies. Add one teaspoon of salt and a pinch of alum (phitkari) in a glass of warm water and gargle several times throughout the day. It sooths your throat and gives relief from sore throat.
14. Include zinc rich foods in your diet. Zinc help reduce the severity and the duration of your cold. There are many zinc supplements available on the market, but most foods contain all you need. Just look at the nutrition label and choose foods that are high in zinc.
15. To get relief from nasal blockage, prepare a powder by pounding together black peppercorns (kali mirch), cinnamon (dalchini), cardamom (elaichi) and black cumin seeds (jeera) in equal parts and sniff it.
16. Pound 5gms of garlic (lahsun) with an equal quantity of jiggery (gur) and eat this mixture in bedtime. This is a simple home remedies for cold.
17. Crush betel (pan) leaves to obtain 5 to 10 ml juice. Mix this juice with freshly ground holy basil (tulsi) leaves, mint (pudina) and ginger (adrak). Add 4 pounded peppercorns (kali mirch) to the paste. Take half tsp of this mixture twice, mixed with some honey.
18. Pound some fresh leaves of bilva (bael) to extract the juice and take approximately 10 ml, 2 to 3 times a day. This is very effective home remedy for common cold.
19. Cinnamon (dalchini) is an excellent home remedy to destroy phlegm. Take 2gms cinnamon powder mixed with one tsp honey. For better results, add a pinch of black pepper (kali mirch) powder and a few drops of ginger (adrak) juice.
20. Boil eight black peppers (kali mirch), ten leaves of holy basil (tulsi) in 250gms of water. When one-fourth water is left, stop boiling. Add a pinch of sugar. Drink hot and cover the entire body for 10 minutes. It is very effective home remedy for cold accompanied with fever.
