JUNE 2023 UPDATE:

I got a cold and laryngitis this past week so it was time to update this post!

The remedies listed below are still my go-to’s but the Fire Cider company I used to recommend has gone out of business so I’m now buying THIS. Although you can always make your own fire cider this WAY.

2020 NOTE:

I first posted this blog in 2010! Ten years ago. And even though my kids are 17 and 20 now, we all still use the same remedies and approaches to healing.

My kids will now make their own “concoction” (that’s what we call it) of Fire Cider, Elderberry Syrup and Vitamin-C powder at the first sign of feeling run-down.

They know it can either boost their immune system up so they don’t get sick or it shortens whatever sickness they have.

Here’s the original and complete post….

My kids had the cough, sore-throat, feeling-lousy, sneezles this weekend.

As much as I work on keeping my family’s immune systems strong with a healthy diet and lifestyle, we still get knocked off our feet by a virus or two. It seems to happen to us as the cold weather comes and the windows shut for the season.

This is what we do in our house to ease the symptoms and speed the healing:

First we lay down and rest. Feeling crummy is a great excuse to spend extra time snuggled up reading. (We’ve recently been loving The Chronicles of Narnia and today, just finished the sweetest book: Poppy by Avi, for a mom & kids book group.)

In addition to the TLC (tender loving care), I pull out my faithful natural remedies for cold and coughs.

Drink:

• Water – of course, and lots of it.
• Emergen-C drink –  (check the 2011 update below) We used to use this a lot, it’s been the first line of defense for many years. but  I’ve been looking  into some quality Vitamin C drinks recently. I’ll let you know what I like come up with for options, once I do more research. (see just below)

2011 update: The Synergy Company’s Pure Radiance C: This is my current favorite vitamin C drink. The Synergy Company’s Pure Radiance C is a high quality, whole-food,  Vitamin C product. We use the powder and mix a teaspoon with water. As soon as one of my kids is feeling the slightest bit low, we start with the Pure Radiance and it usually stops it in it’s tracks.

• Honey Gardens Elderberry Syrup – We use this at the first sign of any cold. We often add it into the Emergen-C, now Pure Radiance C.

• Elderflower and Elderberry Tincture –  Elderflower is used for healing colds and flu. I love my Elder tincture  from Clefs Des Champs in Quebec. (I toured their herb gardens and left enriched by the beauty and power of plants). You can also find Elderberries  in Sambucol a product I have used in the past and liked. I also love Gaia herbs Elderberry Syrup.

• Honey Gardens Wild Cherry Bark Syrup – This one we use for any chest and breathing related illness. Both the Cherry Bark Syrup and Elderberry Syrup are made by Honey Gardens in Vermont. I like their products because they are local, they are natural and they use their own healing honey in everything they make.

• Apple Cider Vinegar is my husband’s favorite add-on. A tablespoon taken a few times a day works for him (I haven’t tried this out with the kids yet). Apple Cider alkalizes the system, which reduces internal inflammation.

Eat:

These foods all support healing and strengthen the immune system.

• Garlic – I put it in soups, stir fry, and if my kids are up for it – raw – its most potent form
• Onions – I use tons in a simple, healing vegetable soup which is perfect when you are feeling low.
• Ginger – Yum! I put this in soups, I grate it on fruit and I make a lot of homemade ginger tea! Making ginger tea is easy and so much more effective than store-bought ginger tea.
• Honey – I offer honey to my kids on a spoon for any kind of sore throat or cough. It’s more deeply healing than any cough drop or suppressant. It’s important to use RAW honey. That means it hasn’t been heated or pasteurized and it retains it’s powerful immune-building properties. If you want super-duper healing honey look into getting some Manuka honey. It’s said to have extremely high anti-bacterial properties. It’s potency is even rated on a scale of 0-30, 30 being the most powerful.

Steam:

This is great before bed. It lets everyone breathe and sleep easier (and is the next level up in respiratory care from a steaming shower).

I do this the old fashioned way:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil.
• Add Lavendar and Eucalyptus Essential Oil. Cover with a lid.
• Put the kids under a big towel with this steaming, lovely-smelling water. Careful when you lift the lid off the pot. Make sure there are no faces near the initial hot-blast of steam.

Ingredients for the steam:

• Water
• 3 drops of Lavendar essential oil
• 3 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil

Chest and Foot Rub:

Mix this together and put it on feet and chest to ease colds, and chest congestion.

• 1 tablespoon Coconut oil
• 3 drops Eucalyptus essential Oil
• 2 drops Oregano Essential Oil

Gargle:

My dad used to make gargles for me when I had a sore throat or tonsilitis. It eases the pain and reduces inflammation in the mouth and throat. I didn’t much like to gargle when I was little, nor do my kids, but it works.

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon raw honey (the honey was not part of my dad’s original gargle, but I find it makes it more palatable and soothing)

2023 update:

I got full-swing laryngitis! So this year I not only gargled with salt water but also with lemon and honey, it was a bit less anti-inflammatory feeling, but more soothing.

Bath:

Mix this into the bath to take the body aches away, to ease congestion and to just plain relax!

• 1 cup Epsom Salts
• 1 cup Baking Soda (if you don’t have any on hand, just use the Epsom Salts)
• 2 drops Tea Trea Essential Oil
• 2 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
• 2 drops Lavendar Essential Oil

Misc. products:

Here are some other handy natural healing products that I have on hand that I like to use.

• Zinc – kids chewable tablets
• Licorice Root – Get it at the health food store. We chew on it to soothe coughs.
• Cold and Flu Spray. We use this spray which is made of essential oils to clear out the “sick-feel” that a room gets after it’s been sneezed in, coughed in, and convalesced  in. It’s made of essential oils that have anti-bacterial and healing properties. We spray it on each other too.
• Eucalyptus Chest Cream. My sister in law – who knows I have a passion for natural remedies, brought some back from Germany for me – but I have used Cedar Spring Herb Farm’s Soother’s Chest Rub for many years and loved it too.
• Soothing Chest Rub – from Cedar Spring Farm a magical herb farm in Cape Cod (it’s the empty jar in the picture above).
• Marjoram Butter. This heals red/raw noses. It’s also from Germany, but we use Waleda Diaper Rash Cream for noses as well.
• Waleda Diaper Rash Cream – we call it bunny cream, because after the kids put it on, they have a bunny nose (it’s white).

Massage:

When my kids are under the weather, I massage their feet and backs a lot.

• Relexology – foot massage is so relaxing and effective. It’s easy to work on kids feet when they are just lounging around. For colds, sore throats and chest congestion, focus on the toes and upper part of the foot close to the toes. These areas correspond the head, neck and chest.

And then again, back to the basics:

• Lots of fluids, NO sugar (or even natural sweeteners, excluding raw honey), lots of rest, lots of tender loving care.

I hope you and your family have a healthy winter.

But, just in case…I wanted you to have my list. I would love to hear what remedies work for you!

~~~~~~~

Nina Manolson, MA, NBC-HWC, Body-Peace® Coach, board certified Health Coach, Psychology of Eating Coach and Certified Body-Trust Provider, believes that every woman deserves to feel good in her own body.

She helps busy women feel good in their own body.. She specializes in working with women over 40 who have tried other diets and approaches but are still struggling with their body and food.

She’s the creator of the BODY-PEACE MAP and the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your CULTIVATE BODY-PEACE JOURNAL click HERE:

ninamanolson

Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.

She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.

Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.

Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.

Free Body-Peace Masterclass