Home Remedies for Cold and Cough: Shoo Away the Fever Flu

Cold and Cough: Ever since our birth we have experienced them numerous times. Common cold usually takes 7-10 days to recover. But those 7-10 days are certainly not the pleasant ones. Cold makes your body restless and tired. The allopathy medicine for cold though effective are often have following side effects:

• Drowsiness
• Nausea
• Nervousness
• Digestive problems

India is home to Ayurveda, from old times it’s been known for age old ayurvedic treatments, natural herbs, and herbal medicines. Be it drinking adrak wali chai to relieve symptoms and provide comfort to our body or gargling using salt water, our mothers swear by these home remedies for our faster recovery. In this blog we are going to summarize all such popular home remedies which aids in quick recovery of common cold and cough.

Vayu Shuddhi is an Ayurvedic medicine, this medicine prevents and cures respiratory health related infections like runny nose, hoarse voice, cold-cough, inflammation of lungs and other infections.

Dr. Mansi Srivastava

Causes of Cold

• Viral infection
• Bacterial infection
• Getting in contact with objects or people who have the cold virus
• Allergic reaction.
• Being exposed to cold temperature
• Weakened immune system.

Symptoms of Cold

• Sore throat
• Stuffy nose
• Runny nose
• Cough
• Sneezing
• Watery eyes
• Fever

Home Remedies 

From a young age most of us must have seen our mothers rely on these herbal remedies. whenever we were down with a cold. “Taking facial steam to get relief from congestion” or “chewing down on chunks of ginger to relieve from dry cough” are some of the very basic home remedies that we must have seen in our household.

Common Ingredients Which are Quite Effective in Providing Relief from Symptoms of Cold

• Tulsi: Tulsi is considered as a holy plant in numerous Indian households. Some folks have been eating freshly washed tulsi leaves first thing in the morning since they were little. Consuming tulsi leaves on a regular basis aids in boosting immunity.  

• Ginger: Ginger being one of the most common spices easily found in the world. It’s used relentlessly to give flavor to dishes. It is composed of a bioactive substance called gingerol, which attributes to its medicinal properties.

• Turmeric: Turmeric or Haldi, is the lifeline of desi masala box, without it the Indian spice box is incomplete. Same is the case when it comes to home remedies, haldi have been integral part of Indian home remedies. The presence of  active compound curcumin, makes turmeric a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent. 

• Honey: For ages, traditionally honey has been used for its medicinal purposes all over the Indian subcontinent including treating symptoms of sore throat, bronchial asthma, tuberculosis, eczema etc. Its medicinal properties are attributed to the presence of bioactive molecules-flavonoids and polyphenols which make it a natural antioxidant agent.

• Garlic: When suffering from cold one must incorporate garlic in their diet as it provides relief from symptoms of common cold and cough. With the presence of active compound allicin, garlic is synonymous with natural antiviral agents, it’s high sulfur content acts as an added plus point when it comes to fight against flu and cold infection.

Name	Properties	Relief from Symptoms	How to Consume
Tulsi	Antibacterial properties Anti inflammatory properties Anti microbial properties Anti allergic properties	Sore throat Cough Inflammation of nasal mucous membrane	Raw Tulsi leavesTulsi kadhaTulsi Tea
Ginger	Anti inflammatory propertiesAnti viral propertiesAntibacterial propertiesAnti oxidant properties	Nasal congestionSore throatHeadachesCoughNausea	Raw GingerGinger TeaGinger water
Turmeric	Antiseptic propertiesAnti inflammatory propertiesAntibacterial propertiesAntiviral propertiesAntioxidant properties	HeadacheFeverNasal CongestionDiscomfort in throat	Turmeric MilkTurmeric gargleTurmeric honey mixture
Honey	Anti inflammatory propertiesAntioxidant propertiesAntimicrobial properties	CoughStuffy noseReduce respiratory tract infection	Eating a spoonful of raw honeyHoney and lemon gargle
Garlic	Antibacterial propertiesAntioxidant propertiesAntiviral properties	Sore throatStuffy noseStrengthen immune system	Eating raw garlicAdding garlic in your regular food like soup

Homeopathic Remedies for Cold and Cough

• Allium Cepa: This medicine is prescribed when a patient shows symptoms of  fluent nasal and  acrid nasal discharge with copious bland lachrymation and hoarseness. Accompanied with sneezing and catarrhal headache,especially worse in warm rooms and towards evening and better in open air.

• Aconitum Napellus: This medicine is prescribed when a patient catches cold by being exposed to severe cold and dry winds during the day and develops a violent attack of cold and cough toward evening within a few hours. There is also, fluent nasal discharge along with sneezing and bursting headache.

• Arsenic Album: This medicine is prescribed when the symptoms include frequent sneezing and thin, watery, excoriating nasal discharge. The patient feels better in warm environments and when drinking warm beverages, but worse outside.

Lifestyle Remedies 

Integrating the following healthy practices into your daily routine facilitates a quicker recovery

• Getting Enough Rest: 

It’s imperative to get enough sleep every night. A person with a common cold may experience restlessness. For the body to repair itself and maintain health, one has to get at least eight hours of good sleep every night.

• Vitamin C

An important antioxidant that speeds up healing and strengthens immunity overall is vitamin C. Boost your vitamin C consumption by including more citrus fruits, potatoes, spinach, cabbage, and other foods in your diet. This will facilitate a speedy recovery.

• Essential Oils

Various essential oils help alleviate several symptoms of the common cold. This method is more natural and aids in quicker recovery from common cold symptoms.

ESSENTIAL OILS	BENEFITS
Eucalyptus Oil	Anti inflammatory properties Anti microbial Reduces Congestion
Peppermint Oil	Reduces CoughRelieves Sore throatProvide relief from headachesReduces Congestion
Lemon Oil	Anti oxidant propertiesAnti fungal propertiesAnti inflammatoryReduces coughProvides relief from body aches
Chamomile Oil	Provides calming effect Reduces pain, Reduces swelling, Reduces congestion

• Drinking Plenty of Fluids:

Drink plenty of water so that your body has enough hydration to function properly and fight against viruses. Increase your water intake inorder to make up for the fluids lost to congestion and fever.

•  Washing Your Hands Frequently

Common cold is highly infectious and easy to spread. The basic self care advice one should follow while suffering from cold is to maintain hygiene. In order to recover quickly one should wash their hands frequently. 

Conclusion

Cold can make one feel miserable, during that time a warm cup of haldi wala doodh (Turmeric milk) or adrak wali chai (Garlic Tea) can provide warmth to both your soul and body. Allopathy medicines are important when it comes to treating our body and will always form the majority part of modern medical science. However at the same time one cannot neglect the goodness of our ghar ke nuskhe which has been a crucial part of our culture.