5 Household Remedy To Fight Against Cold
With the end of the year comes the start of the winter and during this cold season, it is necessary to take care of yourself. The reason for this is because while cold itself is not a big disease it lowers your immune system which enables other severe diseases like flu and pneumonia to occur. While that is being said, not all diseases need pills and drugs as some of them can be cured with household remedies.
Cold is among those health issues which can easily be cured and maintained as well as prevented with simple but effective household remedies that have been tried and tested over generations past. Here are a few of such tried and tested household remedies that you can use to save yourself from the cold.
1. Stay Hydrated
Regardless of whether you have a cold or not, you should always stay hydrated. This falls less into the category of household remedy and is more of common sense as we all know that when the body lacks water then you cannot function well and symptoms such as headache and loss of vision start to appear as a result of dehydration. So it is needless to say that you have to drink enough water when your body is fighting against an illness.
Taking this into consideration what water does is flush out the virus which has been dealt with by your immune system. Now it should be common sense to stay hydrated but as people are busy nowadays it has become necessary to remind them of this.
2. Vitamin C
While it has been debated whether or not vitamin C can directly help to cure or prevent the cold, there is no doubt that it does help to strengthen the immune system which helps one against cold albeit indirectly. Since Vitamin C is an easy vitamin to secure in our daily life, taking in adequate amounts of vitamin C is considered among the top and most commonly used household remedies against cold.
For those who don’t know the common sources of vitamin C, the source of this household remedy can be found all around our kitchen. Apart from the commonly known sources like oranges and lemons, potato is another great source of vitamin c and along with that for the sweet lovers, strawberry is among the best sources of vitamin c as well. If you are a green lover, broccoli is another great source of this household remedy as well.
3. Adequate Sleep
People often underestimate and undervalue the power of sleep. This is understandable as more people need to work extra hours or spend more time with their loved ones but when it comes to the body this is a surprising household remedy. Now apart from a few rare people who can function normally with micro-sleep or even rare people with conditions that can allow them to function with no sleep, the rest of us need enough sleep to function properly throughout the day as sleep is our way of resting our body and some studies suggest that our food is digested better and nutrients are used more properly while we are sleep.
If we think a bit it seems valid as well since most of our body is inactive, the nutrients which are normally used to move our muscles can be used to heal the micro damages and be stored. This is where adequate sleep becomes a household remedy as while we sleep our body uses the digested nutrients to heal our body and fight the viruses that cause the cold. The more we rest, the better our body can heal itself and we all know that sleep is the best form of rest.
4. Honey
The case with honey is somewhat similar to the case of Vitamin C. The reason for this is because although Honey has been used as a household remedy for colds for thousands of years, there has been no definitive proof of how it works. Although some scientific tests were done, the results are rather mixed but despite this one thing that the scientists can agree on is that the honey suppresses cough a great deal. While this is just a symptom of a cold, this alone is a great help.
Now while the debate on how honey works to cure a cold if it does is going on, honey does have some nutrients which can combine with other nutrients to help with the cold. One of the main ways of taking in honey is with Lemon and hot water. Now, this primarily has three benefits which are to keep you hydrated, take in vitamin C, and keep yourself warm.
5. Steam inhalation
This is an age-old household remedy that is especially common in places like Nepal. Surround yourself with the steam and breathe it in. Now while this does not work for everyone, in general cases this does help relieve you to beat the cold earlier. The reason this is effective is that while you inhale steam, it will help you to relieve your nasal blockage and can also help soothe the inflammation of the blood vessels in the nasal passage as well as your lungs. Along with this while you are taking in the steam the temperature of your body also increases which helps your body to kill the virus quicker.
To use this household remedy you add a pinch of salt and if possible a small piece of mint to boiling water. When the temperature is bearable enough while the steam is still coming out you sit near the steam and put a towel over your head to take in as much steam as you can. Close your eyes and breathe in the steam for a few minutes. You do have to be careful to stay around 8 to 12 inches from the water though or you can hurt your eyes as well as your nasal cavity.
Another best household remedy is yoga.
To know more about yoga check out our list of “Top 8 Benefits of Yoga“.
