My Cold Remedies

             Many years ago in Russia, I got sick. My American friend recommended that I rest and make my family cook some chicken soup for me. It sounded really funny at that time. I didn’t see any connection between flu and chicken soup. 

After relocating to the US, I’ve learned that this is a very popular way to treat your cold. …cold or flu? To be honest I’ve never known the difference between them. I had to look it up online. 

So,

… the main difference is that the flu is caused by different types of viruses than the common cold.  Flu symptoms are usually much worse than cold symptoms, and they appear suddenly. The most common flu symptoms are fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, head and body aches. Colds are usually associated with a sore throat and runny nose. And cold symptoms usually appear gradually…

            At the very end of last year  I caught a cold. Now I know it was  a cold (not flu). My husband didn’t cook chicken soup but he made me rest. I bought some American types of medications but also remembered some Russian home remedies for colds.

My Russian remedies:

• Rest, sleep a lot. 

This is a hard one. It’s very difficult to rest when you have to go to work. So I got a doctor's note. Unusually I went to bed at 7 pm one day. According to Daniel, Crackle was very confused, couldn’t understand what was going on. 

• Drink a lot of tea with honey and/or lemon, and/or raspberry

If my husband sees me drinking tea with honey he knows I’m getting sick, because in general I don’t like honey. 

I like  real homemade raspberry jam, the one you cannot buy at the store. Sometimes I make it but I eat it very fast, don’t save it for “cold” times.  Russians believe that raspberries along with cranberries and lingonberries are very good for you  during colds. 

• Soak your feet in hot water with dry mustard (about 10-15 min), wipe them with a towel, put on wool socks and go to bed. 

Make sure you don’t have a fever when you do this.

• Gargle with Salt water

Also you can alternate salt water with a decoction of pharmacy chamomile.

• For sore throat, eat a lot of ice cream in large chunks.

 If there are any germs they will be killed by cold ice cream. It’s all kids’ favorite remedy. Unfortunately I’m not an ice cream fan any more.  

• If you cough at night, mix hot black tea (half of a glass)  with red wine (half of a glass), drink and go to bed. The cough will subside.

To be honest, I don’t remember the last time I used that one. But I firmly believe that it works.

• Don’t eat a lot. 

• Use garlic as a disinfectant.

 I  place the dishes with the chopped garlic in different rooms. Garlic kills germs. Also I like to eat raw garlic, which drives my husband crazy((((

• I don’t know what to call it… maybe lemon-honey remedy ?

Get a little bit of lemon juice on a flat small plate, add about the same amount of honey, mix it well, and … here you can laugh… lick like a kitty licking milk from a saucer. I believe that one really helped my throat. 

People say if you treat a cold, it  lasts 1 week. If you don’t, it lasts 7 days. 

The home remedies I mentioned above may or may not not really treat colds but when you are sick you try anything. 

The best way to avoid experimenting with home remedies is to prevent a cold. Dress appropriately for the weather, eat more citrus fruits, and maintain your immune system.  In Russia, I took Echinacea from September to April, and it really worked.

As a bonus, I share a first-day-getting-cold remedy:

When you get home after a day of being cold, during dinner drink a shot of vodka mixed with ground black pepper. You don’t need much just one small glass but it makes your body warm from the inside, and may prevent the cold. 

Be healthy and feel free to share your home cold remedies.