How to Use Garlic and Honey to Combat a Cold
Have you ever searched your kitchen for a natural remedy to fight a common cold? Our kitchen holds many natural remedies that are underappreciated for their medicinal properties. A fantastic combination is garlic and honey. In this post, we're going to explore the benefits of this powerful duo and how using them regularly can help you combat and prevent the common cold efficiently.
Why Garlic?
Allicin - Garlic's Secret Weapon
Garlic is a culinary staple known for its pungent flavour, but its health benefits are often overlooked. It contains a compound named allicin which is released when garlic cloves are crushed or cut. Allicin is known for having strong antiviral properties that can help fight off the common cold.
Boosts the Immune System
Garlic also strengthens the immune system, making the body more resistant to colds and other infections. A study from the Journal of Immunology Research indicates that garlic has robust immune-boosting properties, mainly due to its antioxidant effects.
Sweet Benefits of Honey
Natural Cough Suppressant
Honey, being nature's sweet treat, does more than just please our taste buds. Recognized as an effective cough suppressant, honey's thick consistency helps to coat the throat while its sweet taste triggers nerve endings that protect the throat from persistent coughs.
Antioxidant-rich
Honey is also loaded with antioxidants, which can help your body fight off infections. Antioxidants are beneficial compounds that help protect your body at a cellular level.
The Garlic and Honey Solution
By infusing honey with garlic, you fuse the immune-boosting properties of these two natural ingredients to create a potent remedy against the common cold. You can prepare this by mincing a few cloves of garlic and infusing them in raw honey. Leave it overnight and consume a spoonful every morning or when you feel a cold coming.
Fermented Honey Garlic Recipe
If you’re looking to prepare for the winter, I recommend making a fermented honey garlic jar.
Here's a simple recipe you can whip together before the cold season.</p>
Ingredients:
1 cup of raw honey
3-4 heads of garlic
Instructions:
Begin by peeling your garlic. You'll want to fill a clean, sterilized jar about halfway with peeled cloves.
Once your garlic is in the jar, pour the honey over it - up to the jar’s rim, allowing the honey to seep down and coat the garlic entirely.
Place a lid on the jar, but don't screw it on too tightly. You want to leave a bit of space for the gases that the fermenting process will produce to escape.
For the first few days, you'll need to flip the jar upside down a few times a day, helping to make sure all the garlic is coated in honey.
After a few days, the honey will become more liquid, and bubbles will appear, indicating fermentation is occurring.
Keep the jar at room temperature and away from direct sunlight. Allow it to ferment for at least one month. But remember, the longer it ferments, the stronger the flavour will be.
After it's fermented, you can store it in a cool place or the refrigerator, where it will last indefinitely. Always check for contaminants which can lead to mould before using.
When you start feeling a cold coming on, take a spoonful of the fermented honey garlic. You can also add the fermented honey garlic to teas, use it in salad dressings, brush it over pizza crusts or any recipe that can benefit from a touch of sweetness and a hint of garlic.
Garlic and honey are two powerful natural ingredients that, when combined, can help you combat a common cold efficiently. They not only suppress the cold symptoms but also act as preventive measures by boosting your immune system. Try incorporating this garlic-honey mixture in your routine and give your immune system a natural boost against common colds.
And here's a question for you - do you have a go-to natural remedy for the common cold? Drop your answers in the comments section below! We'd love to hear about your personal natural health-boosting strategies.