Cures for the common cold

LP

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Achoo.... *hack*... *cough*.... *phlegm*

Oh great.... I just caught a cold. Wtf do I do now?

There are tons of medicines out there of course like Tylenol cold, Tylenol Flu, Motrin, Robitussin etc etc. But taking those meds by themselves will make your cold run its course which might last more than a week. Is there a faster way to get rid of it? Yeppers.

This thread is all about cures for the common cold/cough/flu.

I just caught a bug a couple days ago and it's now almost entirely gone thanks to some Indian culinary treatments.

Masala Chai
Tea is great for the cold, anything warm definitely opens up your nasal passages and clears your throat of residual phlegm. But there are things you can add to give you an arsenal of weapons to fight the cold rather than just relieve your symptoms.

You will need:
1. Masala Chai or regular Chai
2. Ginger
3. Whole black peppercorns
4. Turmeric powder
5. Cinnamon
6. Sugar
7. Water
8. Mortar and pestle or something else you can use to crush things

Boil some water in a pan and add your chai to the mix. Take some ginger and peel off the outside skin. Cut it up into small easy to eat pieces. Take your peppercorns and place them in your mortar. Start crushing the pepper until its relatively fine, and add the ginger in. Crush again slightly so that it all mixes. Add this mixture into your boiling pot of tea. Mix well and slowly add in some cinnamon powder. It should become a nice brown color. Before turning the heat off, add some turmeric powder, mix and serve in a cup. If you wish to dilute it a little, add a very very very small amount of milk. Adding a lot of milk causes you to increase your phlegm production and you don't really want that. Add sugar if necessary. Drink slowly as the concoction will be bitter and piping hot. Feel free to say "fuck you cold, you think you can mess with the likes of me? Well take this!" before sipping. Take 3-4 times a day.

Rasam

You will need:
1. A pot
2. Tamarind
3. Tomatoes
4. Black pepper
5. Chili powder
6. Water
7. Any additional vegetables you'd like to add
8. Salt

This is essentially a tomato soup but due to its warmth, spices, and yumminess, it's a great cold-fighting dish. Unfortunately I have no fucking clue how to make this. Everytime my dad or I try to make Rasam it comes out like, and I quote my dad here, "The pacific ocean". One necessary ingredient in here is love and/or black magic. My mom definitely uses either one of those 2 whenever she makes it.

Anyway it basically boils down to chopping the tomatoes up into small pieces (cutting it in half, then cutting the half in half, and cutting the half half into halves). Add the tamarind to a pot of boiling water, add the tomatoes, spices, lentils or other vegetables you'd like to add, and a little tiny bit of salt. Serve with rice or as a soup alone.

If any of the Indians on here somehow know the secret to making delicious Rasam please feel free to modify and/or add to what I just said.

Anyone else have any cold/illness remedies?
 
both of them sound very intruguing and exotic.. I'll be waiting to try one out the next time I catch a cold.. but for now, I'll stick to my buckley's. :p
 
Well I tried getting rid of ANY AND ALL dodgy bodily substances as soon as I could feel them - nose and throat plus lungs - seemed to help!

Vicks vapour rub.

EDIT/ Just saw Noodle's comment - stay in and go through my box sets - last lot was gong through my set of Callan episodes - way to go EBAY (some of which were copies of the original video - has the countdown boards and everything!).
 
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...And most importantly, try your best to keep as much mucus out of the mixture as possible...

Edit: By the way the only cure for man-flu is a week off work, a slave (or wife, whichever name you prefer) and soup. Oh yeah, and driving around when everyone else is at work. A nice dose of smug makes you feel instantly better. :D
 
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Well you can go through all that, or you can do what I do and just go to the pharmacy and pick up these little items.

k1921198887.jpg


Zicam to help get over it faster. They make many different versions of this stuff if you don't like the idea of shoving something up your nose. So you can get chewables or a spray ect.

nyquil.jpg


This will keep your ass knocked out or atleast make the blur seem interesting.

And some of these if you have a sore throat.

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chicken soup, staying in and watching cartoons in your underwear FTW
 
If posts could have sound, LurkerPatrol's opening post would come across as a shockingly bad infomercial...:p

My recommendation would be a little bottle of AstraForte, which can be found (ridiculously overpriced) in any good chemist or pharmacy. The stuff supposedly works, the problem is it tastes (and the following words cannot convey the full meaning of what I'm trying to say, but here goes) foul. Atrocious. Disgusting. Like licking a horse testicle. Nauseating. Revolting. Its not so much a cure for a cold, more of a preventative measure. Take twice a day with a glass of cordial or something. Of course this stuff tastes so wrong that when you dont have a cold, you wont take it.

Other preventative measures include washing your hands and keeping them away from your mouth.
 
Now you get yourself two cups of hot tea with a little but if sugar. A GOOD BIG SLICE of PIE, preferably home-baked GIANT sized 12 liter W16 one (sort of), turn on Family Guy Seasons 2-6, and u watch/drink/eat until you watch all of it. That's all it takes to beat the cold.
 
If posts could have sound, LurkerPatrol's opening post would come across as a shockingly bad infomercial...:p

Dude that would be horrible if Billy Mays was advertising for me.


DO YOU HAVE A COLD? ARE YOU TIRED OF COUGHING?!

TRY MY NEW LUNG-CLEAN! IT ZAPS THE PHLEGM AWAY. CALL NOW AND GET 2 BARRELS OF LUNG CLEAN FOR ONLY $19.99! BUT WAIT IF YOU CALL WITHIN THE NEXT 10 SECONDS, YOU'LL GET 3 EXTRA BARRELS ABSOLUTELY FREE! AND THAT'S NOT ALL....WE'LL EVEN THROW IN THE NEPHROLOGICAL ZAPPERATOR...


To be honest I didn't know how the crap to start the thread so I just came up with that last minute. I apologize sincerely if I seemed like I was vending some product :p
 
Dude, catching a cold in the summer blows. Sorry to hear it.

I can't take decongestants so I just have to ride it. Taking liquids is good obviously, especially if they're warm. The best thing though is if you can go to the sauna/steam and a swim. It works wonders.
 
Honey + Lemon + Hot water + Plenty of sleep + Oranges + Plenty of Water = My cure for the common cold.
 
Take a day off work. Mix a bit of rum and honey. Sleep. Wake up better.

I don't actually do this, but I'm told rum and honey knocks you out cold.
 
I've never had any luck with 'cures'.

The only thing I've found that reduces some effects (the blocked nose) is a hot bath, during which putting a hot (wet) flannel over the nose and holding it there. Repeat many times.
 
When I have a cold I usually have no business cooking, or even being in the kitchen. ;)

Though your cures do sound pretty exotic and classy, moreso than PB's evil animal-tested Western baby-killing medications (I'll have to give that Zicam a shot sometime, BTW). I usually take an Advil and a nap, however. Worked brilliantly for me yesterday!
 
Whiskey!
 
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