Natural Healing for Coughs & Colds

Cold and flu season makes for busy herbalists!

I’ve been playing around with natural cold and flu remedies for a few years now, and I’ve finally worked out a few recipes I love based on classic natural healing ingredients.

PLEASE NOTE:  This post is for educational purposes only, and not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any illness.  Always seek the advice of a qualified medical professional to address medical needs.

A few tips:

Use high quality ingredients.  As with cooking, your final product is only as good as your ingredients.  Local honey, first rate herbs and pure, medical-grade essential oils make for the best options.

Don’t play around.  Know your body, and know your herbs.  You can overdose on natural ingredients, and you can certainly have allergic reactions to them.  Always start with the lowest recommended dose and work with a qualified herbalist if you’re still new to the art.

Try recipes one at a time.  Don’t mix two different cough remedies to treat one cold.  You’ll get sick again eventually!  It’s easier to figure out what works best if you tweak one recipe at a time.

Okay, here we go.

Honey, Ginger & Whiskey Cough Syrup

*1 tbsp ground ginger
*1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
*4 Tbsp Honey
*1 shot top shelf whiskey
*splash lemon juice

Blend well until ginger is dissolved and black pepper is evenly distributed.  Shake or stir before each use.

Take 1/2 tablespoon every 3 hours.

Lavender Peppermint Sinus Headache Compress

*15 drops peppermint essential oil
*10 drops lavender essential oil
*2 cups hot (but not scalding) water
*washcloth

Gently stir essential oil with water in a bowl.    Soak washcloth in the solution, then squeeze out excess water.

Lie down and apply compress to your head for sinus headache relief.

Eucalyptus Muscle Soak for Body Aches

*15 drops Eucalyptus oil
*1 cup Epsom’s salts

Fill a bathtub with hot (but not scalding) water.  Add oil and salts and stir gently with your hand or a wooden spoon before climbing in.  Relax.