The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Baking Soda and Zinc
Posted by Bill (Cottonwood, AZ)
★★★★★
As soon as you feel a tickle or sensation in your throat. Take 1/2 to 1 tsp. of baking soda in a glass of water followed by a zinc lozenge under your tongue and you will never get a cold. My family has been doing this for years and it works. One night I was lazy and didn't do it; sure enough, next morning had a cold.
Apple Cider Vinegar, Baking Soda
Posted by Caitlin (Austin) on 01/21/2019
★★★★★
As long as I keep grains non-existent in my diet, I don't catch colds. But when something is going around my neighborhood and even food carts at the supermarket may have cold germs attached to them I start to feel a sore throat, sneezing, congestion appearing -- especially during flu season. Here's a remedy that I got off Earthclinic years ago that still works quickly and brilliantly if you catch those symptoms when they first start:
1/2 tsp baking soda + 1 tablespoon of Apple Cidar Vinegar in 6 oz of water once in the a.m. and once 1 hour before bed. For me, it works EVERY time. Gave this remedy to my daughter one night when she was so congested she could barely breathe. She took it; her boyfriend refused. Next morning, she went to work; he didn't. Took the stubborn lad a week before he finally relented and took "the remedy." He slept like a baby and went on to work, greatly uncongested the next day. As usual, check with your doctor first especially if you are salt intolerant, have stomach issues, or taking medications. Fasting once -twice weekly can also help build up your resistance to colds.
Garlic
Posted by Agnes (Warsaw, Poland) on 12/17/2014
★★★★★
Garlic is wonderful as a preventative method for staving off common cold. When your flatmate is coughing and sneezing and you start feeling this funny itchiness in your nose, peel a garlic clove and press it so that volatile oils could evaporate. Keep it near your bed - viruses/ bacteria will not bother you.
Zinc
Posted by Prioris (Florida, US) on 10/15/2014
FYI: There are several kinds of zinc that you can take for colds. But only two kinds of zinc are actually effective against colds.
The best kind is zinc acetate. It's the only kind of zinc that consistently slashes the duration of a cold in half. Zinc gluconate was the second best choice, but zinc acetate worked much better.
None of the other kinds of zinc were effective at fighting colds.
Why are zinc acetate and zinc gluconate effective and other kinds aren't? Because they both release zinc in the form of a positively charged ion. The ionic form is what makes the difference in whether zinc can cure your cold or not.
They discovered that zinc acetate was best. Zinc acetate releases 100% of the zinc in an ionic form. Zinc gluconate was second best. It only releases 70% of its zinc in the ionic form.
The researchers also found that you need at least 75 mg of zinc acetate a day to fight colds. And finally, they found that zinc is only effective when cold viruses are exposed to zinc for at least 20 minutes at a time.
Since zinc needs 20 minutes of exposure to fight colds? pills, syrups, or sprays simply won't work. You need slow-dissolving lozenges that release the zinc right where the viruses are.
Sea Salt
Posted by P (Middle, Fl) on 12/06/2011
★★★★★
Last couple of weeks I was assisting an elder to hospital & doctor visits and at the same time we cought a cold front. Well my hubby, son and myself caught a cold in the same order. Well I helped them get over it with my usual concoctions and made them to tea for myself, but I must have stopped a day too short because it hit me real hard the day after and man I haven't felt that in a long while! Being angry at myself for getting fever, running nose, sleep I went to EC my favorite site in the whole wide world! ;) and searched cold remedies, hoping to find a quicker remedy than the one I do; and low & behold I did!
1 teaspoon in a glass of water knocked it right out; like minutes later my congested head stop feeling congested, my nose immediately stopped running and my cough subsided, fever went down! Wow!
It suggests 2tsp, but I couldn't, it was too much! Maybe my new excitement will allow me to do it again.... U know; one for the road!
