How to cure your common cold naturally

See, my Baby Bun loves me so much, he shares all of his loving viruses with me.

He gave me his favourite and latest cold, and I tried halfheartedly to avoid his kisses and being close to him, but toddlers are like homing pigeons…. once they have their sights on you, you have no chance of avoiding their diseases.

So this is kind of off topic but worth mentioning, because I am not sure I have read this anywhere except in old tomes of medicinal, ‘natural’ cures of the past.

HOW TO CURE YOUR COLD

THE CURE

Chew an entire raw garlic clove (with apple jam or honey if you have any) for at least 30 seconds (treat it as spicy gum, swish the flavour all around your mouth).

Then if you want as an optional step, swallow it whole.*

It will make your stomach nauseous, you will feel quite terrible like you have a weird stomachache, but that’s the super strong garlic working to beat down those cold viruses (or at least, this is what I am telling myself as I am groaning on the bed, clutching my stomach).

Chase it down with a banana to settle your stomach after a minute or so to stop the belly aching.

*My partner said this when he heard what I did:

You aren’t supposed to swallow it! It’s too strong for your stomach!

Just chew it and swish the raw garlic juice everywhere or eat it with apple jam.

I was not taking chances. I ate the whole thing and it seemed to have killed all the cold viruses.

DOES IT WORK? HOW DOES IT FEEL?

I did this when I felt my cold coming on (you know the feeling)… and I was crying (streaming tears came out of my eyes) in pain from the spiciness of the raw garlic, my breath stinks to high heaven (still does, even the day after), and my entire mouth was on fire with a strange spiciness.

My eardrums started throbbing with the rush of blood.

I was in PAIN.

I am NOT used to spicy things AT ALL.

Even pepper is spicy if it is too much.

I suffered through about 5 minutes of pain, sniffling, then my nose immediately dried up but then became worse later on in the evening about 2 hours later (runny nose, stuffy sinuses, fatigue, headaches, etc), so I popped a few aspirin and went to sleep early.

The night went by all right, I only had to wake up twice to blow my nose and I felt some scratchiness in my throat from the nasal drip bacteria.

Then I woke up.. pretty much cured.

It has been about 3 hours since I have been up and my sore throat is pretty much gone, I still smell my breath stinking of garlic (from it still digesting in my stomach), but my runny nose is pretty much gone, and I don’t feel bad at all.

No headache, haven’t taken a pill, drank two cups of tea and my nose is a little runny but not horrible nor stuffed.

I ate another raw one later on in the afternoon when I felt myself sniffling again.

I’ll keep doing it if it at least makes me FEEL better without any sinus medication that I am not sure about. At least garlic is a food I eat.

IS IT BETTER OR WORSE THAN JUST SUFFERING?

Comparatively speaking, I could have been suffering from a runny nose, headache and feeling like crap, running a fever for 2 more days at least (if Baby Bun is anyone to go by).

But.. I am inclined to believe the raw garlic clove basically killed my cold virus without a whimper. You just can’t do it if you plan on going to work because IT STINKS.

WHAT ABOUT ZINC OR COLD-FX?

My friend swears by zinc tablets or cold-FX but frankly, I have seen people pop these expensive things, and then end up with a cold anyway.

The best way to avoid a cold is to avoid people (and babies) with colds unless you happen to have a cute Baby Bun who wants to cuddle up on your body and be held all day long while he suffers through his own cold.

Also, stay away from daycares. I am fairly sure one little girl who had the beginning of a cold, was the one who gave it to Baby Bun when we went for a little play date.

NEVER AGAIN.

You should wash your hands with warm water and soap when you come home, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth until you do, and drink lots of water and eat vitamin C.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A COLD?