Home Remedies for Colds , Cough & Sore Throats

Everyday is an opportunity to support your health.

Knowing which herbs, spices and plants that are antiviral and medicinal can help keep you and your family healthier and protect yourself from flus and viruses such as Covid-19. Including them in recipes is a way to maintain good health and also create your own natural medicine cabinet.

Immune and prevention

• Raw Honey: Its antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-fungal it helps soothe sore throats and can be used for wound disinfectant and healing. Manuka honey comes from the Manuka tree that is in the Tea Tree family. 

Add to tea, hot water and lemon.

Cough and bronchitis: 

Poached pear recipe: This adaptation of a classic Chinese remedy for dry cough, bronchitis and sore throat also boosts the immune system. The original is poached pears with rock candy, but instead substitute with honey.

Poached pears are great to have in the morning as well.

• Ingredients: 2 pears (asian pears preferable) ginger, lemon, and honey.

• Cut the core from the pear, place in water with sliced ginger, bring to a boil, then let simmer for 15-20mins, then add lemon and last honey. 

• The pears will be infused with the ginger and lemon and can be stored in the refrigerator, the juice you can drink. 

• Pears contain high levels of antioxidants (cancer fighting), including vitamin C, vitamin K, and dietary fiber. The natural properties from the pear (pectin) soothes the throat and moistens dryness of the cough and reduces the phlegm. Poached pear helps to keep your respiratory tract hydrated, soothe throat irritations, alleviate dry coughs

• Great for kids and you can add cinnamon to make it a dessert

Upset stomach and lung

• Ginger: The healing properties of ginger are many and can be added to soups and tea.  For upset stomach rice that is cooked with ginger and broth until a gruel consistency is easy on the digestion especially post during illness where the body needs simple foods. Ginger has many antimicrobial and anti viral properties and aids with digestion and upset stomach.Research shows fresh ginger is effective against respiratory viruses.  Ginger is a root that is added to almost all Chinese herbal formulas because it helps with absorption of nutrients.

Cough, asthma and bronchitis:

• Thyme: Thyme for bronchitis. Studies showed Thyme along with primrose helped with cough and bronchitis and was far superior for treating bronchitis compared to a placebo.You can make thyme flavored water, by taking fresh sprigs and bruising to release the oils in the herb and infusing water. You can keep cooled in the refrigerator.

If you don’t have fresh thyme, you can make tea with dried thyme, add 2 tsps to a cup of hot water and let it steep.  

• Tulsi tea: ( holy basil) Research shows it is a “super herb” that has antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, the list is long for it’s healing properties. It is ideal for immune support and easy to keep with you in tea form or as an essential oil.

Tulsi is excellent for asthma and coughs, it can be inhaled by using essential oil in a diffuser or a couple drops in the palms and taking a couple of deep breaths, the healing. You can purchase tulsi tea in the supermarket or online.

Natural Remedies for a Sore Throat

Most sore throats are from a viral infection from a cold or a flu, but they can also come from a bacterial infection as in the case of strep throat. 

The nose and throat are the gateway of infection into the body. At the onset of a scratchy or sore throat taking natural remedy can quickly and effectively relieve the inflammation and  prevent more serious infection. The key with any medicinals is to use them appropriately to support the body’s natural healing mechanism.

Most natural remedies are safe to use and effective for children and during pregnancy, but it is always wise to consult your doctor if you have any concerns.

Classic Chinese herbal remedies from the Han dynasty 200BC-220AD to Qing dynasty 1644-1836 successfully treat sore throats as well as more serious febrile diseases. They are in use today because of their efficacy.

Yin Qiao Ma Bo San: Honeysuckle, Forsythia, and Puffball powder)  Treats severe sore throat with difficulty swallowing as with febrile diseases such as covid-19.  

Contains: Honeysuckle, Forsythia, burdock root, Belamcanda Rhizome, .Puffball, the fruiting body of mushrooms), 

Forsythia: (Lian Qiao)has anti-inflammatory properties and is a main herb in many Chinese herbal formulas involving sore throats and fevers. 

Honeysuckle: (Jin Yin Hua) studies show that it has strong anti-viral properties. In chinese herbal medicine honeysuckle is called Jin Yin Hua and is a main herb in many formulas used for prevention and treatment of Covid-19. 

Burdock root seed: (Niu Bang Zi) Burdock root is both food and medicine. In Chinese medicine it is called Niu Bang and the seeds Niu Bang Zi are used for treating “heat” conditions such as fever, cough, and a sore, red swollen throat.  It is combined with other herbs to create fever formulas and “heat” conditions.

Heat conditions in Chinese medicine are inflammations such as arthritis or infections, in particular studies show that Burdock root is anti-inflammatory and also antioxidant meaning that it is cancer fighting. Research shows that the extracts of burdock root are able to break down the biofilm of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics treatment of bladder infections. 

Puffball mushroom(Ma Bo) -  Mature fruiting body has many antioxidant properties and broad spectrum antimicrobial activity.

Yin Qiao San: (Honeysuckle and Forsythia powder) Treats fever, headache, cough and sore throat. This is the early stage of getting sick, and patients take it as soon as they feel a little scratchy throat. The chief herbs Honeysuckle and Forsythia.

