Show 1415: Can Home Remedies Help Overcome Cold Symptoms?

This week, Joe & Terry invite listeners to share their favorite home remedies for colds. No one expects a remedy to shorten the duration of a cold–although perhaps one or two could! But many may help people feel better for a few hours if they alleviate symptoms. You can call in your suggestions to 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EST on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Or you can send them by email: radio@peoplespharmacy.com

Home Remedies for Cold Symptoms:

If you start to come down with a cold, what do you do? A lot of people reach for acetaminophen or ibuprofen, especially if they are running a mild fever. We suggest saving the pain relievers for when you have pain and welcome a fever. It is your body’s way of fighting off infection and shouldn’t need treating unless it gets really high. Does your family have a remedy like piling on the quilts designed to get the cold victim to actually run a fever? Some people turn to hot liquids to warm up when they have a cold.

Chicken Soup and Golden Milk:

Around the world, people rely on chicken soup when they have a cold. Inhaling the steam from a bowl of soup can help ease congestion temporarily. If you make your soup with lots of thyme, it may reduce coughing for a while. In China, grandmothers often make chicken soup with astragalus root, because that has a reputation for bolstering the immune response.

Vegetarians avoid chicken soup, of course, but some embrace golden milk. This traditional Ayurvedic cold remedy includes the yellow spice turmeric mixed into warm milk and sweetened with honey to taste. Just as with chicken soup, people who grew up with this remedy find it a true comfort when they are under the weather. Researchers have found that curcumin, a key component of turmeric, has definite antiviral activity (Molecules, July 8, 2022).

Several Varieties of Tea:

We have some favorite types of tea that we like to use if we feel a cold coming on.

Ginger Tea for Cold Symptoms:

Ginger tea is a lovely way to address both cough and congestion. You can make it from dried ginger, but we think it is best made by grating fresh ginger root and steeping it in hot water. If you like, it can be sweetened with honey. Some people prefer to add a bit of hot pepper, livening an already spicy drink even more.

Thyme Tea for Cough:

When we start to cough, we rely on a cup of fresh-brewed thyme tea. Using a half teaspoon of dried thyme leaves in a tea infusing spoon, we steep 6 ounces of hot water for about five minutes. This is delicious when we add lemon (and honey!). We find it really calms a cough quickly for several hours. There haven’t been many studies of this herbal remedy, but one randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial in kids with asthma found that thyme syrup reduced activity-induced cough (Allergologia et Immunopathologia, Jan. 2024). These youngsters have asthma, so it is not directly applicable to people with coughs due to colds; still, it suggests there is some activity.

Elderflower Tea:

Extracts of dried flowers of elderberry shrubs (AKA elder flower tea) contain high levels of polyphenols (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Feb. 11, 2015).  Some scientists are interested in developing medicinal compounds to treat respiratory infections based on the components of elderberries (Molecules, June 22, 2024).  Traditional herbalists recommend elder flower tea for a cough associated with a cold. Have you tried this approach?

The Sambucus fruit, elderberry, has been having a moment lately. A systematic review of its use of viral respiratory illnesses found that it doesn’t seem to prevent colds, but it may reduce the duration or severity (BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, April 7, 2021). As with nearly all our remedies, more research is needed.

Sage Tea for Sore Throat:

When we talk with Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, she frequently recalls that when she was a child, her grandmother would prepare sage tea when there were colds in the household. Rather than consume it as a hot beverage, the youngsters let it cool and used it as a gargle to ease the pain of a sore throat.

What About Vitamin C?

When it comes to vitamin C, are you pro or con? The benefits of this vitamin against the common cold have been quite controversial for decades. Nobel laureate Linus Pauling was a fan, but many doctors are skeptical, to say the least. The latest review shows that high-dose vitamin C can prevent colds in people doing intense physical activity and decrease the severity of colds by about 15 percent (Polish Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 13, 2025).  That seems like it might be worth a try, given that vitamin C doesn’t often cause side effects. The authors suggest a self-experiment using 6 to 8 grams a day starting at the earliest hint of cold symptoms. Some people will experience diarrhea at that dose and will need to lower it for their personal protocol.

Will Zinc Help Your Sore Throat?

Back in 1979, a little girl with cancer refused to swallow the zinc tablet she was supposed to take. She sucked on it for hours instead. Surprisingly, the cold symptoms she had been developing disappeared. Subsequent research has confirmed that zinc has antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2023). Have you tried zinc lozenges to treat your cold symptoms? Tell us how it went.

Do You Take Quercetin for a Cold?

The flavonoid quercetin is available as a dietary supplement. It has a reputation for fighting off viruses, possibly because research has demonstrated that it can inhibit the early stages of viral infection and reduce inflammation (Phytotherapy Research, Jan. 2022).  Perhaps this helps explain the popularity of onion syrup as a cold remedy. Many listeners have reminisced about this, which appears to have broad popularity. Have you tried it?

Vicks VapoRub:

No discussion of cold remedies would be complete without mentioning Vicks. It actually was developed (more than a hundred years ago) specifically to help with cough from upper respiratory infections. While the usual approach to using Vicks calls for it to be applied to the chest, a lot of listeners have found that applying it to the soles of the feet is also quite effective for a nighttime cough. Be sure to put on some thick socks so the sheets don’t get greasy from the petrolatum. We suspect the menthol that contributes to its distinctive aroma helps explain why it could work for a cough.