Apple Cider Vinegar, Cayenne
Posted by Julia (Gaithersburg, Maryland) on 11/18/2011
★★★★★
Someone posted on here a wonderful recipe which I tried, with a few modifications, and I just wanted to let you all know what I tried, because it was amazing. I have been fighting off a bug for a couple of weeks now (aches, sore throat, feeling run-down, a little sneezy) but it hadn't quite turned into something full-blown.
I made the following mixture: 1 tsp ACV, 1 tsp honey, 1/2 tsp powdered cayenne, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp water. Then sip it slowly (tiny sips). It is somewhat thick and will coat the back of your throat. It tastes surprisingly good, soothed my sore throat instantly, and started to clear up my sinuses and the "lump" in the back of my throat which was developing. I have taken this mixture a couple times a day for the past two days and I'm feeling much better.
Vitamin C
Posted by Kathleen (Chicago, Illinois) on 10/26/2011
★★★★★
For colds, 4000 milligrams of Vitamin C spread out over the day (1000 milligrams after each meal and before bed).
I try to start the remedy as soon as I feel a tickle in the back of my throat or nose or nose congestion that I know signals a cold. Usually, I feel great the next morning or at the very least within two days.
The very best of health to everyone.
Hydrogen Peroxide in Humidifier
Posted by Sharon (Greenville, S C Usa) on 08/12/2011
★★★★★
You can also use peroxide in your humidifer when suffering from flu, colds, etc. Add 1 cup of peroxide to the tank and fill with water. Set humidifer close to your bedside so you can breathe the mist. Works wonders in stuffy nose and congestion.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Kaite (Windows, Ontario, Canada) on 11/09/2010
★★★★★
I couldn't imagine going through any sort of congestion, runny nose or cough without this stuff. It brings immediate clarity to my sinus congestion as well, it actually breaks up the mucus build up in my lungs. Just recently I was diagnosed with bronchitis and was prescribed penicillin.
I'm not crazy about this particular antibiotic because it just wipes out all of my body's good bacteria, not to mention pills are hard on your liver. I told the pharmacist to put a hold on the penicillin and I will kill the mucus with the oregano oil. It worked, no need for the penicillin, within a week, my lungs had cleared up and I was my old self again. One thing that I also admired was the taste it left in my system; a lot better than tasting bile when you cough!
Garlic
Posted by Neukoln (Edinburgh, Scotland, Uk) on 10/10/2010
I absolutely swear by taking raw garlic for knocking a cold on the head. Garlic takes 1.5 to 2 hours for its effects to be felt. So, when you first start taking it for your cold you need to take it every 2 hours, for about 4 doses... Then there is enough in your body to have an effect on your cold symptoms.
I take it this way: get a large clove of raw garlic or two small ones, chop it up very fine, put it on a spoon and swill it down with a cup of water. When my symptoms are really bad (i.e. At the start) I sometimes take two large cloves at a time. Once your symptoms dip down you'll get a feel for how often to take it thereafter. They'll come back if you haven't taken enough, for long enough. I promise you that it works. I thought I was dying last night cos I felt so bad, but I got up every two hours (I couldn't sleep anyway) and had a finely chopped clove of raw garlic with a cup of water. By the morning my symptoms were OK, not gone but a lot better. I took another clove 4 times through the day, and I feel well enough to go to work tomorrow. Amazing stuff!
Hydrogen Peroxide in Humidifier
Posted by Alexandra (Toronto, On) on 11/11/2009
★★★★★
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to all of the wisdom on this site. I have been using all of the information for a couple of years but haven't written in till now. Two of my kids (14 and 18) came down with colds this week and then started running fevers. My daughter has also been vomitting so has not been able to do the lysine/Vit C remedy for flu. She also threw up the capful of HP in 1 litre of water remedy so I tried the HP in a cool mist humidifier... I added 2 capfuls to the resevoir of water and after 12 hours of sleep she woke up - no fever, no sore throat!
