Folk Remedies for the Flu

I'm not going to talk about the WUFlu here, but I would like to discuss things in general
seen as folk remedies for the flu.

-Please note this is not medical advice, just things that have worked for me in the past that has been handed down.
I urge everyone to share what has worked for them.

#1 if you have the flu, do not lay on your back, at all, at any time. Seriously, sit up or prop up. I can't stress this enough.
I have had a friend die from the flu and it may have been caused from sleeping on her back. There is a lot of medical evidence
to support this. Some people fall in a deep sleep (or are medicated) and choke on their vomit or mucus, some will get fluid in their lungs. DONT LAY FLAT!

-drink hot spicy liquids
-eat garlic, eat honey, ginger root, celery, lemons, oranges, any kind of pepper
-Chinese Hot and sour soup is one of the best foods for the flu, but since WUFlu has Chinese origins, maybe best to make homemade instead of takeout
- Take hot showers and hot baths, lots of heat and humidity helps
- drink lots of water but make sure you are getting enough salt
Wash your blankets and sheets often
Spray & clean common household areas with peroxide
Keep your spirits up, watch comedies, get fresh air and light

Use essential oils or herb packets. I know some people think this is woo woo, try it before you bunk it.

a reply to: JAGStorm

It's not wuflu it's kung flu.

But anyway..

I had the flu real bad last year and the biggest things I will say is drink lots of fluids and I do recommend a product like ensure.

My appetite was gone so my wife forced me to drink it and she was right to do so.

I still ended up in the emergency room for an afternoon.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Having a houseful of kids, grand kids, and pets. I daily spray a 50/50 mix of white vinegar all over my house. Furniture, walls, carpets, counters, doors...everywhere. It smells like a pickle factory for about 20 minutes then dissipates.

Vinegar, be it white or malt or rosemary-infused, is about 5 per cent acetic acid. The acid kills bacteria and viruses, by chemically changing the proteins and fats that make up these nasties and destroying their cell structures.

Plus it tends to diffuse odors all in one little spray bottle. Doesn't stain or harm any of the surfaces. Also, microscopic parasites like mites avoid the acidity too.

I used to get the flu every year. It was a guarantee that I'd get it and be down for a week.
I changed my nutritional plan and haven't had it since (knock on wood)
But one that I heard a while ago that always stuck with me - Cut open an onion and put it under your bed. Supposedly it would absorb the germs/bacteria and shorten the length of the flu.
I never tried it but I do know that onions absorb everything around them so it might work

a reply to: Skorpiogurl

But one that I heard a while ago that always stuck with me - Cut open an onion and put it under your bed.

I've heard that one too. I'm not sure if onions absorb things as much as they give off a gas (that's what makes you cry)
Maybe that kills viruses.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My wife started feeling crappy on Wednesday morning...bad headache, coughing, chills.
Her father is a retired doctor and he gave her a little check up yesterday and said get to the hospital, you have to catch it within the first 24-48 hours or it’s going to linger.
But instead of sitting in the emergency room for 8 hours, she went to the walk-in clinic last night.
They said Influenza A and prescribed her Tamiflu and she started taking it last night.
This morning I get up and she is running around doing housework, saying she feels 80% better.
But I told her just because you are feeling better, you are not over it yet.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My great-grandmother died from the Spanish flu. My grandmother was an infant at the time.
A number of people in the household did not come down with the flu. The ones that didn't were the ones that ate a specific spice.... asafedita.
I have only had the flu once. I believe it was the Hong Kong flu, because it was around 1968.

a reply to: Bluntone22

It's not wuflu it's kung flu.

Everybody is kung flu fighting.

a reply to: butcherguy

Isn't Asfoetida extinct now?

Elderberry.....

Betcha

originally posted by: Skorpiogurl
a reply to: butcherguy

Isn't Asfoetida extinct now?

It stinks, but I don't think it is extinct.
You can order it from Amazon

a reply to: JAGStorm


Spot on!


May i go more specific on why not lay down.


It`s becouse of....the lymphatic system , which likes a movement very much , and there are also spices & herbs that help the lymphatic system, and help also detox it.

So , if you are on flu and lay down , the "pump" pretty much stop working , meaning the movement that stimulates the lymphatic system to move the lymph fluid slown down .

There is a shortcut here , get a INVERSION TABLE . With inversion table you use gravity to help the pump and voila! the fluid keeps moving there nicely even if you just be still.

