There are few things in life worse than starting the summer off with a cold. And after spending the past two weeks with laryngitis and strep throat I’ve been working hard to recover and get my summer started. I’ve never been one to pop pills and down medicine so instead, I took to my local supermarket and stocked up on some natural remedies to heal my aching throat. Here’s what I recommend:
Ginger
Photo by Kendra Valkema
As a ginger lover this was my first purchase. I purchased both a ginger paste and some fresh ginger. I used the ginger paste to easily mix with Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, if you add a tablespoon or two you’ll get a double dose of healing goodness as ginger is great for healing the sinuses and the warm soup will help soothe the throat. I used the fresh ginger to make tea. If you take some fresh ginger slices and boil them in water for about ten minutes, it creates a great flavor to add tea into later while not being too overpowering. Learn how to peel and grate fresh ginger here!
Lemon
Photo by Delissa Handoko
Lemon is great for removing all of that icky mucus that builds up when you develop a cough. I used lemon in my tea as well as for salt water gargles. I’d squeeze a little lemon juice into some warm water add salt and do gargles about 3 times a day, it helped dry up and soothe the throat and made my congestion a lot more manageable. You can even use lemons to make a lemon balm that’ll help you relax.
Honey
Photo courtesy of tres.jolie on flickr
Health wise, honey is chock full of natural antioxidants that help fight off sickness and build up immunity. For me honey is a great natural sweetener for tea (I’m not a huge tea drinker so any flavor that I can add helps). I also made a honey, lemon and ginger glaze for some chicken I cooked one day and not only was it delicious but my throat felt way better within the hour. Try these honey uses.
Vitamin C
Sometimes your body just needs an extra boost to help fight through the drama that illness brings. Rest and relaxation are obviously important but vitamin C can help give a little more oomph and make the process on your body much easier. I took vitamin C supplements along with lots of organic apple and orange juice.
For more easy food cures, click on these links: