During the off-season, it’s not so difficult to catch a cold or SARS, and there the flu can come. There is little pleasant in this: fever, cough, severe runny nose, sore throat and soreness, weakness. Of course, you can defeat the disease with the help of drugs. However, in some cases, folk remedies for influenza will also help.
What is the flu. Symptoms of the disease
Influenza is an acute respiratory disease. Its viruses cause several species (A, B, C). It is important to note that influenza caused by type A virus is most severe. The main source of infection is the person himself. Influenza is especially actively transmitted in the initial stage by airborne droplets. Usually, few take this disease seriously. However, untimely treatment threatens with complications, and then folk remedies for influenza and SARS will no longer help. Usually, the first symptoms appear 2 days after infection. The virus enters the respiratory tract, and its vital activity adversely affects the epithelium, which must fulfill a protective function. The body becomes defenseless against other viruses and bacteria. That is why folk remedies for flu and colds at home are best used at the first signs of the disease. Typically, the first symptom is a fever. There are frequent cases when it rises to 40 ° C. A person feels aches in his whole body, muscles hurt and aching. This condition is accompanied by headaches. As a rule, the common cold and cough are not characteristic of the flu in the first days of the illness. Acute respiratory diseases, on the contrary, are manifested from the first days by rhinitis and cough, which gradually changes from dry to wet. As with the flu, a person feels tired, fatigued. If the disease is caused by a virus, then treating it with antibiotics makes no sense. Using certain folk remedies for flu and colds, you can significantly alleviate your condition and help the body give a worthy rebuff to the disease.
The right flu drinks
Everyone knows that during an illness, doctors recommend drinking plenty of water. But it should be saturated with vitamin C. An ideal drink is a rosehip or currant infusion. Such folk remedies for influenza are rich in ascorbic acid. Dry rosehips must first be chopped. Then 5 tablespoons of berries pour one liter of hot boiled water. This is best done in a thermos, so the drink will receive all the necessary substances from the dog rose. He must insist for at least 8 hours. You can use the infusion every time you have thirst. You can add a few tablespoons of honey, but this is recommended immediately before taking. The second no less valuable source of vitamin C is blackcurrant. Jam, frozen berries, leaves (both fresh and dry) - all are suitable for the preparation of a healing potion. Next, we will discuss what other folk remedies for influenza our grandmothers used.
Raspberries, viburnum and other antipyretic drugs
One of the most effective means by which you can lower your body temperature is raspberries. It is best to eat fresh berries that can be grated with sugar. However, jam and tea from the leaves and branches of this plant will be no less useful. Such folk remedies for flu and colds at home for children will be completely safe and effective, since the amount of salicillates in the berry is insignificant. To make tea, you need to pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of jam with warm water. In order not to destroy all the beneficial properties, it is not recommended to use boiling water. Infusion should be drunk in sips. After taking such a medicine, sweating will immediately increase, so you need to have dry bedding and clothes in stock. Viburnum also has similar antipyretic properties. It is best harvested in the fall. Grated berries with sugar are perfectly stored in the refrigerator. Cranberry tea is another great antipyretic. Prepare it like raspberry. Pounded berries are poured with water, then the infusion is filtered. Cranberries are antibiotics of natural origin, well regulate heat transfer processes in the body and reduce temperature. Folk remedies for flu and colds have also proven themselves well (at home, as you can see, you can prepare quite a lot of medicines) based on linden. The drink is prepared just as easily: the flowers are poured with boiling water and infused. Such a drink has an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic effect, and also softens cough. In addition, linden tea is very tasty and fragrant, it is enjoyed with pleasure not only by adults, but also by children.
Folk remedies for flu and colds for children
Not all infusions and alternative medicine are suitable for lowering the temperature and alleviating the condition of young children. For babies, a decoction of dry cherries will be an excellent way to quench thirst and lower the temperature. Fruits must be poured with water (approximately 0.5 liters per 100 grams of fruit) and evaporate a third of the total volume over low heat. Also, to restore the mineral balance, it is useful to give the children a decoction of raisins. Such a drink is just a storehouse of nutrients. All these folk remedies for influenza for children are complemented by regular carrot juice. It is rich in vitamins of groups A and C. Ginger tea can also be offered (by the way, it is also recommended to use it as a means of preventing colds). Grate ginger root, add honey, lemon - and the healing drink is ready.
