Cold and flu remedies

Cheap, healthy and easy-to-make alternatives to paracetamol and cough mixtures

Garlic and Honey Syrup

• Put 10 sliced garlic cloves in a jar
•  Add honey and leave for a few hours
• You can either take this syrup as it is, or add a few teaspoons to hot water.

The honey draws the juice from the garlic, which makes a healing syrup good for sore throats and chest infections. 

Both the garlic and the honey are antiseptic, which will help to kill the bacteria. Garlic also has sulphur compounds which are anti microbial and help the body fight infection. Garlic can stimulate cell growth

Sage, Rosemary & Thyme Throat Gargle

• Crush all the herbs with a pestle and mortar
• Add a teaspoon of each herb to a teapot and cover with boiling water
• Allow to cool and  gargle
• You can also drink this hot, with a pinch of fresh ginger - it will help to sweat out a cold

All of these herbs have antiseptic properties. Sage is used to relieve excess mucous buildup. You can also chew the fresh leaves to soothe sore throats.

Rosemary is a good decongestant and is also good at easing muscle pain.

Thyme is a powerful antiseptic and is good for bronchial problems and ginger is good for strengthening and healing the respiritory system. It also removes congestion, soothes sore throats, removes headaches and body aches. 
 
Onion Cough Syrup 

• Finely chop an onion and put it in a bowl of sugar. The sugar draws out the juice from the onion and you have a cough syrup!

The same ingredient that brings tears to your eyes gives onions their ability to fight disease. This sulphur compound also thins the blood and helps prevent dangerous clots while lowering blood pressure and possibly reducing cholesterol levels. Onions also possess the ability to kill a wide variety of germs.

And, for asthma victims, onion extract may even relieve allergy-induced bronchial constriction. 
 
Recipes courtesy of Dee Atkinson, owneer of Napiers Herbal Dispensary