Natural Cold and Flu Remedies: The Complete Roundup
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It is the time of year for runny noses, coughs, fevers and chills. How do you protect yourself from the cold and flu viruses that you are bound to come across this winter?
I like to try to keep my immune system strong in the first place by eating a clean, real food diet, getting plenty of sleep, keeping my vitamin D levels up, taking cod liver oil, drinking homemade elderberry syrup and eating fermented foods several times a day.
I do, however, add some other things to our winter arsenal.
Here are 2 of my favorites that you can easily make at home and have on hand. (These recipes can be adapted to fill any size jar. I note what size jar I used, so you can adjust amounts accordingly).
Cinnamon-Coconut Oil-Honey Elixir:
This winter, I keep reading about the benefits of cinnamon, raw honey and coconut oil for the immune system. Cinnamon is said to relieve congestion, stimulate circulation, be anti-inflammatory and is also a anti-microbial agent that kills bacteria.
Coconut oil has myriad benefits, check out some of them here. It and raw honey (honey that has not been pasteurized) has powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and can strengthen the immune system.
I thought, why not mix these goodies all together and have it on hand this winter! We take spoonfuls of this almost every day. This is a super simple recipe and tastes delicious…almost like a cookie!
Ingredients and Method (8 ounce jar):
- Mix equal parts coconut oil and raw honey together. (I used my Kitchenaid mixer, but you could do this by hand. Just be sure your coconut oil is slightly warm so it will mix well).
- Add cinnamon. I added 1 tbsp cinnamon to an 8 oz. jar. (*update: you can add more or less cinnamon depending on your taste preferences)
- Please note, if this melts, the coconut oil and honey will separate. No big deal…just give it a stir!
Honey-Lemon-Ginger ‘Tea':
Honey-Lemon-Ginger ‘Tea':I saw a similar recipe (honey/lemon ‘tea) earlier this year on Pinterest. Soon after my daughter had a sore throat, so I thought why not make my own batch!
This is deliciously soothing as a tea with hot water. My daughter sometimes has it with her breakfast.
In addition to the benefits of raw honey mentioned above, raw honey is also very soothing for the throat and if the honey is local can be helpful for seasonal allergies.
Ginger is very helpful for stomach upset as well as boosts the immune system and protects against bacteria and virus.
Lemons are high in vitamin C and phytonutrients and are anti-bacterial.
Ingredients and Method (16 ounce jar)
- Fill a jar with sliced organic lemons.
- Add approximately 2-4 tbsp chopped fresh ginger.
- Fill the jar with raw honey.
- Store in refrigerator.
- Scoop 1-3 tbsp into hot water and drink like a tea.
Looking for more natural cold and flu remedies?
Here are is a roundup of natural cold and flu remedies from some of my favorite bloggers:
- Here are some great tips for avoiding cold and flu in the first place.
- I love these natural remedies for sinus infections.
- Elderberry syrup is a very effective way to ward off or to fight the flu. Here are a couple of different recipes: One for elderberry tonic, elderberry syrup and elderberry syrup with ginger and cinnamon. There's also a great recipe for an elderberry and echinacea syrup that is delicious! I have made some and mix it with cod liver oil to give to my daughter each day.
- Looking for some cough remedies? How about an onion cough syrup?
- Keeping your vitamin D levels up is very important for sustaining your immune system. Since we synthesize vitamin D when the sun's rays mix with oils on our skin, it can be hard to maintain in the middle of winter. I know where I live in Chicago, I feel like we don't see the sun for months on end, and I know (from blood work results) that I become vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D can be a great defender against illness. Personally, I keep my levels up with D3 supplements, cod liver oil and a UVB light box from mercola.com.
- How about a cold and flu busting smoothie? This sounds like the perfect antidote!
- Here are some general immune tips to help you ward off the bugs in the first place! All natural immune boosters will do the job for sure!
- Stuck with a cold? Here are some tips to recover from a cold quickly!!
I hope you enjoyed my Roundup of Natural Cold and Flu Remedies!!!! Keep those immune systems strong and you will bypass most illnesses and the ones you do contract, you can fight off quickly!!! Stay healthy!
Pin for later:
Do you have any tips or natural cold and flu remedies you would like to share? Please do so in the comments section below!
