You've started noticing a slightly running a nose and that your throat is a little sore. You're probably trying to tell yourself that you aren't really sick but you probably know, deep down, that the flu has already set in. Before you go sprinting to the medicine cabinet, why not take a look around your kitchen and see what kind of natural health items you have on hand Using natural health methods to cure an illness is a fantastic alternative to trying to cure your flu with chemicals and drugs. While you will obviously want to follow all of your doctor's orders, trying a natural method of curing your cold before seeking a doctor's help might save you from needing to see the doctor at all!Most of us already understand that fighting a cold or flu is best done by drinking lots of fluids and getting plenty of rest. Your immune system also requires a good amount of Vitamin C is also a good idea. Even though you might know how to stay healthy, when you get sick your major concern is getting better quickly. This need for quick relief is what sends so many people flocking to the pharmacy. Offering fast relief is why medications are so popular. Taking these medicines seems like a good idea but they do eventually wear off and, often, your cold will last longer because, instead of working through the symptoms, the medication just puts them on hold for a little while. Instead of simply letting your symptoms linger in favor of giving you a few minutes of easy breathing, natural health cures help you breathe and kick that flu to the curb.Like the rest of us, you probably run right for the cold and flu remedy aisle of the store when you feel the sniffles set in. Most of us have made it a habit to seek out chemicalized answers to our illnesses through over the counter medications. What if you could break the habit

What if you had the remedies you needed to feel better right in your kitchen cabinets What if you could help yourself feel better without having to leave the house There are so many natural health ways to cure your ailments!Staying well and fighting off illnesses does not have to be expensive. All of the natural health cures that you need to get better quickly are probably well stocked in your kitchen already! So many people are so quick to run to the drug store the minute they feel a little sniffle when all they really need to help them feel better is a little bit of this, a little bit of that and viola! You feel well again! When you choose natural remedies you don't have to leave the house, let alone spend a ton of time trying to figure out which drug you need from the pharmacy.You don't have to resort to stuffing your body full of chemicals and drugs when you get sick. All you need to do is take the right steps to stay healthy and you can keep germs from invading altogether. Of course, once in a while those pesky germs sneak through and before you know it, you feel like you could be starring in your own decongestant commercial. It is not a good idea to take a bunch of over the counter medication in the hopes of simply sleeping through your cold or flu. Sleeping through the flu certainly sounds better than being awake through the whole thing. There are plenty of natural options to help people combat cold and flu symptoms. Try a few of the options presented in this article.

Peppers are wonderful natural health remedies. If you want an easy way to boost your immune system is to eat bell peppers, which are great sources of vitamin C. Cayenne pepper is great for the sinuses as well. Putting cayenne pepper in your tea or in other foods can help stimulate your sinuses which will make it easier for you to breathe. Using cayenne pepper when you're sick is a fantastic way to induce a sweat which will help your body force out all of the gross toxins and germs that are causing your illness.Believe it or not, onions are great for your health! Combining onions with honey to make syrup is one popular method of curing a cold. Here is how you make it: can an onion up into slices or chunks and then combine those slices with a bunch of honey and let the mixture sit for a while. The two ingredients need to be mixed together thoroughly and then the mixture needs to be left alone overnight. Take a spoonful of the mixture every few hours for the next few days and you should see your cold clear up pretty quickly. It is easy to add onions to your food, something that would go a long way to helping you stay healthy.There are elements in chicken soup that make it a good cure for the common cold-even scientists will admit it! Chicken soup is full of ingredients that are natural and contain vitamins and nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy-the vegetables and chicken really do contain healing properties-which is why opening the can of chicken soup is better for you than running for the Nyquil when you feel sick.Staying healthy can be as easy as putting a few natural health practices into action on a regular basis.

Taking preventative measures like regular exercise, a healthy diet and keeping your hands clean will go a long way toward keeping you healthy. Those are just three easy things you can do to strengthen your immune system. Those old sports clichs about offense and defense are applicable elsewhere! Your health benefits from this as well.Water is essential. Everybody knows they need between six and eight glasses of water each day but you can use water as more than something to quench your thirst. There is more to headache relief than simply taking some aspirin or ibuprofen-water is also a fantastic headache combatant. A lot of people get headaches because they are not properly hydrated. Drinking water can help your headache dissipate in just a few minutes. Water can be used for more than simple hydration. When you have a fever, for example, take a hot bath-keep a cold compress on your head but let yourself sit in the hot bath for a while. The heat of the water in a hot bath will make you start sweating, which is what will help break your fever (and it will relax your muscles as well). Sweating is one of the ways your body regulates its temperature and reduces fevers. People have used ginger as a cure for the cold or flu for years. Thankfully ginger is something that most people have on hand-either in their spice cabinets or in some of the hot tea varieties that might be hanging out in the kitchen. When you get sick it can't hurt to add a little bit of ginger to what you are eating and drinking. It's easier for you to heal when you've had some ginger. If you are a tea drinker, just add some ginger tea into your regular rotation and could will do wonders for your immune system.

Garlic is a great and healthy addition to your diet. The best way to make sure it has a chance to do its job; you want to take about 500 mgs of garlic three times a day while you're sick. One clove of garlic has about 500mgs in it. You can do this by taking garlic tablets or by simply making sure that you include a clove of garlic in each of your major meals. You don't have to spend a bunch of money to keep garlic on hand-it doesn't cost a lot of money (natural garlic is cheaper than the supplemental tablets). Don't carry your 1500mgs a day intake longer than five days. Your doctor should be called if you spend more than five days feeling very sick.

