Have you got a cold, the flu, the snuffles or a sore throat?
If so, here are a few more effective remedies, rather than reaching for the Panadol and Lemsip or going to the doc for some pills.
1) Gingery, Lemony Goodness
Simmer together; hot water (mug per person), 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 garlic cloves garlic sliced, sliced ‘thumb of ginger, and ¼ tsp (more if you can handle it) cayenne pepper. Simmer for about 15 mins, then strain and add lemon juice from half a lemon, raw honey (or maple syrup or molasses) to taste.
Gargle thoroughly and drink.
You can also add cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, peppermint, coriander seeds, cardamom pods
2) Eat a lot of garlic during acute phases. Add more to the above drink, take it raw or however you like. Vampires beware!
3) Use antibiotics naturally herbal formula (available from me and made from organic herbs and put together by a UK based master herbalist). These are a great herbal formula to have in the house if you feel that you are fighting an ínfection’ that doesn’t go away easily.
4) Take Hot Mustard and Detox Baths
The idea here is to help the skin detoxify as well as through the lungs and lymphatic system (as with a sore throat, cold or cough).
Run a bath as hot as you can stand. Add a tablespoon of English mustard powder, 2 cups of Epsom/ magnesium salts, 1 cup bentonite clay, 1 cup of Himalayan, celtic or sea salt, 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup borax. Add essential oils; lavender, lobelia ad eucalyptus are great additions. Stay in the bath for 20 minutes.
5) Chlorine Dioxide
Chlorine dioxide is a great cure all. You can read more about how to use it here. If you come down with any acute symptoms. try the following:
-Six activated drops, then if still feel symptoms two hours later, take six activated drops again. If still feeling symptoms an hour later, then take two activated drops every 15 minutes for two hours.
6) Add in the Basics
If you are feeling run down it’s easy to just ‘power through’, however there is a reason that your body has less energy, it wants you to rest and sleep!
So do the following:
A) Rest and Sleep; go to bed earlier, nap. Take time off work.
B) Work with the Fever; of course monitor the temperature if your patient is young or elderly, but mostly a fever is a good thing- work with it, heat up the patient rather than trying to bring the temperature down. Work with your body - it knows best! Use the bath as in 4 above or wrap up the patient in blankets and hot water bottles or a mixture of both.
C) Get Sunshine; if the sun is out, then sit in it (sunscreen free), even better take yourself to the beach if its close by, lie on the sand, swim in the water- you’re getting grounding in and the amazing healing benefits of the sun. I feel that the sun helps us recharge our batteries on a cellular level.
D) Grounding- if you can’t get to the beach, at least pop bare feet on the grass, soil, sand- if it’s cold- even a few minutes is good. If you live in a cold country think about investing in grounding mats and sheets
E) Fast- when we are sick, often we don’t want to eat much and this is good as your body wants to give the digestive system a rest to concentrate on getting you better. So water fast, or stick to light broths, green juices, soups, salads or fruit. You do not need to ‘keep your strength up’. A few days without proper meals will not harm you and is likely to be beneficial.
F) Drink lots of water and herbal teas, lemon water, ginger in hot water , green juices or the recipe above. Most of us don’t drink enough and this is often why stagnation happens in the lymphatic system and toxics build up.
It’s Just a Detox!
Colds and flus are just your body’s way of pushing out the toxins that it has accumulated, so let itrun its course rather than suppressing the symptoms with drugs.
Use your down time, to consider where these toxins could have come from? Water, food, drugs, vaccines, chemicals, negative emotions, stress. These can all play a part. Consider how you can take these elements out of your life to stop you getting sick.
Get well soon!
Ally van de Pol is a Naturopathic Practitioner and consults in person in Sai Kung, Hong Kong or via Zoom, from
anywhere in the world.