And go look what Google tell´s about lymphatic system & immunity and you get the point...

a reply to: JAGStorm

Bourbon.


But that's pretty much my cure-all for everything.

I'll give you my recommendations when I actually get the flu (if I survive). I haven't been sick in more than a decade. And before that, the last time was around 1994. And even then I'm not sure it was the flu.

Best way not to get the flu is to be a loner. Ask me how I know. LOL

Hot toddies have never let me down... or anyone I've given them to that actually drank it! Unfortunately, some people can't get past the initial whammy...

Hot Toddy --

Boiling Water
Green Tea
Honey (Manuka if available)
Half lemon
Splash apple cider vinegar
Shot brandy
Cinnamon stick for stirring

In a large coffee mug, generously cover bottom with honey - about half an inch or a little more if the mug tapers at the bottom. You don't want to be stingy! Fill mug about halfway with boiling water and steep green tea about five minutes, covering mug while steeping. Then stir well until is dissolved. Add fresh squeezed juice of half a lemon. (Roll lemon on countertop before cutting & squeezing to maximize juice and essential oils from the peel). Add vinegar and brandy. Stir well. Drink before bed.

If it's made right, the first couple of drinks will be doozies! I tend to take a couple big gulps just to get past it. After that, the vinegar won't pack such a punch, and it will immediately relieve the sinuses. And it starts to taste pretty good, as it warms up the insides. I always use brandy (E&J) because of its antioxidants, but other liquors can provide the same relaxing qualities to help sleep. I consider brandy a medicinal staple though, so I always have it on hand.
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I've also found it helpful for respiratory infections to add peroxide, ACV, and/or colloidal silver -- all known to be antiviral -- to a humidifier next to your bed while sleeping, allowing you to breathe it deep into your lungs and nasal passages.
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Can't beat colloidal silver for eye infections either. Just a couple drops in each eye.
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For anything related to the digestive tract, I add a couple generous droppers of silver to my water bottle (and anything I drink). From nausea and diarrhea to kidney and urinary tract infections. And no, I have not turned into a Smurfette.
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Probiotics can only help pretty much anything...
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Assuming I was capable of choking it down, if I get the flu I will probably do massive quantities of Vitamin C... like 5 or 6,000 mgs per day. One or two doses could come from EmergenC, which has about 1,000 mgs in each packet I think, and is great for the minerals too. I already do about 1400 mgs per day. And I'd double up on my Vitamin D3 to 10,000 IUs per day.
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Those are my tried and true go-to's...

My own personal remedy for the flu is:
Couch - heated throw - dog (for snuggling) - hot Sherpa tea (ginger/turmeric/coconut milk) - binge watching Sex in the City re-runs. That pretty much cures everything lol!

Not the flu but an old folk remedy for the hiccups:
Close your eyes and hold your breath. Visualize yourself climbing to the top of a light pole. When you get there take a look around then climb back down. Open your eyes - hiccups gone.

a reply to: Skorpiogurl

But one that I heard a while ago that always stuck with me - Cut open an onion and put it under your bed. Supposedly it would absorb the germs/bacteria and shorten the length of the flu. I never tried it but I do know that onions absorb everything around them so it might work

I read something similar but you put the onion half with the cut side facing you on a bedside table so when you breathed out the onion would absorb the toxins. Onions absorb bacteria, etc very well.( Why you shouldn’t leave them cut in fridge not sealed )

I read they cured the Black plague in some people with this method. When waking up the onion would be black because of what came out of lungs.

Onions are interesting !

I love Oregano oil for warding off colds and flus.. very powerful stuff..
This is the brand I use..
www.amazon.ca... ive=165953&creativeASIN=B008RBPYXM

I normally make up some garlic soup for colds and flu. For hiccups, my nurse sister told me to say grapefruit juice. I haven’t had them to try it out.

I had man flu (which is more potent than any other flu) just before chrissie. 4 shots of brandy, 2 hot water bottles and into bed to sweat it out. It didn't work but I was quite happy for the night.
Don't use too many disinfectants around kids. Let them get things (as long as it's not dangerous) as that's how they build immunities.

Mix honey and high-proof whiskey until it has a syrupy consistency. Use liberally.

My great grandfathers cough syrup.



Of course when he was a kid you could buy opium at the hardware store.