Oranges and orange juice aren't your only sources of vitamin C! You can get vitamin C from vegetables too! This is good news because it means you have a variety of options available to help you combat an impending flu! Lemons and limes are also good sources of vitamin C!

Adding bell peppers to your foods is a great idea because bell peppers are another good source of vitamin C! Not only is the addition of vitamin C infused ingredients to your food great for your taste buds, your immune system will enjoy the added boost to its strength as well.

Did you know that there is a right way and a wrong way to blow your nose It is likely that your cold or flu could hang on for a while or that you could suffer a relapse if you do not blow your nose correctly. The best way to blow your nose is to blow gently through one nostril at a time. Don't put too much pressure behind the blowing. If you don't blow your nose carefully you could cause yourself further distress. You might accidentally cause earaches. Blowing your nose probably seems gross but doing it correctly is beneficial and eventually you get over the "ick" factor. If you only sniff the sinus discharge back into your nose you will only succeed in keeping yourself sick. Don't forget about washing your hands to get rid of the germs!Using salve is a great natural remedy. Salves are useful because they can help break up congestion in both the sinuses and in the chest. The good salve recipes use ingredients that are popular because they have healing powers and can break up congestion, fight fevers, combat germs and even help you absorb the nutrients you need. Vaporub, while not strictly a wholly natural product, is a salve that does quite a bit to soothe cold and flu sufferers. Healing and getting over the cold or flu can be as simple as rubbing some salve onto your chest overnight. Some studies will show you that Saw Palmetto would be a tremendous help.

You have no doubt heard about the way that Echinacea can boost your immune system. The trick to making sure that Echinacea does its job is to keep some on hand and take it as soon as you start to feel a cold set in. Some people insist that, when taken early on, Echinacea can stop a cold or the flu in its tracks. Don't worry if you're in the middle of your cold, you can still take some Echinacea-it will help your cold heal faster and can give you some relief from your symptoms. In order to cure your cold you will need to take about 1200 mgs of Echinacea a day. To get the right dosage (taking all 1200 mgs will make you sick) take 400mg supplements three times per day.Eliminate refined sugar. Sugar makes your immune system slow and it's easier for a cold or flu to sneak into your system. Many people have reported feeling healthier after they cut out sugar-especially refined sugar. While many people opt for sugary drinks when they are sick because they like the taste, staying strong and drinking water instead is better for you. Natural health remedies are great but if eating sugary snacks and foods won't let them do the job you want them to do.One of the most powerful natural health remedies is ginseng. Getting your hands on ginseng is not difficult-a lot of the teas you already drink are probably infused with this element and you can also find it in the herbal section of your grocery store.

To save yourself time and effort, stock up on ginseng infused foods and drinks while you are well-that way you can boost your immune system a little bit every day and have ginseng already on hand if you start to feel sick. When you feel a cold starting to hit you, brew some hot ginseng tea. Ginseng will help boost your immune system so that it can beat back the flu and the hot water in the tea will help relax your throat and sinuses and give you some immediate physical relief.Steam is good. Hot baths and showers can be even more helpful than over the counter sinus drugs. Steam can relax your sinus passages which will aid your breathing. The hot water will help your muscles relax, which will help you get the rest you need to get better. Sitting over a bowl or pot of very hot and steaming water (with a towel draped over your head) is another option for people who want to use steam to aid their breathing. The towel will help aim the steam at your face and keep the water from cooling out too quickly. Steam aids in the productivity of blowing your nose because it relaxes the sinuses' hold on the discharge they contain.Drink tea! Teas that contain peppermint, yarrow and elder are fantastic remedies for people who suffer from a cold or from the flu. To make a very strong tea, put all three ingredients into your tea to get a triple punch against your cold or flu. The tea will help you sweat which is always helpful in ridding your body of the toxins that are trying to take over while you deal with your cold or flu. Killing a cold and getting well is best done by using natural health remedies. Are you sure you want to toss back over the counter medication when there are healthier and simpler remedies available There is more to life than decongestant and antihistamines when you get sick: your bottle of water can heal you just as quickly. Most importantly, to give your natural healing methods time to work, you need to get lots of rest!

It's easy to find natural health cures to common colds and other illnesses. You probably already have a bunch of great natural illness cures in your house and you just don't know it! Some people believe that natural health works faster than using medication to cure an illness. Why not give it a try-your body will thank you for it!

There is no law that forces you to choose over the counter medication if you catch the flu. Why not choose from the natural health cures that you have filling your kitchen already Why spend all that time and money standing in the pharmacy aisle if you don't have to Natural health cures are better for you!

Beefing up your immune system regularly is the best natural health remedy because it will help keep you from getting sick in the first place. More importantly, knowing how to correctly treat the symptoms you do have can go a long way to helping you combat illness and to keep yourself from accidentally making yourself sicker. Don't be afraid to be practical and use what you have on hand instead of stuffing a bunch of chemicals into your body.When you catch a cold or come down with the flu there are a lot of natural options to help you get better. Don't take a bunch of chemical based "cures" when there are better options available. Natural health is a great option for those who can take advantage of it, but it is important to listen to any directions that your doctor has given you.