Spices in the fight against colds
Not everyone knows the fact that spices are powerful immunostimulants and have long been used by our ancestors as folk remedies for influenza. In the cold season, cinnamon helps protect the body. Half a teaspoon of this component must be poured with boiling water, add honey and a little black pepper. Such a tool has good antibacterial properties. Unexpectedly, but very effective seasoning in the fight against influenza is the most common bay leaf. If at the end of the preparation of the broth add 3 leaves of laurel to it, then such food will be not only tasty, but also healthy. This spice does not allow viruses to spread, has a positive effect on the immune system, and is also able to relieve pain. At the first sign of a sore throat, clove will help. It is necessary to grind it (or take it already ground), add a little (at the tip of the knife) into a glass of boiled milk and insist for about 10 minutes. To drink in very small sips. You can simply rinse the sore throat with milk. A mandatory component that yogis use to treat colds is cardamom.
Tea based on it is prepared like this. For half a liter of water you need to take 9 pcs. cardamom, add a little clove (5-7 inflorescences), a cinnamon stick and half a teaspoon of grated ginger. Such a composition must be boiled for about 5 minutes. Then a glass of milk is added and all this is once again brought to a boil. If desired, it can be sweetened with honey when consumed. A good remedy for colds is milk with the addition of turmeric. It will warm the body, help relieve sore throat.
Onions and garlic - natural antibiotics
If the disease began to attack, then these folk remedies for influenza should be used as soon as possible. Urgently cut the garlic and onions into several slices. The essential oils that they contain have excellent antibacterial properties. Vegetables must be replaced after a few hours. However, it is worth remembering an important point: you only need to inhale the fumes. In no case should you put crushed garlic or its pieces directly on the nasal mucosa. The result of such actions can be a burn of the skin.
You can still cook and garlic drops. To do this, about 100 grams of crushed garlic need to pour vodka. A drop of such a drug should be dripped onto the tongue, held for a while, and then swallowed. Such treatment should last at least three days. Due to its antiseptic properties, garlic is indispensable for bronchitis, pneumonia. It must be added directly to food. Of course, people who have problems with the digestive tract need to eat onions and garlic in limited quantities.
Folk remedies for flu with onions have been used for a long time. One way to treat a cold with it is as follows: mix the chopped onion with honey, sugar, add water and cook this mixture for 3 hours. Keep the medicine in the refrigerator. Take a tablespoon several times a day. Such a mixture is an excellent method for the prevention of colds.
We treat cough with folk remedies
To get rid of a cough, it is not necessary to use special pills and syrups. For starters, you can try folk remedies for flu and cough. To prepare a medicine based on milk and onion, you need to take a head of onion and garlic. You will also need 1 liter of milk, in which you need to cook root vegetables to a soft state. Then honey is added (about a tablespoon). The mixture is ground to a puree state and consumed every hour in a tablespoon. Such a medicine should be given to children in a teaspoon.
A good helper in the fight against cough is black radish. It is rich in alkaloids and other beneficial substances. In the fruit, a rather large depression is cut out, which is filled with honey. After some time, the radish will start up the juice. The resulting mixture should be taken in a tablespoon several times a day. It is important to note that such a medicine is very tasty and even small children like it. The fruit can also be reused by adding a fresh serving of honey.
The classic cough remedy is milk, honey and butter. Folk remedies for influenza are offered a recipe and such a mixture for warming the bronchi: take one tablespoon of vodka, oil and honey and melt it all in a water bath. It is noticed that when taking such a medicine, the cough passes pretty quickly. Of course, it can only be used by adults.
And for children, coniferous syrup is suitable. Prepare it from young cones of pine or fir. Pine buds are cut into small circles, placed in a glass container and sprinkled with plenty of sugar. You can also add raspberries, honey. You need to store such a drug in the refrigerator. There is also such a cooking option: pour the resulting mixture with a glass of boiling water and simmer on the steam bath for 8 hours.
