Welcome back if you are here after my “How to prevent a cold/flu on a small budget“. Today let’s take a look at the cheap options when it’s already too late and you or someone in your family is already sick, how to abbreviate the duration and to help with the symptoms. Some of these are the same as for prevention. Also let me quickly say that this is not a medical blog or anything, just a mom sharing tips that have helped her :) And future posts will be about various topics.

Ginger. It’s great for cough, for nausea and helps with sweating so our bodies can flush out the germs and toxins more easily. Drink ginger tea, cook with it, throw a piece in smoothies (that’s what I do, gives a nice kick to it). There are lots of versions and types of all kind of mixes and concoctions with ginger that help either prevent or cure the cold and the flu. I usually prepare the night before some fresh lemon juice, honey, grated ginger (when I buy ginger I peel it, cut it to pieces and freeze it; then I just take out one piece to grate or for my smoothies) and cinnamon. In the morning I add some hot water (and some cold water I keep in fridge to add to teas & stuff to be able to drink right away) and drink as soon as we wake up. Usually for us adults it’s around half a mug or a little over half glass, my older boys (10 & 8) get a little less and now that my youngest is 2,5 I can give some to him too (I used a shot glass cause they’re nice and small). Usually the little one drinks it without fuss, cause the honey makes it nice and sweet, it’s basically a nice warm tea. You can either strain it or drink with the ginger pieces.

Garlic. We all know about the almighty garlic, it can kick some serious ass. The only downside about garlic is the garlic breath and the taste of course. You can cook with it, but you won’t be able to get a good dose from it. When I was little my parents and granny made a rye bread sandwitch with garlic pieces stuck inside the bread, some butter and sausage (just google “keeduvorst”), it helps with the taste but I found a better way. I don’t remember where I got that idea, but you cut the clove in smaller pieces and take them as pills with water! Without having to chew it there’s no taste and it helps a lot with the after garlic breath as well. Now that my boys are big enough they can use this method as well.

Onion. Just as with garlic and ginger, there are many ways to use onion to help with cold and flu. This page teaches how to make onion syrup and children’s onion soup for cough. I have never tried those cause I feel with ginger and garlic that’s already enough, but sooner or later I’ll try them out for sure. I’ve also heard about putting onions in socks for the night. Haven’t tried that one either, but I have tried the thing where you cut onions in half and place them either near the bed or on window sills and then the onion absorbs the bad bacteria in them. Now, I don’t know how much scientific research this has to back it up, but I swear when I do this , the sickness passes so much faster! Also it’s not anything dangerous or harmful so it doesn’t hurt to try, am I right?

Cabbage. Years ago I was really sick and my throat was just awful, my mom suggested to put some cabbage leaves on my neck for the night, over my tonsils and to secure with a scarf or a band or something. My Italian boyfriend (now husband) and mother-in-law thought I was ridiculous. But the joke was on them because next morning my throat didn’t hurt anymore and it didn’t come back either! I’ve used this a few times, mmostly when I’m desperate and it has helped really well! Again, doesn’t hurt to try.

Tumeric. Sprinkle that shit everywhere! Jokes aside it helpsto reduce fever and cold, is anti-viral and gives your immune system a boost. Here’s a more in depth explanation along with dosage and precautions.

Vitaimin C. Some of the foods high in vitamin c are:
kakadu plums, acerola cherries, rose hips, chilli peppers, guavas, sweet yellow peppers, blackcurrants, thyme, parley, mustard spinach, kale, kiwis, broccoli, brussel sprouts, lemons, lychees, american persimmons, papayas, strawberries and oranges.

Vitamin D. Get your dose of sunshine. Of course there are supplements, but I’m trying to keep this post as low cost as possible and I have no idea how expensivo or inexpensive vitamin d supplements are.

Vitamin A rich foods are cantaloupe, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, spinach, broccoli, , milk and fish. Read about more vitamin a rich foods here.

Teas: Add honey and lemon for more kick ass power to your teas.

Green tea – supports immune function and increases your metabolism

Ginger tea – reduces inflammation, helps with nausea and respiratory problems, strengthens immune system.

Linden tea – promotes sweating and is a natural expectorant

Elderberry tea – boosts immunity, helps to fight viruses and is anti-inflammatory

Echinacea tea – echinacea is widely used in herbal medicine to treat cold and flu

Blackcurrant tea – vitamin c, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral

Rosehip tea – boosts your immune system and helps to fight off cold and flu

Tea Tree oil. As I said in my flu and cold prevention article – if you can afford one essential oil, let it be the Tea Tree oil! Either use it in an oil diffuser or make a spray and spray it all around the house to avoid the germs from spreading. If you have more than one child then this is especially useful. Basically I just spray it every day around the house and concentrate whenever the sick child has been/touched. For example the couch, I spray in the batroom a couple of times and especially their bed once a day, my other son’s bed (cause they sleep in the same room). This has helped to not get us all sick every time.

Sure there are a lot more remedies, but I wanted to share the most low cost ones that have worked well for our family. Of course I didn’t talk about the most obvious ones like get a lot of rest, drink lot of liquids. Although sleep is THE BEST cure there is :) I hope you found this post useful, if you did, leave a like and comment below your best tips to cure or get over a cold/flu faster.

Thank you for reading, until the next time!