I don't often get sick. I can count three, possibly four, times in my entire life that I have been really sick. I mean so sick I could barely move sick. And one of those times I worked through anyway and landed myself in the hospital. Normally I get short, mild versions of the common cold. Now the oddest part, of all (or maybe not so odd depending on your POV) is that I typically get sick on a Wednesday.
So, when the first "normal" work day after weeks of busting my butt landed on a Wednesday, it's no surprise that I woke up sick. Slightly swollen glands, rough throat, runny nose. Yup, the common cold.
After finishing up a reasonable 9.25hr shift I did the first thing that I typically do when I know I am getting sick. I reach for the home remedy. What do I use? I have two choices depending how sick I feel and the time of the day.
Option 1: Lemon & Ginger Tea with honey. I steep lemon and a touch of ginger in hot water and sweeten with honey. Best choice for sore throats.
Option 2: Hot Toddy. There are a lot of recipes for hot toddys out there, but mine is one of the most basic. Very similar to my lemon ginger tea, but add some demarrara rum to the mix. Whiskey will do in a pinch.
A note on honey : The darker the honey the better. Regular honey is just fine, but many darker honeys of known medicinal properties. Buckwheat honey, for example, has been proven to be as effective on colds as a DM cough medicine. Read the study here
Both of these remedies actually work extremely well for me. Of course it helps that I have a kick ass immune system. The only problem is that even when the symptoms don't show...even when I don't even know I'm sick - I am a carrier. That is why my friends call me Typhoid Mary.
So what home remedy for the common cold do you swear by? What works best for you?
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