The weather is
changing, it’s cold season again; noses are running and throats are aching. In the classroom student’s voices are deeper and
raspy and chairs are already empty. I
asked Emily if she felt poorly, as she was quieter than usual.
“I am sick with
a head cold.”
“I have a cure,
it’s very effective if you use it when you first get sick.”
Today I offer
some easy tips I learned in Europe.
Trust me, even if you can’t actually cure a cold, you can beat it down
before it lays you out.
1. For sore throats and ear aches drink
Sage tea. Boil three coffee cups of
water, place one teaspoons of sage leaves in the boiling water for five full minutes. Strain out the leaves. Drink three cups a day, you should feel some
relief within a day. I actually drip tea
into my ears and let it sit for about ten minutes, one ear at a time. (Brian raises an eyebrow at me for this) I have read that the Romans had a saying,
“Why do you die when sage grows in your garden?”
2. I swear by sea salt as a weapon against
cold, sore throats and ear aches. (Remember the end of your ear canal is your
phlegm clogged throat) In a small cup I
add about ½ teaspoons sea salt to warm water.
Tip the cup next to your nose, letting the saltwater drain down your throat,
both nostrils. I keep mine at the
kitchen sink and use it every time I walk by.
If throat pain persists, I gargle with sea salt water four times a day. Again, I am walking proof that this works!
3. Garlic is a powerful medicine. Jerry was our exchange student from
Taiwan. He used to grab a clove and
slowly sucked on it anytime he felt sickness coming on. I personally could not stand a whole clove,
there are creative ways of adding garlic to your food. In Slovenia, my friend Peter taught me to put
fifteen crushed cloves of garlic in a bottle of spirits (I used Grappa),
letting it sit for a month before straining out the solids. I take one full tablespoon two or three time
a day. Sickness isn’t the only thing
that will run from this stuff!
4. I have a proverb of my own, “Drink tea,
tea will make you pee.” It is very
important to drink white tea when you are getting sick. I try to drink up to a half a gallon a day to
keep my body hydrated, to evacuate the bug that is trying to multiply in my
blood stream. I am unsure of what has
been proved about the healing properties of tea, but there is a wealth of
information and claims to the positive.
from my own experience, and nothing more. Furthermore, in the event that one of my friends posts a crazy cure, I take no responsibility. If I didn’t say so, I have a conventional family doctor and talk with him about my cures. Some of them cause him to imitate my husband’s famous raised eyebrow, but so far he has not actually told me “no.”
Question: How often should you use the salt water? I have been recommended this before, but never told how often I should do it.
ReplyDeletehehe what about the lemons? and they're not for a lemon pie ;) drink a lot of lemonade and it combines adding vitamin C and plenty of liquid. Also, I eat 3 teaspoons of REAL honey every day if I feel a cold coming, and for sore throat I lick many hard candies (ricola is my preferred type). Moreover, I've heard that vitamin D is vital for immunity, so sitting in the sun (also on the inside of your windows), or taking a supplement will help, too.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I walk into the kitchen tip some into my nose. Last night my nose was all plugged up and this morning my cold is almost gone.
ReplyDeleteDadiP, hahahaha! Yes, lemons help too.
ReplyDelete