Natural Cold Remedies

Within the huge range of Chinese herbal remedies there are many natural cold remedies. And despite conventional Western medical wisdom telling us there's no cure for the common cold, Chinese herbal remedies have been curing and preventing the common cold for over 200 years in China. However, for natural common cold remedies to work quickly and well:

1. They must be taken as soon as you feel the first symptoms of the common cold, such as sore throat, mild cough, stuffy or runny nose, sore eyes, aching muscles in the upper back and neck, mild fever, etc.

2. You also usually need to take a higher dose of the remedy than what is recommended on the bottle. This is safe to do (see 3. below) and it's because the common cold can progress rapidly if not treated quickly with a suitably higher dose of herbal medicine over 1-3 days or so.

3. Obviously, you need to take the right remedy otherwise your cold may worsen or linger longer than necessary. This is why - even though Chinese herbal remedies are natural - they must be prescribed by a qualified Chinese herbal medicine practitioner.

4. Chinese medicine practitioners usually also recommend specific dietary and lifestyle changes to help you get over the common cold (and other illnesses) quickly. For natural cold remedies to work well - whether they are Chinese herbal remedies or not - you should, for instance, stop eating all junk food and drinks and eat simple, non-spicy, non-greasy foods like soups, broths and congee. Plain hot water - NOT cold or iced water - is also recommended to help flush toxins out of your system.

Examples of Chinese herbal remedies for the common cold are outlined below.

Natural Cold Remedies

1. Cnidium & Tea Pills (Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao Wan in Chinese)

This first natural cold remedy is an antipyretic (stops fever), analgesic (stops pain) and diaphoretic (promotes sweating). It is used specifically for the common cold with headache. Other symptoms of the common cold that indicate the use of this formula include stiff, sore neck, chills, mild fever, stuffy nose, dizziness and aching muscles. May be taken with hot green tea, hot soup or hot rice congee to encourage sweating (sweating helps clears pathogens from the body). The major herbs in this remedy are mint, which clears the head and eyes, and cnidium, which relieves pain.

This second example of the Chinese natural cold remedies is antipyretic (stops fever), anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic (induces sweating) and antiviral. It is effective against the common cold virus. It treats symptoms of the common cold like acute, inflamed sore throat, swollen glands, fever, headache, sore, red eyes. This remedy contains such ingredients as lonicera and forsythia which clear heat and resolve toxins, and platycodon which clears the lungs and throat.

This remedy is commonly used for the early stage of a common cold with dry cough. It lubricates and clears heat from the lungs. Other symptoms of the common cold that indicate use of this remedy are mild fever, thirst, headache and sore throat. The ingredients include mulberry leaf and chrysanthemum which clear heat from the lungs and upper part of the body, and platycodon which stops cough. Biomedically, this formula is antipyretic, antitussive (stops cough) and diaphoretic.

This very common Chinese herbal remedy is used for a range of health problems. It is good for people with persistent colds or flu or other viral infections, and for people who have not completely recovered from a viral infection. This remedy helps to clear pathogens from the body, improves liver and digestive function and strengthens immunity. Symptoms indicating its use include fatigue, alternating fevers and chills, the feeling of not having completely recovered from a cold, flu or other virus, poor appetite, nausea, thirst and dizziness. The major ingredients include bupleurum which harmonizes the liver and digestive organs, and scute which clears heat and toxins from the body.

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