Coming Down with a Flu? Treat Your Flu at Home! Here's Our Take on How to Beat the Flu Naturally!

Before highlighting the simple ways to tackle influenza, it is crucial to highlight its symptoms. Influenza, also commonly known as the flu, causes mild to severe illness. It is absolutely vital to take it seriously, for it can prove to be fatal at times. People suffering from flu feel some or all of these symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, and fatigue. Bear in mind that symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea are also common in children suffering from flu. Adults do not usually suffer through stomach problems during this illness.

It is also important to realize when you can go for these simple yet natural home remedies that we’ve enumerated below, and when is it absolutely important to seek medical help. You need medical assistance if you’re having trouble breathing, pain in your chest, sudden dizziness, or severe vomiting. These symptoms underline the severity of influenza.

This very first item on our list is pretty simple. Keep yourself, hydrated! Intake of large amounts of water and other fluids is vital if you have the flu. This is correct regardless of whether you have the respiratory flu or stomach flu. You can get severely dehydrated during flu due to fever and diarrhoea, which are the two common symptoms of flu. These water losses should be prevented at all costs. You can also get dehydrated due to irregular intake of food or drinks. Furthermore, intake of water assists in keeping your nose, mouth, and throat hydrated. This is important for your body to get rid of built-up mucus or phlegm.

The simple solution to prevent dehydration is keeping yourself hydrated by consuming large quantities of water, coconut water, herbal teas, freshly made juices, soups, and broths. Eating fruits and vegetables can also tackle dehydration easily. A sign that you are hydrated is the need to urinate at regular intervals and the colourlessness of your urine. You might be dehydrated if the colour of your urine is yellow or amber. Avoiding smoking is another useful strategy to prevent dehydration.

The next one is pretty simple and has been used as a traditional remedy for ages. You can simply steam your way to beating the flu! Breathing in the steam from a hot pot of water can assist in soothing your nose, sinuses, throat, and lungs. This steam inhalation utilizes water vapour to aid in loosening mucus congestion.

Warm, moist steam also relieves swelling in the nose and lungs. Retrieving the affected person from dry cough, irritated nose, and tightness in the chest are just some of the added bonuses. Here are a few approaches in which you can heat water for steam. You can either heat it in a pot on the stove, a microwave-safe bowl, or a vaporizer.

However, you should not intake steam from boiling water. You should be cautious about testing the temperature of the steam before breathing from it. Keeping your face and hands at a safe distance from the steam is utterly essential to avoid scalding or burning yourself. Another tip would be to add a few drops of essential oils or a medicated vapour rub to the water to achieve antiviral and antioxidant benefits.

Honey has a plethora of benefits. It has numerous antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. If you mix honey in tea with lemon, it promptly eases sore throat pains. It’s an excellent cough suppressant as well. Honey soothes irritated mucous membranes that help eliminate the irritated mucous membranes, which aid in the eradication of irritation that fuels the cough reflex. So much that studies have highlighted that giving children about ten grams of honey at bedtime significantly reduces the severity of their cough symptoms. On consuming honey, these children slept sound. Resting well also reduces the effect of flu.

However, bear in mind that a child younger than one-year-old should not be given honey since it contains botulinum spores. Even though these are nearly harmless to older children and adults, infants’ immune systems aren’t strong enough to fight them off. A few cough syrups present a perfect amalgamation of dark honey, vitamin C, and zinc. Both Vitamin C and zinc, as this article will also illustrate further, help improve your immune system. Therefore, opting for these syrups is the best solution to the flu.

Gargling with salt water helps prevent respiratory infections. It also reduces the severity of flu by great degrees. A cherry on the top is that it aids in breaking nasal congestion as well as eradicating viruses and bacteria from your body. Gargle salt water in your throat to ease any soreness in it. By loosening and reducing the mucus in your throat, it also assists in the removal of allergens.

There are two ways to try this remedy at home. First, dissolve one teaspoon of salt in a glass full of water. Then, swish it through your mouth and throat. In a few seconds, spit it out and repeat. The second way to go is to mix ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon baking soda in about 8 ounces of lukewarm water. Then, utilize a bulb syringe or a nasal irrigation kit to squirt water into the nose. Keep one nostril covered with your finger very lightly while squirting the salt mixture into the other nostril. Allow it to drain. Repeat this process two to three times. Follow the corresponding steps for the other nostril.

Garlic consists of compound allicin that is comprised of many antimicrobial, antiviral, and antibiotic properties. It is packed with minerals, enzymes, vitamin C, sulfur, and selenium; all of these ingredients help in beating cold as well as flu. Add a few garlic supplements in your food to alleviate the severity of a cold. According to various studies, garlic is effective in even avoiding influenza in the first place. Making garlic a daily part of your diet is a healthy activity. Some people also go for a complete clove to seriously enhance their disease-fighting immunity.

