Forums > Social Chat > natural remedies
Login/Join to ParticipateBRONZE Member
Member
78 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Member
78 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posted:
Hey guys,
Does anyone know of any natural remedies to help with cold/flu?
Ive spent the last few days feeling like hell, totally bunged up, achy and grumpy but i dont like taking medicine when it's not a million percent necessary. anyone any ideas on ways to make me feel like a happy pluginclairey again?!
Hey guys,
Does anyone know of any natural remedies to help with cold/flu?
Ive spent the last few days feeling like hell, totally bunged up, achy and grumpy but i dont like taking medicine when it's not a million percent necessary. anyone any ideas on ways to make me feel like a happy pluginclairey again?!
BRONZE Member
Hehe, you said 'Member'
105 posts
Location: Lydiate, nr Liverpool, United Kingdom
Hehe, you said 'Member'
105 posts
Location: Lydiate, nr Liverpool, United Kingdom
Posted:
Isn't it generally echinacea, vitamin C, and lots of fluids for colds/flu?
So... lots of OJ and bedrest. Feel better!
EDITED_BY: psycotic_furby (1173918585)
Isn't it generally echinacea, vitamin C, and lots of fluids for colds/flu?
So... lots of OJ and bedrest. Feel better!
EDITED_BY: psycotic_furby (1173918585)
Eww, Liza Minelli...
The communists gave my mother a job, teaching sculpture to limbless children.
Future Mrs Pogo
4,728 posts
Location: The wrong place
4,728 posts
Location: The wrong place
Posted:
Okay...you need goldenseal and cayenne...
In about 4 oz. of water...add about a quarter of a teaspoon of the goldenseal...and then dip the very tip of a wet spoon into the cayenne...and stir both up in the water very well...
It looks and tastes about like swamp water...but it'll make you feel soooo much better...well worth it!!!
Okay...you need goldenseal and cayenne...
In about 4 oz. of water...add about a quarter of a teaspoon of the goldenseal...and then dip the very tip of a wet spoon into the cayenne...and stir both up in the water very well...
It looks and tastes about like swamp water...but it'll make you feel soooo much better...well worth it!!!
"Absence is to love what wind is to fire...it extinguishes the small, enkindles the great."
--Comte Debussy-Rebutin
BRONZE Member
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England
Posted:
Did you know there's never been a proven case of echinacea relieving the symptons of cold/flu.
And Vitamin C has only really been proved to prevent, not cure the same
*wanders off to find documented proof before people start complaining about un-founded claims*
Did you know there's never been a proven case of echinacea relieving the symptons of cold/flu.
And Vitamin C has only really been proved to prevent, not cure the same
*wanders off to find documented proof before people start complaining about un-founded claims*
Burner of Toast
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BRONZE Member
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England
Posted:
From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea
"A medical study (Taylor et al. 2003) demonstrated that when echinacea products made from the entire plant (not just the root) were taken after the second cold symptom appeared they provided no measurable beneficial effect for children in treating the severity or duration of symptoms caused by the common cold virus. Studies by the University of Virginia School of Medicine (Turner, 2005) confirmed these results, and added that Echinacea had no clinically significant effects on the common cold even if taken immediately upon infection, or as a prophylaxis starting a week prior to symptoms of infection. However, a University of Maryland review of available studies concluded that Echinacea, when taken at first sign of a cold, reduced cold symptoms or shortened their duration. This conclusion was based on 13 European studies. The University of Maryland also found that three of four studies concluded that taking Echinacea to prevent a cold was ineffective."
From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea
"A medical study (Taylor et al. 2003) demonstrated that when echinacea products made from the entire plant (not just the root) were taken after the second cold symptom appeared they provided no measurable beneficial effect for children in treating the severity or duration of symptoms caused by the common cold virus. Studies by the University of Virginia School of Medicine (Turner, 2005) confirmed these results, and added that Echinacea had no clinically significant effects on the common cold even if taken immediately upon infection, or as a prophylaxis starting a week prior to symptoms of infection. However, a University of Maryland review of available studies concluded that Echinacea, when taken at first sign of a cold, reduced cold symptoms or shortened their duration. This conclusion was based on 13 European studies. The University of Maryland also found that three of four studies concluded that taking Echinacea to prevent a cold was ineffective."
