When I asked if people were worried about Coronavirus, most weren’t, but some were. Or at least it was on their radar. Even if you’re not, we’re in that time of year when colds and viruses just love to strike. What can you do to insure you’re not a victim? Or to get better if you do succumb?

Fairytales and Fitness

 

Gargle with warm salt water at the first sign of a scratchy throat
It may be what your mom or your grandma told you to do. Turns out mom & grandma were right. According to this post on the WebMD here:

You’re creating a high-salt barrier and you’re pulling out a lot of fluids from the tissues in the throat area, so you’re washing the virus out. The salt functions as a magnet for water. It’s good for symptomatic relief. And you end up swallowing some of it, so it’s sort of helping you with dehydration as well.” (To clarify: The swallowing bit is incidental — it just tends to happens when gargling. You’re not meant to actually drink the warm salt water.)

I hadn’t gargled in years, but when this tip showed up in multiple places and my throat was a bit sore last week, I did. It didn’t hurt, anyway, and may have helped.

Try Tulsi Tea
If you read this article here, it seems that Tulsi Tea can cure everything, including cancer. It is definitely good for your immune system, and I drink it regularly. I love Allegro Lemon Ginger tea (Amazon Affiliate link here). Another popular brand, which I’ve also used, is Organic India (Amazon Affiliate link here).

Make sure that you cover your tea while it’s steeping (for about 5 minutes). Covering your tea keeps it hot, but it also helps prevents the essential oils in herbal teas from evaporating.

Covering black and green teas can allow more tannins to seep into your tea, which can leave a bitter taste — although I drink a lot of green tea, which I steep covered for 3 minutes. I don’t find it bitter, except when I let it stay covered for longer than 3 minutes.

Take some honey
I know a lot of people swear by honey in their tea to soothe a sore throat. Yes, that works. I happened to read a post when I was first feeling unwell, which recommended adding turmeric, black pepper, and ginger to raw honey and mixing it all together; approximately 1 tbsp honey and a couple of pinches of each herb. Then just lick off the spoon. It certainly didn’t hurt and it tasted good!

By the way, did you know that you actually shouldn’t bake with honey? There are several reasons why in this post here. You also should be looking for raw (there’s the heat thing again), local honey.

It may sound gross, but . . . 
Oil your nostrils. The truth is a dry nose is a pain, but did you know that there are actual health benefits to oiling your nose (and your ears, too). I know it sounds wacky. It’s part of Ayurvedic wisdom, but modern science is beginning to catch up with this ancient tradition, as seen in this post here.

Modern science has recognized this nose-to-brain connection as well, noting that the upper region of the nasal cavity, or the olfactory region, is directly connected to the brain, as is the respiratory region of the nasal cavity, which is connected to the trigeminal sensory neurons and blood vessels. These neurons are responsible for facial sensations and our ability to bite and chew.

Keeping calm is actually important
One way to keep calm (and potentially lower blood sugar, improve digestion, fight off bacteria and viruses — according to this post here, which also has instructions on how to make it, may be with Golden Milk. You can buy mixes, but it’s really not that hard to just make your own turmeric paste (like I do above) and add it to almond milk (or your milk of choice).

I, of course, love to make a healthy hot chocolate with home made Golden Milk and cacao.

When all else fails . . .
Have some chicken soup. Again, grandma and mom were right. Science is beginning to catch up with grandma and mom, too.

If you’ve never tried Pho (Vietnamese chicken — or beef, or vegetarian — noodle soup) — you should! It’s yummy. The noodles are rice noodles, which are gluten free (don’t ask me what goes into the broth, though). Although I also swear by canned Chicken Matzo Ball soup.

Have you ever tried any of these home remedies for sickness?

Which one sounds appealing to you?

Have you tried Pho? Do you want to now?