Another study that underlined the immense benefits of garlic stated that individuals who took a regular garlic supply for three months gained the ability to fight flu much better than those who didn’t. Garlic gives you a superpower! For this reason and many more, it has been a home remedy for cold and flu for way longer than we can remember. Except you have an allergy to garlic, it is utterly beneficial. If you’re not a fan of its taste, shop for garlic supplements online!

Menthol works its magic in many ways. Relieving the body of blocked sinuses and congested airways are just a few to name. Menthol is derived from various kinds of mint plants. It has antibacterial and pain-relieving effects as well. For these reasons, menthol is a common ingredient of vapour rubs.

Adding menthol to warm water for steam inhalation is one of the ways in which you can consume it. Even though a lot of studies have underlined menthol’s role in reducing irritations, there is limited research on its effectiveness in clearing out congested airways. Other studies have highlighted that vapour rubs containing menthol, eucalyptus, and camphor considerably improved sleep in children as well as adults with influenza symptoms. Resting is another way to reduce the impact of influenza. Therefore, menthol tackles the common flu in a plethora of ways.

A thing to bear in understanding is that menthol can cause stings in sensitive skins. Therefore, resort to other natural remedies if your skin is sensitive.

Probiotics are healthy bacteria and yeast that are found in the body, food, and supplements. They assist in keeping the gut and immune system healthy. Researches also indicate that probiotics alleviate your chances of getting sick with an upper respiratory infection. Other studies highlighted that probiotics aid in protecting the immune system against flu viruses.

A tip to intake these probiotics in a delicious yet healthy way would be to include probiotic yoghurt in your diet. Apart from the numerous advantages that it offers to one’s immune system, yoghurt is a healthy snack that delivers many proteins as well as minerals. It is rich in calcium; in this way, it strengthens your bones as well. For this, opt for products that enlist bacteria on the label.

Furthermore, probiotic supplements can be bought online from any health store. They are also present in foods such as miso, tempeh, and sauerkraut. One tip to bear in the brain is that probiotics work well on healthy guts; for people with weak guts, they do more harm than good.

Vitamin C plays a crucial role in enhancing one’s health. It is absolutely vital for keeping the immune system healthy. A plethora of studies have underlined that vitamin C prevents cold, reduces its symptoms, and benefits in numerous other ways. Even though more research is needed for Vitamin C’s effects on the lines of influenza reduction, it is generally considered to be reliable as well as cost-effective means to reduce the effects of flu.

Limes, oranges, grapefruits, leafy greens, lemons, and avocados usually contain high levels of Vitamin C. If you’re not a fan of citrus fruits and green vegetables, you can always opt for the vitamin C supplements available in pharmacies and online. The addition of fresh lemon juice to hot tea along with honey helps in the reduction of phlegm when you’re sick. Intake of warm lemonade also helps. Even though these drinks may not eliminate the flu entirely, they can always help in the buildup of vitamin C itself. Vitamin C relieves upper respiratory tract infections as well as other illnesses.

Zinc lozenges assist in making one feel better, very fast if you take them as soon as you feel the symptoms of flu kicking in. For optimal effects, it is advised to use one or two lozenges per day. Zinc helps boost immunity that ultimately leads to a reduction in the severity of the flu. Not only is this, but the duration of the flu also greatly alleviated with zinc intake. However, it is recommended that you check with your family doctor once before taking zinc for it may interact with antibiotics and react negatively.

The way zinc lessens the symptoms of flu and shortens the duration of the cold has made it a popular choice for many. It is believed that these effects result because zinc prevents rhinovirus replication in the body; this is the very virus that causes the common cold. You can intake zinc as a tablet, lozenge, or syrup. It is also available in the forms of a nasal spray. However, follow the instructions on the dosage as per the packaging. Excess intake of zinc may cause nausea as well as stomach aches.

eg. Adcold G

These are consumed to dry out the nose. The medicine containing antihistamines tends to make the user sleepy; therefore, avoid complex tasks such as driving or cooking while you’re on these medicines. Tablets of Adcold G, containing antihistamines, are available at prices as low as Rs. 30.45 from Med India.

eg. Alerchek

These are consumed to relieve oneself of stuff and clogged nose. Bear in mind that the common side effects of these medicines are insomnia, nervousness, and irritability. Individuals who are pregnant or have uncontrolled high blood pressure should avoid pseudoephedrine products. Drops of Alerchek, containing decongestants, are available at prices as low as Rs. 139.5 from Net Meds.

eg Analgesic Gel

These are consumed to relieve oneself of fever and pain. It is recommended that you cautiously read out the entire medicine package labels. An excess intake of these medicines can damage your liver. Furthermore, check with your family doctor before you go for these or any medicines for that matter! Analgesic Gel is available at prices as low as Rs. 50 from India Mart.