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Tag: colds

  • Cough Remedies to Help You Through the Holidays

    It’s that time of year and we aren’t just talking about the holidays. It is now cold and flu season, which could certainly put a damper on any holiday festivities you have planned. If you do come down with a cold and need a cough remedy to keep you from hacking all over everyone’s Christmas dinner, check out some of the tips below.

    Natural Cough Remedies

    One of the best natural cough remedies is honey, particularly raw honey that was made locally. MayoClinic says that studies have shown that honey can be just as effective as a cough remedy as cough medicines. You can take two teaspoons of honey twice per day or put two teaspoons of honey in a glass of warm milk with a little lemon juice to help soothe your cough.

    Drink thyme tea. This German treatment for coughs and other respiratory issues is said to work wonders. To make the thyme tea, put a teaspoon of crushed thyme leaves in a cup of boiling water and let it steep for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes is up, use a strainer to remove the leaves, let the tea cool off a bit and drink up.

    Simply stay hydrated. According to WebMD, a bad cold can cause a postnasal drip, which can irritate your throat and cause a cough. If you drink plenty of fluids, this “helps to thin out the mucus in postnasal drip,” which can help you either get rid of the cough or at least make it less severe.

    Best Cough Syrups

    Don’t care for natural remedies and want to go the medicinal route? There are dozens of different over-the-counter medicines that help with colds, so it can be difficult to know which one to buy. If you want something to keep you from coughing every five seconds, the main thing is to look for a cough suppressant, which usually contains dextromethorphan (DM).

    Delsym DM is a cough medicine that many people swear by. Unlike some of the other cold medicines, this isn’t an all-in-one solution for every cold symptom you have. Delsym DM suppresses your cough and loosens up the mucus in your chest. Make sure you read the label before purchasing, though, as it isn’t for people of all ages or for people with certain medical conditions.

    Another cough medicine that people are big fans of is Robitussin-DM. Not only does it work to suppress your cough, it also contains a mucus expectorant that loosens up the mucus in your chest.

    Avoid Spreading Germs

    If you do get a nasty cough, there is a proper way to cough to avoid spreading germs. The Red Cross has put together a video demonstrating the proper cough technique below.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • Beer (Lots of It) May Help You Stave Off Colds

    Good news, everyone: next time you drink a case of beer and awaken in your front yard, smelling of strip clubs and Taco Bell, you can just tell everyone that you did it for your health.

    Researchers at Sapporo Medical University in Japan (yes, that Sapporo) have determined that a chemical found in beer may help protect against a common virus that could give you one of those crappy winter colds.

    It’s called human respiratory syncytial virus and is one of the major causes of lower respiratory infection in babies and younger kids. Most kids will have been infected at some point before they turn four years old. But it’s not only small children that are affected by RSV, as adults can develop cold-like symptoms from the virus. If you live in a temperate (non-tropical climate), you’re most likely to contract the virus during the winter.

    The scientists says that humulone, aka the thing in hops that makes your beer deliciously bitter, can help stave off RSV.

    In summarion, your babies need to get blitzed.

    Ok, not really. But who am I to tell you have to raise your kid? The researchers know most parents don’t want to start their babies on the sauce that early, and they tell the AFP:

    “We are now studying the feasibility of applying humulone to food or non-alcoholic products. The challenge really is that the bitter taste is going to be difficult for children.

    In reality, it’s you that could benefit from drinking more beer. The only problem is that they say you’ll need to drink about 30 beers in order to benefit from the humulone (no word on whether or not hoppier beers would cut that number).

    Wait, did I say “problem?” I meant challenge accepted. No more colds for this guy.