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BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Posted:
Happy little ray of sunshine aren't you Durbin
So what would you suggest then?
(apart from chicken soup, warm blanket and good movies)
Happy little ray of sunshine aren't you Durbin
So what would you suggest then?
(apart from chicken soup, warm blanket and good movies)
Getting to the other side 
BRONZE Member
1 + 1 = 3
3,540 posts
Location: Bristol UK
1 + 1 = 3
3,540 posts
Location: Bristol UK
Posted:
I always overdose on Vitamin C... and sleep lots.
Again, probably not proven, but does the trick for me...
I always overdose on Vitamin C... and sleep lots.
Again, probably not proven, but does the trick for me...
Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.
Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Water can flow, or it can Crash.
Be Water My Friend.
BRONZE Member
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England
Posted:
Colds last around a week max I find anyway...
By all means take natural/un-natural remedies if it makes you feel better, but colds clear up as-and-when your body gets rid of them
There's a great section in Derren Brown's book about alternative medicinces and pseudo-science.
Quick summary :-
Someone has a cold, they try some Beechams (or whatever) which doesn't get rid of their cold. So someone suggests sucking a lemon with a cotton bud up your nose (or some other random hippy cure ) every 3 hours for 5 days.
Lo-and-behold in 5 days their cold has gone.
"Hey, that herbal thing worked wonders" - Thinks the sufferer, seldom pausing to think "I wonder if the cold would've actually have gone in 5 days anyway"
Had they tried the medicines the other way around - they'd probably be Beechams converts
But then again, never under-estimate the placebo effect
(Which again, alternative remedies usually fail in a double-blind test...)
Paul "Happy Little Ray of Sunshine" Durbs
Colds last around a week max I find anyway...
By all means take natural/un-natural remedies if it makes you feel better, but colds clear up as-and-when your body gets rid of them
There's a great section in Derren Brown's book about alternative medicinces and pseudo-science.
Quick summary :-
Someone has a cold, they try some Beechams (or whatever) which doesn't get rid of their cold. So someone suggests sucking a lemon with a cotton bud up your nose (or some other random hippy cure
) every 3 hours for 5 days.Lo-and-behold in 5 days their cold has gone.
"Hey, that herbal thing worked wonders" - Thinks the sufferer, seldom pausing to think "I wonder if the cold would've actually have gone in 5 days anyway"
Had they tried the medicines the other way around - they'd probably be Beechams converts
But then again, never under-estimate the placebo effect
(Which again, alternative remedies usually fail in a double-blind test...)
Paul "Happy Little Ray of Sunshine" Durbs
Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
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BRONZE Member
Hehe, you said 'Member'
105 posts
Location: Lydiate, nr Liverpool, United Kingdom
Hehe, you said 'Member'
105 posts
Location: Lydiate, nr Liverpool, United Kingdom
Posted:
Well nothing herbal will work now Durbs, you've taken the magic out of it!
Anyway, I never said they'd work, just that I'd heard those most often as related to colds/flu. In the case of OJ, it's probably the fluids more than the Vitamin C that help.
Well nothing herbal will work now Durbs, you've taken the magic out of it!
Anyway, I never said they'd work, just that I'd heard those most often as related to colds/flu. In the case of OJ, it's probably the fluids more than the Vitamin C that help.
Eww, Liza Minelli...
The communists gave my mother a job, teaching sculpture to limbless children.
BRONZE Member
veteran
1,247 posts
Location: lost, Canada
veteran
1,247 posts
Location: lost, Canada
Posted:
Durbs, most people don't think they can "cure" a cold in the technical definition of the term cure. At best, you can shorten the duration and intensity. But most are more interested in alleviating or managing symptoms- ie feeling better. And that is definately do-able in a healthy safe manner with natural remedies.
