Herbal Remedies For The Flu And Colds

The flu and the common cold spread like crazy during colder times of the year and they definitely aren’t fun to have. It’s also very frustrating to see children or family members getting sick from them and not feeling like you can do anything to help them out. Fortunately if you use some herbal remedies you can prevent these illnesses, stop them dead in their tracks, and help get rid of them once they’ve already started. If you take echinacea at the first signs of a cold or the flue it can greatly reduce the intensity of it and the duration and goldenseal will help clear mucus and get rid of bacteria. You can also make tea out of peppermint, elder, yarrow, cayenne, cinnamon, and ginger all of which will help you sweat out a cold and can reduce inflammation and achiness as well as help the body handle the fever. All you have to do is steep the herbs for ten or fifteen minutes and the strain them out. You can sweeten these with honey too which will actually help a sore throat as well. A ginger tea is also extremely helpful when it comes to colds and this herb has been used in the orient for a very long time and is considered a traditional chinese remedy.

If tea isn’t your thing you might want to consider just boiling the herbs and then inhaling the steam from them. All of the herbs listed above are good ones to do this with as well as onion, ginkgo biloba, and horsetail which will help with congestion and heal the mucous membrane cells. Peppermint is great for this as well as it will clear sinuses and is known for it’s ability to break a fever.

You can also take baths with these herbs, use them with hot rags or humidifiers, put them in scented pillows to keep the essence of them all night, and even use shampoos and soaps with them in there to help give you an extra dose. Whatever you decide to do remember that colds and the flu are definitely curable without conventional medicine but that its wise to see a doctor before administering any home remedies just to be on the safe side.