Vapor Rub
Posted by Linda (Eugene, Oregon) on 09/15/2009
★★★★★
I have been reaping the rewards of the many postings on Earth Clinic and now it's time to give back. My grandmother spent some time living on an Indian reservation in the 40s and 50s and she learned from their medicine "person" a remedy for severe chest colds. Begin by using a vapor rub or a similar camphor product and rub it on the chest, back and neck. Using two thin cotton squares, (large handkerchiefs work well) wet them in ice water then apply them at once to the chest and back. Then quickly put on a heavy wool sweater, keeping the handkerchiefs in place. Add a wool scarf around the neck and pin it in place. Lastly, pull a cotton sweatshirt over all and then go to bed. This combination will do it's work during the night. By morning the cold will be gone. I used this on my nine year old daughter....she didn't like the treatment but it worked!
Good luck and thank you Earth Clinic for this wonderful site.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Susan (Springfield, Missouri) on 03/31/2008
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
I tried using the Hydrogen Peroxide in my ears for my Cold. As I was waiting for it to bubble holding my head sideways - the room started spinning. I couldn't wait the 5 minutes suggested so I just drained it and tried the other ear. Again the spinning started so I endured as long as I could. I ended up getting very dizzy and queasy and lost my dinner. It's now the next day and I'm still feeling horrible. Not sure why it affected me like this - is it my cold or the procedure??
Turmeric
Posted by Shireen (Khartoum, Sudan) on 12/13/2007
★★★★★
I am a true believer that every illness has a cure in nature without being tampered with, but I have never heard of turmeric to cure coughs and sinuses.Since I found your website by sheer coincidence, while searching for a natural remedy for my wheezing cough and river-running nose, I thought I'd give turmeric a try( 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp honey with 1 cup of warm milk)VIOLA! I could breathe again. Thank You So Much EC, you're a life saver.
Msg (!)
Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) 392 posts
Assuming you were right, still the monosodium glutamate would destroy the other functions pituitary, thyroid and most importantly, the control centers of the brain, the hypothalamus. There are countless research on the the dangers of monosodium glutamate. It should also be noted that a chicken soup, not in a canned one as it contains female estrogen, that is found in nearly all plastic lined canned foods and packaged food made from Bisphenol-A, where accumulative effects may also lead to miscarriage, obesity also.
It would be a lot safer to take L-Glutamine, which is a close cousin of the Monosodium glutamate, but doesn't have the brain damaging effects of the sodium attached to the glutamine molecules. The L-Glutamine has immune supporting effects and protect against cold. Adding l-glutamine with freshly cooked chicken soup (never canned), which is cysteine rich, with added vinegar would have been a better safer alternative. L-Glutamine is popularly used by body builders to reduce fat, but increase muscle mass, while monosodium glutamate does the opposite, by stimulating the appetite, but yet causes morbid obesity in rat studies, decrease growth and endocrine damages, so well known in many rat studies. A remedy for this cold require about two of L glutamine, with freshly cooked chicken soup and plenty of vinegar (or apple cider vinegar).
Oregano Oil
Posted by Melissa (San Diego, CA) on 09/21/2007
★★★★★
I was suffering from a very bad cold/flu, specifically horrible sinus pressure and chest tightness and coughing, and clogged ears. I love ACV, Cayenne pepper, and hydrogen peroxide for many things, but none of these provided any releif for this. I also tried Grapefruit Seed Extract, sea salt, and borax to try to kill the virus. The last thing I tried was Oregano Oil. I used one drop sublingually and put a few more drops in water and felt immediate relief from the cough/chest tightness and sinus pressure as I was able to expectorate all the mucous. I think all the remedies listed for colds, sore throats, coughts etc. have merit but apparently different people require different remedies. So keep trying until you find the one that works for you. I was starting to get discouraged that I couldn't find any relief from natural remedies and figured I would have to succumb to cough syrup and sudafed. I'm glad I tried one last thing.
