Winter is setting in slowly. Each of us has reasons to love the season. For a few, it is about relishing varieties of fresh vegetables; for some, it is about dressing smartly in long winter jackets, coats; for others, it's all about feeling cosy snuggled under a quilt on a chilling evening. But winter doesn’t offer all good, as on the flip side it also welcomes a period of cough and cold due to the dropping of climatic temperature. And then, start the sessions of sneezing, running nose and coughing.
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Well, every time running to a doctor might not be feasible for many of us. In such a scenario, one can resort to a few hacks which have always been advised by our grandmoms since ages. Let’s learn these simple home remedies to cure cough and cold.
You can prepare this sweet concoction pretty easily at home, as most of the ingredients are readily available in your kitchen. Take 200 g sugar, 300 ml of water, 6 bay leaves (Itej patta), 1 tbs. of sage, 1 tablespoon of white mallow, 1 tablespoon of chamomile. Begin by pouring the sugar in a pan and place it on heat.
Let it dissolve slowly until it turns brown. Now blend in the water and keep stirring until the sugar melts thoroughly. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and boil for three minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool. Now store it in a bottle. Elders can take one tablespoon, whereas small children can have two teaspoon and babies one teaspoon a day.
Garlic, the common ingredient in your pantry can give a knock-off your cold and cough. Besides being rich in antioxidants, it has allicin, which has amazing anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties.
To cure cough and cold, take 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, crush them lightly. Heat a little ghee in a pan and sauté the garlic cloves and have them. Another way is to prepare a drink with juice four cloves of garlic, two tomatoes, and a lemon. Alternately, a soup also can be made with these ingredients by adding a pinch of rock salt.
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Yes, we are talking about turmeric which is high on curcumin and volatile oils, and these properties are known to be protective and therapeutic action in relieving cough and cold. Turmeric is anti-viral too. To get the most of it, take a teaspoon of turmeric, add it to a glass of milk and boil it. You can add honey if you wish. Drink it hot before sleep, if you have scratchy throat due to cough.
Now boil the mixture and drink it while it is still hot. Alternately, you can make turmeric tea. For this boil 4 cups of water, add one tablespoon of turmeric powder and keep boiling it for another couple of minutes. Now, let it settle for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture and add a little honey and lemon and drink it.
The spices aren’t just there to enhance the taste of our food, they are effective in treating our illness as well. Make a tea by mixing 4 pods of cardamom, 4 corns of black pepper, 4 cloves, a few small slices of fresh ginger and a small piece of cinnamon in water. Now put it on flame to boil, once it starts boiling, reduce the flame to low, cover the pan, and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain it, add honey or milk as per your choice and consume when it is hot.
Likewise, take some ginger, chop them and extract the juice. Simultaneously roast a few pepper corns and now powder them. In a bowl, blend the ginger juice, pepper powder, a pinch of turmeric, a little honey and prepare a thick paste. Roll the mixture into small balls to make it into toffees. As you keep a lozenge in your mouth, place these balls and keep sucking it slowly. Repeat it twice or thrice a day.
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Nature has given us a few leaves which are rich in medicinal properties. One of them is tulsi or basil. Make a tea with this by boiling 1.5 cups of water and adding about 15 washed leaves of tulsi into it. Let it boil for 10 minutes. Now strain this decoction, add one tablespoon of lemon juice and drink while it is warm. Similarly reap the benefits of neem. Instead of regular gargling, prepare a solution by adding 3 leaves of neem in a medium-sized glass of water and bring it to a boil. Let it cool down.
Add one teaspoon of honey and gargle with it if you have sore throat. Even betel leaves are no less helpful. To make us of it, crush a few beetel leaves and extract the juice. Now take about 2 teaspoons from it and mix in 1 teaspoon of honey. If you have productive cough, have it twice a day half an hour after a meal.
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Kitchen has many such interesting ingredients which make great cure for cough and cold. So, if you are suffering from it, you can try them out, as they are safe and has nil side effects. In case the condition aggravates, resort to a doctor.