Whole 30: Day 17 – Natural Remedies for Colds, Digestion, and Overall Health
We all get colds, headaches, fevers, scrapes, bruises, and other illness from time to time. Sometimes they come out of no where, and sometimes they creep up on us slowly but surely. Regardless of how they appear, we all also have the common medications or remedies we do to take care of various illnesses. Yet, many of these common medications or antibiotics we sometimes use have negative side effects and contain ingredients that are contrary to the promotion of health. I’m not trying to argue that medications are bad – I still take them when I have a severe illness of some sort. However, I want to make the case that maybe, just maybe, there are some natural remedies out there that can deal with some illnesses better than some medications can.
Here are three common foods that work well in healing common illness such as colds and flus, as well as aiding in digestion/energy levels:
- Garlic
- Filled with antioxidants, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral agents
- Helps fight virus strains, colds, flus, chest infections, digestive disorders, fungal infections etc
- Active ingredient “Allicin” loses potency when heated, so try to eat the garlic raw
- Lemon
- Contains Vitamin C
- Filled with Flavanoids and antioxidants
- Helps fight colds, flu, and bacterial and virus infections
- Digestive tonic (the citric/absorbic acid helps balance blood’s PH by alkalizing the body)
- Coconut Oil
- Contains Vitamin E and Anti-Aging properties
- Increases energy, metabolism, hormonee balance, lowers cholesterol, brain function
(Information taken from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition “Traditional Medicine” Lecture)
For the last few days, I was feeling like a cold was coming on and had some chamomile tea with lemon/lime a couple days ago and felt way better after. Today, I was feeling the drainage in my throat again so I boiled some water, chamomile tea, ginger, Cayman limes, and a touch of apple cider vinegar to make a cup of tea. I then poured the tea in a cup where I had placed some minced garlic. I don’t eat garlic often, but have been trying to incorporate it into my diet more due to its great medicinal and antiflammatory effects. After drinking this tea and taking a nap, I felt way better. Shows what a natural remedy and sleep can do for you!
If you would like some more information on Natural Remedies, check out this link below from Wellness Mama: http://wellnessmama.com/1499/natural-remedies-for-illness/
Overall, Day 17 went well! At this point, eating whole foods with no added sugars and no treats isn’t hard but has become a habit. I’m still doing my best to spice things up each day to ensure that I make this journey better and more enjoyable as the days go on. 30 days is a long time, trust me – but it’s all worth it, all worth it in the end. My digestion is working well, my energy is consistent, and I’m enjoying blogging each day and sharing with you all 🙂 I hope these last 17 days have been awesome for you like they’ve been for me. Thank you for journeying with me thus far!
17 days down, 13 more to go! Let’s do this!
