colds
The "common cold" from an Ayurvedic perspective is a build up of Kapha which are excess of cool and moist Kapha qualities and at the same time not enough digestive fire. Ginger tea is a great remedy for colds. My favourite recipes I have seen move through my communities for over 30 years. Use ginger root which you get from the grocery store. Cut 3-4 slices about the thickness of a coin - a quarter. Then put them in 3-4 cups of water and boil for 2-3 minutes. Then steep for 5 minutes and strain out the root and keep the tea in a thermos and drink about 1/4 or 1/2 cup at a time through out the day.
I have seen some other recipes ( Dr. Lad's book on home remedies) which also add a bit of cinnamon and cardamom or cinnamon and lemon grass to the ginger.
I have also had great success with Elderberry (Sambuca). You can buy it in some drug stores and most health food stores. I have also found a great clump of elderberry bushes growing in the Okanagan - harvest the berries when they are ripe and make a syrup which you can store. I can give you the recipe if you like. There is some interesting research on Elderberry that shows that it prevent the virus from penetrating the cells and replicating. So is important to catch the cold in the early stages. Zinc gluconate also does the some thing.
You can also inhale the steam from ginger and eucalyptus steaming in simmering water. Be careful when leaning over the steaming pot. You can put a towel over your head to help catch and inhale the vapour - this immediately relieves the congestion. Even just steam alone will help.
Several companies now manufacture a Zinc gluconate lozenge with echinacea, astragalus, vitamin C and Vitamin D. If you start sucking the lozenges at the first sign of a cold or flu, just when you get that little sore tickle at the back of your throat - then you can stop it in its tracks.
I have seen some other recipes ( Dr. Lad's book on home remedies) which also add a bit of cinnamon and cardamom or cinnamon and lemon grass to the ginger.
I have also had great success with Elderberry (Sambuca). You can buy it in some drug stores and most health food stores. I have also found a great clump of elderberry bushes growing in the Okanagan - harvest the berries when they are ripe and make a syrup which you can store. I can give you the recipe if you like. There is some interesting research on Elderberry that shows that it prevent the virus from penetrating the cells and replicating. So is important to catch the cold in the early stages. Zinc gluconate also does the some thing.
You can also inhale the steam from ginger and eucalyptus steaming in simmering water. Be careful when leaning over the steaming pot. You can put a towel over your head to help catch and inhale the vapour - this immediately relieves the congestion. Even just steam alone will help.
Several companies now manufacture a Zinc gluconate lozenge with echinacea, astragalus, vitamin C and Vitamin D. If you start sucking the lozenges at the first sign of a cold or flu, just when you get that little sore tickle at the back of your throat - then you can stop it in its tracks.
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