Home flu remedies

After a year and a half of not getting sick, I've finally come down with a nasty flu. 12 years of living in Asia has put me off Western cold and flu medicine, so I'm taking some herbal Chinese stuff and making my usual Chinese chicken soup. Recipe:
- fill a pot full of water.
- chop up a big chunk of ginger and throw it in
- peel a head of garlic and throw most of it in
- cut up a big leek and throw it in
- throw in a bunch of chicken wings and/or a few chicken legs
- boil on low until the chicken starts to disintegrate

Somebody once told me about a home flu remedy of beer, pears, and ginger all boiled together, though I've never tried it. Would anybody else out there like to share their home remedies?

Comments

[Richard]

Too late now but, for prevention rather than cure, Vitamin C and Zinc all through winter. Works for me...

[Nancy White]

Here's a cup of chicken soup sympathy for you. I've got it too. SXSW foo? I add some hot pepper to the soup for the sinuses, plus some herbal remedies. I find them far more effective than western cold meds, which usually give me horrible bounce back effects.

Oh, and hot steamy showers for the head stuffiness and three pillows to sleep.

[Lisa Williams]

Sounds like the chinese remedy has something in common with...chicken soup. And how can that be wrong?

Really, there's not much you can do about a cold; you can treat the symptoms and make yourself more comfortable. Soup seems like a good start.

Myself I like a nice soupcon of Sudafed, an excuse to have as many cough drops as I like, and lying down on the couch watching old movies.

For some reason it always makes me feel more sick to hang around in my pajamas (bad, bad blogger! Pajamas good!). A hot shower and fresh clothes give an even more dramatic uplift than usual when I'm sick.

[Kaiser]

Funny, I noticed I'm coming down with something today. I do the serious 姜汤 treatment myself, with as much ginger as I can stand, offset by liberal amounts of brown sugar. That's for Day 1, when I feel symptoms coming on. 板蓝根 still seems to have some efficacy at that stage. I've licked the last four rhinoviral assaults that way. After that I break out with the chicken soup, 鸡蛋羹, and symtom-suppressants like Contac or 感冒热冲击. Many folks I know swear by raw garlic, but I have my dignity to think about.

[Kevin Hayden]

Just get well soon, Rebecca. By any measure, the flu sucks.

[Ethan]

Equal parts Lapsang Souchong tea and whiskey, usually bourbon. I have no idea if it makes my cold go away any faster, but I certainly enjoy being sick more.

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

So far, the Chocolate Cure wins the prize... I just ate 2 large chocolate cookies and suddenly my head cleared and I started getting work done for the first time all weekend!

[Rachel]

There's a particular Chinese tea that we call "magic tea" in this household -- it comes in little paper-wrapped bricks, each the right size for a pot of tea -- and drinking a whole pot of it is usually helpful. Alas, because I've lost what little Chinese I once had, I can't read the label, so I don't know what's in it. Black tea, ginger, ginseng, and about a dozen other things? Well, anyway, drink lots of tea, because regardless of what's in it, the hot fluids can only help.

[Mandy]

I had a nasty flu earlier this month and went to the acupuncture university clinic near my house - I was amazed at how quickly I recovered with their help! After the interns treated me with needles, the doctor came in and squeezed my head a few places to eliminate congestion, then pinched my thumb and pinkie and I felt the pain in my throat subside right on the spot! If you can duck out and see an acupuncturist, I'd recommend it over any other remedy - and no side effects! Feel better soon!

[Guns and Butter]

Halls Defense Multi-Blend Vitamin C, Echinacea, Zinc Supplement Drops AND

Celestial Seasonings Echinacea Complete Care Tea.

Sorry, both are "Western." But they work for me like magic. I either do not get a cold or a flu OR the duration and symptoms of one are such that they are entirely tolerable.

The key seems to be the combination of echinacea with zinc, perhaps also with vitamin c.

[Robin Burk]

Just to toss in some Western science, garlic has several documented anti-bacterial and anti-hypertensive properties. Ginger ditto and leeks (in the same family as garlic and onions).

But the biggest factor here is probably the chicken. Back in the 80s there were peer-reviewed studies showing that chicken fat contains lipids which suppress viral reproduction.

Add the warmth, the fluids and the ginger and garlic to the pot and it's a pretty useful preventative.

My Ukrainian grandmother's version left out the ginger but added dill.

[Robin Burk]

Sorry for clicking too soon - ginger's useful properties are different from those of the onion/leek/garlic family. It's great for nausea, among other things ....

[Sharad]

This is an old remedy for body pain and fever and cold. Boil milk and put half teaspoon of turmeric powder, and sugar to taste. One should drink it hot and before going to bed. For better results substitute sugar with honey.

[Alisha]

My Grandma told me about this broth you make. you take garlic and limes, chop them up, and boil them in water, skins and all. It works great, taists like crap. If you mix it into tea it is a lot better.

[Alva Irish]

Chicken soup with 40 cloves of Garlic
* Antibiotic!

When garlic is slowly simmered, it mellows and becomes almost sweet in flavor.
Serve this soup with crusty bread onto which the softened garlic may be
spread.
The chicken fat is curative as well. It is good for you!

2 heads of garlic
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (3-pound) fatty chicken, cut into serving pieces
4 chicken bullion cubes
1 heaping teaspoon Tumeric
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons grated Ginger

Separate garlic into cloves and peel. Add to a small pan of boiling water,
reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.

In a large nonreactive flameproof casserole, melt 2 tablespoons butter in olive
oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken
to casserole and cook, turning, until browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add garlic cloves with their boiling water to casserole. Stir in wine, chicken
stock, bullion cubes, thyme, rosemary, ginger, bay leaf, tumeric and remaining
1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and
cook until chicken is no longer pink in center, about 25 minutes. Remove and
discard bay leaf. Transfer chicken and garlic to a serving dish.

Remove skin and chop fine. Debone chicken and break into small pieces.

Do NOT Skim fat from cooking liquid. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and
pour over chicken.
Add chicken and chopped skin to cooking liquid.

1 bowl of this soup is equal to two doses of antibiotic.

[Lee]

Suffering through my first bout of flu in over 20 years, I feel such sympathy for everyone who has it, had it or will get it in future!

Chicken soup sounds so good but what do you do if your nurse (mother) won't tolerate chicken in her house, nevermind her kitchen?

I've been living on oranges and vegetable soup for the last week, and I'm beginning to think I might survive.

[cal orey]

Apple cider vinegar with honey in chamomile tea. Take a steaming cup of this folk remedy to bed and cuddle up with a furry friend (Fido or Fluffy or both). Author of The Healing Powers of Vinegar and The Healing Powers of Olive Oil.
P.S. A homemade piece of chocolate biscotti made with olive oil may give your spirit a lift, too.