Durbs, most people don't think they can "cure" a cold in the technical definition of the term cure. At best, you can shorten the duration and intensity. But most are more interested in alleviating or managing symptoms- ie feeling better. And that is definately do-able in a healthy safe manner with natural remedies.
"God *was* my co-pilot, but then we crashed, and I had to eat him..."
BRONZE Member
Member
78 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Member
78 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posted:
usually when im at home my mother force feeds me chicken soup which i hate but does make me feel somewhat better. althou i havnt taken anything for this one at all, and it's getting better of its own accord now. hurrah
usually when im at home my mother force feeds me chicken soup which i hate but does make me feel somewhat better. althou i havnt taken anything for this one at all, and it's getting better of its own accord now. hurrah
BRONZE Member
1 + 1 = 3
3,540 posts
Location: Bristol UK
1 + 1 = 3
3,540 posts
Location: Bristol UK
Posted:
I reckon it was the asking of advice on HoP that made it feel better...
I reckon it was the asking of advice on HoP that made it feel better...
Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.
Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Water can flow, or it can Crash.
Be Water My Friend.
GOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
Theres no point in taking Vitamin C (especially the vitamin suplement type) when you have a cold. Nearly all vitamins suplements take about 2 months to take effect when the course is first started. Like Durbs said, the common cold will hang about for 5 days, influenza a lilttle longer. Just drink lots of water and sleep.
I take medications for my colds (yes I know they dont get rid of a virus) but they do supress a snotty nose, or a bad head. And I'd rather sleep in comfort......
Theres no point in taking Vitamin C (especially the vitamin suplement type) when you have a cold. Nearly all vitamins suplements take about 2 months to take effect when the course is first started. Like Durbs said, the common cold will hang about for 5 days, influenza a lilttle longer. Just drink lots of water and sleep.
I take medications for my colds (yes I know they dont get rid of a virus) but they do supress a snotty nose, or a bad head. And I'd rather sleep in comfort......
GOLD Member
addict
584 posts
Location: Sunshine Coast, Australia
addict
584 posts
Location: Sunshine Coast, Australia
Posted:
hmmm, the best thing for colds or flu's is the simple things like drinking more water to replace moisture lost in coughing and sneezing, boost your vitamin intake with fruit juices and soups(yes soups
) to quench your thirst while supplying vitamins and get heaps of rest. It helps your immune system, if you skip sleeping it prolongs a cold!
This is what I take when I have a cold, it seems to help me, but maybe everyone is different.
300ml boiling water into a jug with a slice of lemon and some honey
add a spoonful of chopped fresh thyme to fight infection
cool it and strain. ta da!!!!!
hmmm, the best thing for colds or flu's is the simple things like drinking more water to replace moisture lost in coughing and sneezing, boost your vitamin intake with fruit juices and soups(yes soups
) to quench your thirst while supplying vitamins and get heaps of rest. It helps your immune system, if you skip sleeping it prolongs a cold!This is what I take when I have a cold, it seems to help me, but maybe everyone is different.
300ml boiling water into a jug with a slice of lemon and some honey
add a spoonful of chopped fresh thyme to fight infection
cool it and strain. ta da!!!!!
Never hold your farts in! They travel up your spine, go into your brain and that's where shitty idea's come from.
Stargazer
6,650 posts
6,650 posts
Posted:
I have experienced Chillies to help me over a cold.
Usually my sinuses are congested (how obvious is that?
) and eating Chillies do provide relief.
In Asia I even have them for breakfast, in either an Omelette or Curry - between 6 and 10 do it right for me...
I have experienced Chillies to help me over a cold.
Usually my sinuses are congested (how obvious is that?
) and eating Chillies do provide relief.In Asia I even have them for breakfast, in either an Omelette or Curry - between 6 and 10 do it right for me...
the best smiles are the ones you lead to 
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