Natural Home Remedies for Colds - Colds

While colds are here to stay -- for now -- you don't have to be totally at their mercy. Thankfully, there are some safe home remedies to ease your symptoms once you're sick.

Home Remedies From the Cupboard

Chicken soup. Science actually backs up what your mom knew all along -- chicken soup does help a cold. It's one of the most beneficial hot fluids you can consume when you have a cold. Scientists believe it's the fumes in the soup that release the mucus in your nose and help your body better fight against its viral invaders. Chicken soup also contains cysteines, which are good at thinning mucus. And the soup provides easily absorbed nutrients.

Honey. Make your own cough syrup by mixing together 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture into a jar or bottle and seal tightly. Shake well before using. Take 1 tablespoon every four hours.

Salt. The inflammation and swelling in the nose during a cold is caused by molecules called cytokines, or lymphokines, which are made by the body as it fights the infection. Research has shown that washing away these molecules can reduce swelling. You can make your own saline drops or spray by adding 1/4 teaspoon salt to 8 ounces water. Fill a clean nasal-spray bottle or dropper with the salt water and spray or drop into each nostril three or four times. Repeat five to six times daily.

You can also make a saltwater gargle for your sore throat with the same ratio of salt to water. Salt is an astringent and helps relieve a painful throat.

Sesame oil. Dry nasal passages are prime breeding grounds for the cold virus. Although doctors typically recommend saline nose drops during the winter to keep nasal passages moist, a recent study compared saline drops to sesame oil. The people who used sesame oil had an 80 percent improvement in their nasal dryness while the people who used traditional saline drops had a 30 percent improvement. While it may not be a good idea to shoot sesame oil up your nose (it could get into the lungs), try rubbing a drop around the inside of your nostrils.

Tea. A cup of hot tea with honey does the same trick as chicken soup; it loosens up your nasal passages and makes that stuffy nose feel better. Folk healers have known this secret for centuries. They often suggest drinking tea with spices and herbs that contain aromatic oils with antiviral properties. Try tea with elder, ginger, yarrow, mint, thyme, horsemint, bee balm, lemon balm, catnip, garlic, onions, or mustard.

Home Remedies From the Refrigerator

Peppers. Hot and spicy foods are notorious for making your nose run and your eyes water. The hot stuff in peppers is called capsaicin and is pharmacologically similar to guaifenesin, an expectorant found in some over-the-counter cough syrups. This similarity leads some experts to believe that eating hot foods can clear up mucus and ease that stuffy nose.

Yogurt. One study found that participants who ate 3/4 cup yogurt a day before and during cold season had 25 percent fewer colds. But you've got to start early and maintain your yogurt-eating throughout the peak cold season.

Home Remedies From the Supplement Shelf

Vitamin C. Vitamin C won't prevent a cold, but it may help once you have a cold. Although it remains a controversial idea, some research suggests that vitamin C can help boost the immune system and reduce the length and severity of symptoms. But to reap the benefits, you've got to take a lot of "C." The RDA for men and women age 15 and older is 60 mg, but studies show that you'd need to take upward of 1,000 mg to 3,000 mg to get the cold-symptom-sparing rewards of vitamin C. For the short term, experts believe that wouldn't be harmful, but taking too much vitamin C for too long can cause severe diarrhea. Before loading up on vitamin C, check with your doctor.

Zinc. Studies have found that zinc may help immune cells fight a cold and may ease cold symptoms. The most effective zinc lozenges are those that contain 15 to 25 mg of zinc gluconate or zinc gluconate-glycine per lozenge. You can get the most out of your zinc lozenges if you start using them at the first sign of a cold and continue taking them for several days.

Echinacea is a natural herb that is kept in many homes because of its effectiveness in treating colds.