Cold and Flu Arsenal, 2009

this is for my friend D, whose son is away at college and has had a cough and cold that has his mama worried. i said i’d give her some recommendations of natural remedies, and since i’ve been meaning to do a post on what we use here, including some new ones i just learned about this year, here’s my list:

I used to get acidophilus pills for the kids/us but I try to get the friendly bacteria now through other things like yogurt and kefir.

food items we stock esp. during the flu/cold season:

organic yogurt: we like
Oikos Yogurt
Fage Yogurt
Seven Stars Farm Yogurt

and kefir:
my kids’ favorite organic kefir from Lifeway

I also recently started making our own yogurt, using this method: Crock Pot Yogurt. It works!!

We also make smoothies often, using whatever’s on hand, usually some combination of the following:

• fresh fruits like banana, pears, peaches, nectarines (esp at end of season they become affordable and you can freeze some for later use)
• flax oil (see below) or flax seeds (ground in coffee grinder first)
• frozen blueberries, peaches, strawberries (if local produce is not available, I usually use Cascadian Farms, or whatever organic brand is on sale)
• sweeteners like maple syrup. honey, brown rice syrup, agave nectar; occasionally I use regular sugar, but only a bit
• a pinch of sea salt to balance flavors
• hemp protein powder (or an occasional flavored powder like vanilla, chocolate or strawberry)
• pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or almond or other nut butter
• canned organic pumpkin
• cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• a spoonful or so of superfood
• vanilla extract
• pre-cooked oatmeal
• pineapple, canned or fresh
• orange juice, lemon juice, apple juice or other fresh-squeezed juice I happen to have on hand
• yogurt, cow’s milk, soy, coconut, or almond milk

a couple other favorite combinations that I do once in a while (they’re not as healthy, but still contain superfoods, and they’re very yummy!):
chocolate ice cream – frozen raspberries – chocolate protein powder – flax oil
honey – pecans – lowfat butter pecan ice cream – vanilla protein powder

I’m not able to make healthy smoothies for dh and dd daily (they leave so early!), so I try to make them other healthy things for their lunch boxes like copycat Jocalat or Larabars (I’ll try to do a post on that in the next few days). Here’s what some of the products mentioned above look like, to help you out at the store:

I learned a couple of new things this year from the ladies, like

olbas oil
terramin clay

but maybe we’ll try those next year. Still have to do my research.

Two other things that helps us a lot during this season (besides getting lots of rest, which admittedly we fail at often): honey-garlic-cayenne pepper, warmed in a saucepan and taken several times a day, and warm saltwater gargles. And of course, the universal remedy: chicken soup, usually with LOTS AND LOTS of garlic and ginger.