Natural Cold & Flu Remedies

Ugh! Cold and flu season. Many people hate this time of year, but you don't actually have to feel this way though. We are here to help give you some ALL NATURAL remedies to help PREVENT and TREAT illness so you don't have to dread this time of year. Autumn, our amazing marketing genius, has gathered this helpful info to ease you and your family through the cold and flu season. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who might find it useful.

How to Prevent Illness

Your body can defend itself well when you have a good functioning immune system. To prevent illness make sure that you are getting adequate sleep and exercise, reducing any stress, not bombarding your body with unnecessary harmful chemicals, and eating a healthful diet. The best foods to boost your immune system are plants. Fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, mushrooms, grains, seeds, and spices contain the necessary vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber to keep our bodies strong. Plants boost your immune system and help prevent illness.

Some other ways to prevent illness include eating turmeric, drinking green tea, and using essential oils. Turmeric has a yellow golden color and is packed with natural antioxidants that boost your immune system and prevent illness. Turmeric is also anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial so it kills off pathogens that enter the body. Green tea is rich in 6 different antioxidants that reduce infection of healthy cells. Each of the antioxidants in green tea helped block infection of healthy cells and weakened viruses in a 2005 "Antiviral Research" study. Green tea can be drank or you can buy extract in capsule form to eat. Essential oils can boost your immune system and disinfect surfaces around the house. Essential oils such as frankincense, tea tree, rosemary, lemon, other citrus, eucalyptus, cinnamon, clove, peppermint, basil, oregano, and many others have been proven to effectively kill harmful bacteria without any dangerous side effects. There are many ways to use essential oils. There are diffusers for homes and cars, personal inhalers, and even diffuser jewelry. You can also add them to a bath or shower, rub them on the bottom of your feet, mix them into lotions, inhale straight from the bottle, and inhale via a steam bowl. You can even mix your own blends and put them in roller balls or your own personal inhaler stick if you like to DIY. If not, there are many premade products on the market that you can purchase. Be sure to dilute with a carrier oil if applying to the skin.

How to Treat Cold & Flu Symptoms Naturally

Sore Throats, Congestion, & Coughing: Herbs such as plantain, licorice root, slippery elm bark, marshmallow root, echinacea, thyme, lemon, garlic, and ginger can soothe sore throats, relieve coughing, and aid in a speedy recovery. Plantain is also a natural gentle astringent that dries up excess mucus and reduces runny noses and phlegm. You can find premade herbal lozenges from brands like Zand, St. Claire's, and DoTerra for easy quick relief. You can also use essential oils such as lemon, clove, eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, peppermint, ginger, and German chamomile to relieve sore throats, coughing, and congestion. Peppermint and eucalyptus are extremely helpful with clearing sinuses, relieving respiratory issues, and helping to stop coughing. Try applying a blend of oils to the outside of your throat or gargling them for 30 seconds. Repeat as often as you need to. Be sure to dilute to 2% with a carrier oil. If you want to use something a little gentler that doesn't need to be diluted you can try hydrosols. Hydrosols are also known as flower waters and have the same benefits as essential oils. Try spraying one directly into the throat, gargling, or applying a warm compress to the outside of the throat. Warm salt water is another sore throat remedy that's been around for years! Gargling warm salt water relieves sore throats by pulling and killing the invading bacteria from your mouth. Drinking tea for sore throats helps to open up sinuses, reduce mucus, provide hydration, and provide pain relief. Traditional Medicinals and Yogi make fantastic herbal tea for sore throats, congestion, illnesses, and upset tummies.

Upset Stomach & Vomiting: Lemon balm, peppermint, turmeric, chamomile, anise seed, ginger, fennel, juniper berry, and CBD (cannabidiol) can all be beneficial for relieving stomach aches, gas, nausea, and vomiting. Try making or buying an herbal tea to drink, eating peppermints, or taking natural lozenges.

Fevers: Fevers are an inflammatory response and is a way your body is naturally trying to kill off an infection. Having a fever is actually a good thing. It means your body's immune system is taking action against an invader. Viruses and other illnesses live and grow at normal body temperature, but they can't survive at higher temperatures. Microbes begin to die at around 102 degrees. This is why your body needs to have a fever. If you didn't have a fever you would never get over your illness. A fever of less than 107 degrees, according to the U.S. Library of Natural Medicine, is not likely to cause brain damage or other issues unless you have more serious symptoms. Reducing a fever can be harmful and can increase the length of time that you are sick. Using medications to reduce fevers goes against your body's natural response, and it has to take the time to process the medications instead of fighting off the illness. Using herbs and essential oils to help your body sweat more while strengthening your immune system makes the fever process go much quicker. Herbs such as yarrow, boneset, cayenne, catnip, cleavers, elder flower, elderberry, lemon balm, white willow bark, turmeric, and green tea are very beneficial for fevers. Turmeric brings down inflammation and boosts immunity. Yarrow, boneset, catnip, and elder flower are antiviral and they open your body's pores, encouraging you to sweat the fever out. Boneset is famous for breaking fevers due to the flu. It has most notably broke Dengue fevers. Lemon balm along with white willow bark, yarrow, boneset, and cayenne help to bring down very high fevers. Echinacea and elderberry are most beneficial at supporting your immune system. This helps to reduce the severity of the illness and aid your body in fighting it off much faster! You can also use essential oils that redden the skin such as peppermint, cinnamon, and ginger to generate warmth and dissipate heat. You can use cooling essential oils such as eucalyptus, german chamomile, and spearmint to counteract the heat your body is producing and make yourself a little more comfortable. Cool rags also feel nice. All of these herbs and essential oils reduce the severity of the illness and aid in a much quicker recovery. They are also helpful with reducing muscle aches and pains associated with the flu. You can find prepared natural homeopathic medicines and herbal tinctures such as Ollois and Dr. Christopher's that you dissolve under the tongue or in a drink. There are also some great herbal teas like Gypsy Cold Care from Traditional Medicinals that include some of these herbs. For a DIY, mix together the herbs you would like to use and steep with water to make a tea. Add a sweetener if you like. You can also put these herbs into a bath for yourself or for your child to reduce fevers. Recipe here!

NOTE: To increase the absorption of turmeric take it with black pepper or a fat source. Heating turmeric also helps to increase the absorption rate. Seek professional advice if symptoms persist or suddenly get worse.