There’s no magic pill to cure the common cold overnight, but these natural remedies may help you feel better faster.
Honey
One of nature’s strongest demulcents, honey coats irritated throat tissue and helps reduce inflammation. It literally sticks to your throat and forms a protective barrier over raw tissues.
Studies have found that simply consuming one tablespoon of raw honey before bed can work as well as, or better than, typical OTC cough suppressants. Plus, it’s safe for kids and adults over the age of 1. Raw honey’s natural antibacterial and antioxidant effects also fight inflammation right where it happens.
Saline nasal rinse
Rinsing your nasal passages with warm saline (saltwater) washes away thickened mucus as well as allergens and pathogens that are caught in your nose and sinuses. It moisturizes swollen nasal tissues as well.
The use of a neti pot or squeeze bottle, or saline nasal spray rinse, can help relieve stuffy sinuses by opening up nasal passages. It also improves nasal breathing and does not cause rebound congestion like nasal decongestant sprays do. For safety and to avoid infection, make sure to use distilled or sterilized water, or water that has been boiled and then cooled to make up saline rinses.
Zinc lozenges
If taken within the first day of symptom onset, zinc lozenges can reduce the length of your cold by up to 33%. Elemental zinc ions that dissolve from the lozenge directly inhibit rhinovirus attachment to nasal/throat mucosal cells, thus preventing the virus from multiplying as quickly.
For best results, look for lozenges that contain either zinc acetate or zinc gluconate, and take them every couple of hours as soon as you feel the first signs of a sore throat.
Saltwater gargle
Mix half a teaspoon of salt into a warm glass of water and gargle. Salt will provide almost instantaneous relief to your sore throat because of osmosis. Salt will pull water from fluid-filled tissues of your swollen, inflamed throat, decreasing swelling, pain, and discomfort right away.
It will also help loosen any thick mucus deposits while rinsing away bacteria and viruses that may be remaining at the back of your throat.
Steam inhalation
Breathing in steam (whether from a hot shower, bowl of steaming water, or facial vaporizer) provides direct hydration to dry, irritated passages in your throat and thins thick mucus.
Inhalation won’t kill the virus itself, but the steam helps loosen congestion in your nasal passages and chest so you can clear your breathing passages more easily. Steam also relieves sinus headaches due to pressure.
High-dose vitamin C
Although daily vitamin C will not keep you from ever getting sick, increasing your vitamin C consumption at the very first sign of a cold will lessen the severity and shorten the duration by a few days.
Vitamin C aids your body’s white blood cells in fighting infections. So when you are fighting that nasty cold, eat foods high in vitamin C or take a high-quality supplement.
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
Black elderberry extract contains strong antioxidants as well as flavonoids that prevent viruses from entering and infecting healthy human cells.
Some clinical trials have shown that when elderberry syrup, lozenges, or extracts are taken at the onset of an upper respiratory infection, they can significantly decrease the length of time and physical intensity of cold and flu symptoms by reducing inflammation in the airway and assisting your immune system to fight off viral infections.
Aggressive hydration
When you have a virus, it’s important to be extra hydrated as your body is losing fluids quickly due to increased mucus production, perspiration, or fever.
Warm fluids, like clear broths, herbal teas, or water with lemon, will help keep your mucous membranes hydrated and thin out thick secretions so your body can expel them. Warm fluids also promote increased blood flow to the throat and nasal passages, which feels soothing and comforting.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
- What are the health benefits of elderberry?
- Honey: An effective cough remedy?
- Zinc lozenges and the common cold: a meta-analysis comparing zinc acetate and zinc gluconate, and the role of zinc dosage
- “Drink plenty of fluids”: No harm in fluids for colds and flu – PMC
- Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold – PMC
- Effects of steam inhalation on nasal patency and nasal symptoms in patients with the common cold
- Saline nasal drops reduce the duration of the common cold in young children by two days
- Sore throat
