Healthy Living

If you are one of those people who can tell when you have a cold coming on, then it can be stopped, or at least minimized, in several ways naturally. Firstly, rest is essential. There is no way your body will self-heal in a stressful situation. If you have to work, take it easy or delegate a bit more, and watch your diet and nutrition. Lemon juice, rose hips, parsley (not if you're pregnant) and fresh oranges all contain vitamin C, so take them. It is even worth while to consider adding a dietary supplement rich in vitamin C to boost the body's resources.

Some colds can actually be completely stopped by gently sniffing a mixture of lemon juice and warm water up your nose, if you are brave enough. Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds contain zinc, a mineral important in cold prevention, so take some of those. Otherwise, its time to sweat those built-up toxins right out through the skin. Start with a peppermint tea, and take some garlic or garlic capsules. Then boil a large onion in milk for an hour, eat it, and drink the milk. Follow on with a steaming cup of lemon juice, honey, cinnamon and grated ginger which will stimulate circulation and sweating. Enjoy it in a mustard footbath which will also warm up the blood - use multiple and layered remedies and take them as an opportunity to treat yourself.

For a mustard footbath, take 1 tsp. yellow powder mustard and one of household soda (if you have hard water). Put them in a deep basin with some water as hot as you can stand. Keep your feet and lower legs in for about ten minutes, topping the bath up with fresh hot (not boiling) water. Dry off, put on thick socks and climb into a freshly warmed bed, the earlier the better.

Sometimes it can be hard to escape that shivery feeling that happens when you get too cold. A good immediate remedy for this is to wrap yourself in a duvet until you feel warmed.