Coughs, colds and conjunctivitis

The past week or so has been one of coughs, snuffles and tickly throats. One by one we have all come down with the same ailments adding to the already full-on atmosphere of the house at the moment. Being pregnant most of the usual syrups and pastilles you would usually buy are no longer deemed safe, although in all honesty I have taken nothing more than paracetamol (twice) since Bean was born. Little by little my interaction with mainstream medicine has been weakening. The absolute desire to do right by my child has had a wonderful knock on effect on both mine and M's health. We know more about nutrition and using it to heal our bodies; we are learning new ways of using nature and the things around us to strengthen our immune system. Not that we always agree of course. I am definitely the more open-minded one when it comes to all things deemed hippy, new age, alternative, etc, etc. But very luckily, science is bit by bit beginning to back up many things used in traditional and folk medicines and giving me another leg to stand on.

So, I thought I would share with you some of the home brewed healing remedies we have been using to get through this most snotty of times.

Conjunctivitis. I am lucky enough to still be breastfeeding Bean and with this comes access to one of the most glorious liquids known to man: Breast milk! One of the many wondrous things that breast milk does is treat conjunctivitis, one squirt before bed and it was gone by the morning. Amazing stuff. Obviously not everyone has easy access to breast milk, but I have been assured that raw cow's and raw goat's milk both do the job fantastically as well.

For colds and coughs I have been passed a couple of marvellous recipes by friends and family. The first is what is commonly known as garlic lemonade. Many people and blogs talk of it's effectiveness and I wholeheartedly agree, it really does work and doesn't taste as horrific as it sounds (especially if you are a garlic fiend like me). The recipe I use is a wee bit more garlicky than most, but, as I said, I am a garlic fiend.

1 pint of filtered water
5-10 cloves of garlic peeled and lightly squashed
The juice of half a lemon (or more to taste)
Raw honey to taste

Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the garlic gloves and leave covered to steep. After 20-30 minutes strain to remove the garlic gloves and add the lemon juice and honey to taste. And voila! Quick, simple and really does work wonders.

There are a couple of recipes for easing coughs, this one from the Coconut Mama works wonders but as we have a great big bag of flaxseeds to use up I have been using one with a flaxseed base.

250ml of filtered water
3 tablespoons of flaxseeds
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of raw honey

Boil the flaxseeds in the water until it become thick and viscous. Strain to remove seeds. Wait to cool, then add the lemon juice and honey. Mix it all up and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Hopefully some of these might be of some help for you as well. Do you have any home remedies you rely on?

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