Home remedies for Cough and Cold

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Many people prefer to remain indoors during winter, but staying inside is no guarantee of safety from getting cold and cough. Follow these steps to keep yourself safe and warm during the winter season. Indian households still believe in the traditional homemade simple remedies to treat cold and cough as they are free from side effects. You can also make one simple and yummy home made recipe to treat cold and cough that is Dry Ginger Jaggery Balls.

Ingredients to make Dry ginger jaggery balls:

Jaggery (Gudh)-125 gm
Dry ginger powder [ Saunt/Sonth (hindi), Sonti (telugu), Sukku (tamil), Shunti (kannada), Sonth (bengali), Suntha (Marathi)]- 100 gm
Ghee- 125 gm
To make a Laddu or Balls, first, break the Jaggery in fine smooth pieces and mix with dry ginger powder. Mix both the ingredients well. Add ghee to mixture and mix well again till the mixture becomes smooth. Make a laddu from the mixture. These laddus are little spicy, but consume at least one laddu a day that will improve your immunization against cold and cough.

However, there are few remedies that will help you to treat cold and cough simply at home

1. Gargle with salt water: Gargling with salt water in the early morning hours will effectively reduce throat infections and cold.

2. Ginger tea: The ginger tea helps in drying running and dripping nose, expelling phlegm from the respiratory tract. The tea is also effective to soothe the common cold. Boil water, add 3 to 4 ginger pieces for 5 minutes and the tea is ready to drink.

3. Lemon, Cinnamon, and Honey: Make a syrup of these three ingredients. In half spoon of honey, add 3 to 4 drops of lemon juice and a pinch of cinnamon. Have this syrup twice a day for best results.

4. Lukewarm water: Don’t drink normal water or cold water. Always drink luke-warm water as it soothes the throat and fights against cold. Warm water reduces the inflammation in the throat.

5. Black pepper and Turmeric milk: Turmeric has a strong antioxidant that helps in treating many health ailments. Drink a glass of warm turmeric milk before sleeping helps in faster recovery from cold and cough.

6. Spiced tea: Add cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, tulsi while preparing your tea. This tea will work wonders in fighting with cold and cough.