Salt and other anti-rhinitis medications
At the first sign of a runny nose (and during the cold season and with the goal of preventing it), you can use ordinary table or sea salt. To wash the nose, you need to prepare such a solution. In a glass of boiled warm water, 1 teaspoon of salt is dissolved. Then, it is necessary to rinse the sinuses with this liquid. The technology of the procedure is as follows: close one nostril and inhale the second one. This should be done so that the water passes through the nasal passages and gets into the oral cavity. You can use a small syringe. The main thing is to thoroughly irrigate the mucous membrane. Young children can be instilled with a few drops in the nasal passages. This tool effectively dilutes the mucus, leaches pathogens from the nasal cavity. Breathing is easier, and a runny nose is much faster. With this solution, you can gargle with the first symptoms of a sore throat. The tool perfectly removes inflammatory processes and has a light disinfecting effect. It is best to use sea salt for the preparation of the solution, since it is rich in all kinds of trace elements. You can also add a few drops of iodine to enhance the effect. Hot foot baths will help cope with rhinitis. Dry mustard can be added to the water (and then to the socks). Aloe juice, Kalanchoe, and beets are used as drops for the nose. For the treatment of young children, these products are diluted with water. As for adults, the bath proved to be quite good in the fight against a runny nose.
Pregnancy and colds
Bearing a child is a crucial period in a woman’s life. At this time, it is especially important for her to pay due attention to her own health. Unfortunately, even the common cold (not to mention the flu), transferred in the early stages, can harm the baby. But treatment with conventional drugs is also unacceptable, because all chemicals enter the child’s body. Therefore, it is better to use folk remedies for flu and colds for pregnant women. If the disease already makes itself felt, you should immediately start drinking plenty of fluids: raspberry, linden teas, warm milk with the addition of honey.
Do not drink a lot of tea with mint or lemon balm. For sore throats, a lemon will help. A slice of this fruit and its juice can destroy the pathogenic flora. You can also remove the inflammatory processes in the throat by rinsing with tinctures of sage, chamomile, salt solution. All kinds of inhalations have proven themselves well. They can add essential oils, herbs. But it is worth remembering that at a temperature it is better to refuse such procedures. If there is an increase in body temperature, then folk remedies for influenza
during pregnancy will come to the rescue
: currants, cranberries, raspberries. You can apply compresses to your head (a piece of cloth or a towel moistened with cold water). Very often during a cold headaches are observed. You can get rid of it with the help of a leaf of cabbage, which should be attached to the head. When coughing, milk with butter or
goose fat will help
. Well softens the bronchi and respiratory tract natural cocoa butter. Its piece must be slowly dissolved and swallowed. Such a method of combating cough is also known: cabbage leaf is spread with honey and applied to the chest. This compress perfectly warms the respiratory system. After some time, you can see that the honey is completely absorbed, and the leaf began to fade. Future mothers cannot soar their feet, but holding their hands under a stream of hot water is very recommended.
It is worth knowing the list of medicinal plants that are dangerous for pregnant women. These include wormwood, mint, fern, rue, celandine.
During an illness, the body spends a lot of energy fighting viruses, so nutrition during this period should be balanced. Do not use fatty, heavy writing, light fasting will only benefit.
General recommendations for the prevention of acute respiratory viral infections
In order to minimize the risk of infection, it is important to follow simple guidelines. Regular ventilation of the room is an excellent disinfectant. Wet cleaning should be done as often as possible. In the period of colds and epidemics of influenza, it is better to refuse to visit crowded places. But it’s a must in the fresh air. Of course, do not supercool, clothes should be warm enough. But overheating is also dangerous. Moderate physical activity is the key to a healthy body. Even regular exercise will help keep your body in good shape. Stress also negatively affects the state of the immune system, reduces protective functions. Food should be balanced. On the table must be present seasonal fruits, vegetables. Onions and garlic are excellent natural remedies for the prevention of colds. Regular consumption of vitamin teas will only benefit. To strengthen the immune system, you can prepare this mixture: in chopped nuts, dried apricots, raisins, add honey and lemon passed through a meat grinder. Such a vitamin meal will greatly enhance the defenses of our body. If it was not possible to defeat the disease, then it is impossible to postpone a visit to a specialist. In some situations, only medications prescribed by a doctor can cope. This is especially important if a small child or a pregnant woman is ill.