Sources: http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/19/wintertime-immune-support/ http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/25/vitamin-d-deficiency-is-why-you-get-flu.aspx http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/12/13/holiday-spices.aspx http://www.naturalnews.com/035493_raw_honey_health_benefits_antibacterial.html http://www.naturalnews.com/031403_coconut_oil_colds.html http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/22/coconut-oil-and-saturated-fats-can-make-you-healthy.aspx Nourishing Traditions Prescription for Nutritional Healing http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=27#healthbenefits
This post is featured at: Real Food Wednesday, Family Table Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Party Wave Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Tasty Traditions, Fight Back Friday, Small Footprint Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Monday Mania, Make Your Own Monday, Sunday School Blog Carnival, Wildcrafting Wednesdays 
To combat sore throat or coughing, chop an onion reasonably fine and cover with honey. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour, then strain and take by the teaspoon full. Refridgerate the syrup. It tastes better than one might think. It really works!
Thanks for the tip!
Very useful article! And thanks for linking to my post on thymus thumping!
You are welcome!
Great resource for cold and flu season! Thanks for sharing my lemon socks, vitamin D, and elderberry posts. 🙂
Thanks for sharing such great posts with me!
I use coconut oil and raw honey in most of my baked goods! Thanks for sharing, I’ve bookmarked this post to come back to. 🙂
Thanks and stay healthy!!
This is a great “round up”! Thanks for sharing with Small Footprint Fridays! This week your post will be featured, and I hope you will link up again! Happy New Year!
Thanks a lot!!
The cinnamon-coconut oil-honey elixir is great. We have been spreading on sprouted wheat toast or mixing into greek yogurt at breakfast and it’s dee-lish!
Great! Glad you are liking it! We like it too. I think it tastes like a cookie. Stay healthy this winter!
Great information! I’d love for you to join us this Wednesday for Wildcrafting Wednesday. Wildcrafting Wednesday is a blog hop for sharing herbal uses, home remedies, and self-sufficient living. I think our readers would LOVE this! 🙂 It’s on MindBodyandSoleOnline (dot) com. Hope to see you there! 🙂
Thanks a lot! See you Wednesday!
So glad to see that you joined us today! 🙂
Hi Tamara – This is a fantastic round-up of remedies. I’m especially intrigued by the natural vapo-rub, definitely have to check that out. I’ve been making a garlic & ginger tea the past few years and found that it’s fantastic at “burning out” a cold if I catch it quick enough. Thanks for sharing the list!
http://www.simpleawesomecooking.com/2012/12/garlic-and-ginger-immunity-tea.html
Thanks Tony!!
The coconut cinnamon honey worked really well for my son this morning- and it tasted fabulous in my coffee! Cheers!
Glad you liked it!!
Thanks a lot! See you Wednesday!
I love these ideas. Please tell me how to store the coconut oil/honey/cinnamon elixir and how long can it last? Thanks.
YOu can store the coconut oil/honey mixture at room temp indefinitely. Both coconut oil and honey will last at room temperature for a long time (well,honey will last forever and coconut oil for a year or more).
I mixed some up for my son who has a cold. Ours is very liquidy as opposed to yours that looks solid. Is it just the difference in house temps? I want to make sure I made it correctly. Thank you.
Looking forward to getting the essential oils to make our own rub. Can I ask what brand oils you use? Thanks.
Yes, it would be the temp of your house. Since there is coconut oil involved, temperature makes a difference! I use Young Living oils. But any quality essential oils will work!
Hmm … curiously enough, I’ve never tried using this mixture as food! I keep it in a small jar to use as conditioner/lip balm/bath melt :p
Great information, I’m going to go make the Cinnamon-Coconut Oil-Honey Elixir right now! Thanks for including my link: build your immune system.
hay my name is gopopgle
What great recipes! Thank you. For the Cinnamon-Coconut Oil-Honey Elixir, do you store that in the refrigerator, or cupboard? Thanks again.
You could store it either place. I usually store in the cupboard! Glad you liked the recipes!!
thanks For the healthy tips, I have a natural cough medicine that my mother gave me it works wonders on a super bad cough. All you need is a red onion, a blender, food processor, cheese grater or whatever you have at hand and a little bit of honey. Process, shred or blend the red onion without adding water, strain as much juice out of the onion as you can with a small strainer then add 1-2tblsp honey warm if desired and take 1-2 tsp…not a great taste but your cough will b gone within the next day!