Research  shows this formula is effective for upper respiratory infections and common colds. It is a classic Chinese medicine formula.

Ban Lan Gen and Da Qing Ye: Isatis root and Isatis leaf treat influenza and sore throat. Usually these herbs are part of a formula, but can be found and used as a single herb in a tincture or in a lozenge form in an Asian herbal shop.

Herbs and herbal teas can be brewed alone or in combinations, all one needs is hot water and let them steep. Teas can also be stored in the refrigerator as a cold beverage. 

• Peppermint tea: Helps with digestion and the menthol in peppermint helps with opening the sinuses. In Chinese herbal medicine it is called Bo He and is a chief herb for sinus and throat formulas. 

• Dandelion flower tea: Sore throats and mastitis, it is also good for “heat” conditions such as  bladder infections and inflammation. In Chinese herbal medicine it is called Pu Gong Ying and is used in formulas for breast tenderness and mastitis with breastfeeding and detoxing the liver.  Studies show that dandelion also helps with liver function and  has anti-diabetic effects which helps with blood sugar regulation.

• Honeysuckle: Use for sinus upper respiratory tract infections including colds, influenza, pneumonia, digestive disorders and studies show that it has strong anti-viral properties. In Chinese herbal medicine honeysuckle is called Jin Yin Hua and is a main herb in many formulas used for prevention and treatment of Covid-19. 

• Chrysanthemum flower tea: Is used traditionally for summer teas and is as popular as green tea. It is called Ju Hua in Chinese medicine and studies show that it can help reduce inflammation, extracts of chrysanthemum show that it can help with osteoporosis. Similar to Dandelion Ju Hua also can relieve liver toxicity by “cooling” the blood. 

• Gargling with apple cider vinegar and warm salt water. Vinegar and salt water can help relieve swollen and inflamed tissue in the throat and break up mucus. Both vinegar and salt create an environment that is unfriendly to bacteria that may be causing the inflammation. They both disrupt the biofilms formed by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. 1-2 teaspoons of ACV in warm water with salt, gargle 20-30 seconds then spit.

• Honey, Lemon and Ginger for a Sore throat: I recommend to my patients Manuka honey to add to their tea with lemon and ginger.  Manuka honey comes from the flowers of Manuka shrub that are in the Tea Tree family that have stronger antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties than average honey. 

The Benefits of Burdock Root from an Herbalist

Some herbs and roots that have always been a part of traditional cuisine are revealing that they even greater powers and healing properties. Burdock root is one of those foods that when incorporated into your diet either as a food or in a tea form will aid in recovery from antibiotic resistant infections.

Burdock root is both food and medicine. In Chinese medicine it is called Niu Bang and the seeds Niu Bang Zi are used for treating “heat” conditions such as fever, cough, and a sore, red swollen throat.  It is generally combined with other herbs to create fever formulas and “heat” conditions.

Heat conditions in Chinese medicine are inflammations such as arthritis or infections, in particular studies show that Burdock root is anti-inflammatory and also antioxidant meaning that it is cancer fighting.

Research shows that the extracts of burdock root are able to break down the biofilm of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics treatment of bladder infections. 

Roots in Chinese medicine are believed to nourish and heal at the deepest levels because they come from the soil. Roots are a reservoir of minerals and vitamins because they absorb directly from the earth. 

Because it has so many nutrition and healing benefits it is considered a food staple that is found in Asian and ethnic groceries and most super markets next to turnips and parsnips. 

It can easily be shredded and boiled to make into a tea and combined with honey and ginger.

Used in soups the root, it is similar to a turnip, but has a bitter flavor, it has high nutrient value and antioxidant properties (cancer fighting).

Studies show that burdock root may help with high blood pressure as it has a relaxing effect on blood vessels in addition to lowering blood cholesterol. Many traditional soup recipes that have beef or pork will often add some burdock and perhaps that is because of the fat metabolism.

How to regain loss of taste and smell after COVID-19

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Tracking the Covid cases shows, as of January 13, 2021 there have been 92 million global cases of Covid-19, with 2 million deaths and 66 million recovered.

Symptoms such as loss of smell and tastes are not limited to the severe cases, but also to survivors of mild cases.

Studies show that 35% of people in the US have lingering illness following Covid-19. In the US they are called post-Covid “long haulers' ' and have not returned to their pre-Covid-19 level of function and health after 6 month. In addition to loss of smell and taste, body aches and pains, fatigue, low grade fevers, foggy brian in addition to autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia being triggered.  

Acupuncture is one of the best treatments to regain taste and smell.  Studies show that acupuncture is effective in treating Covid-19 related conditions such as breathlessness. 

Regaining olfactory function research shows successful recovery using auricular acupuncture.  Smell and taste are part of the central nervous system and according to an NIH study one of the crucial benefits of acupuncture is that it can facilitate the release of certain neuropeptides in the central nervous system (CNS), eliciting profound physiological effects and even activating self-healing mechanisms. 

Additional acupuncture research has shown to help with immune regulation and an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.

Methods used in Asia and China to address the coronavirus include TCM. Herbal remedies, medicinal foods practices, acupuncture and moxibustion treatments as well as self care practices aid in full recovery and prevent reinfection.