Drug-free colds

You heard me whine about it all last week, and you get it once more.  I got super sick, and it hung around and I was miserable.  But now I'm feeling better!  Hooray!


As part of living simply, I always try (emphasis on try, because sometimes I get annoyed and need the symptoms to go away NOW) to keep away from over the counter cold and flu medicine because letting the illness run its course and not adding all those yuckies the meds seems to be better.  So I've kind of figured out what works for me (until I can't sleep because my lungs decide to stop working--then I give in to the nyquil).  Here are a few homemade cold "medicines" in case you, too, might be interested in a drug-free cold.


Super duper hot toddy
10 oz water
1 Ecchinachea tea bag
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 Tsp fresh ginger root, chopped
1 oz whiskey
2-3 sprinkles cayenne pepper

Boil water in a kettle with tea bag.  Allow to steep for 10 min.  While steeping, coat mug with honey, then add lemon juice, ginger root and whiskey.  Once tea has steeped, pour into mug and stir.  Add a few sprinkles of cayenne pepper.  Enjoy! (or try to...)

Homemade cough syrup
I found this amazing recipe on youtube while searching for a good cough syrup recipe.  It works very well and doesn't taste quite as terrible as over the counter syrup.



And some links!

7 Homemade Alternatives to Controversial Over-The-Counter Cold Medicine
Homemade cold remedy
Cough and cold remedies