Over the past few days I've been dealing with typical Cold symptoms; head/body ache, chest and head congestion, etc. During the course of this I've taken ibuprofen, an exportant, and Tylenol Cold & Flu Nighttime to help cope. But, this got me thinking, all of these chemicals can't be good for me, and they're not curing anything, just suppressing the symptoms...

I've been shifting towards a Paleo lifestyle by switching to organic meats and veggies, cutting out most dairy, and trying to live a cleaner lifestyle while still eating very low-carb during my weight loss. (which is working fabulously!) And, I can't help but think that there must be other natural solutions to everyday ailments.

My question:
What are some natural, low-carb “things” that can help treat common ailments like head/body aches, congestion, sleeplessness, etc. and not fill my body full of harmful chemicals and other useless byproducts? (I started to list off stomach ache, low energy... but I realized these are never a problem on LC. Lol) I've heard of homemade tonics with garlic and vinegar and peppers and stuff... but I have no clue where to look for any of this.

Notes: I rarely (if ever) get sick with this way of eating, but with kids in school bringing home God knows what, it happens. Also, I take a daily multivitamin, fish oil with Omega 3, and L-Carnitine... are there better alternatives? My wife always jabs at me with, “if the diet is perfect, then why do you need vitamins.” I know the answer, but still, it's hard to explain because in theory, we should be able to get everything from our food. It's just not that easy in today’s time.

If you want to delve into what is probably the world's largest library of home remedies, look no further than The People's Pharmacy. http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/buil...logs=1&limit=20

You will likely find one of the Graedon's books in your library as well. They have been writing about home remedies for close to 40 years, have a wonderful public radio show, and a column in many newspapers. On their website, after they answer a quesion, they let "The People" add to it usually without much further comment or editorializing. If someone says a home remedy works, it is up to you to find out if it may work for you too. The crazy Vicks on the feet is one of their classics (third result) , try it...though I go for the ginger tea myself.

Besides, they are delightfully nice and smart people who live nearby in Chapel Hill, and lean towards real food, lowish carb eating too.
Only issue is that their website is so overwhelming, and somewhat disorganized, but the search function will usually find many entries by a topic. Using Resource Center in the top bar Home Remedies will find different entries from using the side bar Home Remedies Q&A...so look around everywhere. Hope you feel better! and congrats on your LC success!

Thanks, Janet. Somehow I knew you'd find this post. lol

I'll dig around that site and see what I can find. I read some shamanism thing about mixing things on a new moon and straining on a full moon and... I just kind of got lost in the crazy. But, you never know. This planet is an awesome and mysterious thing. Perhaps mixing specific herbs and roots on a specific lunar cycle can actually add up to something!

The Graedon's are far from shamans...a PhD pharmacologist and a medical anthropologist. I enjoyed a special talk they gave as part of an Herbfest. Thyme is good for colds too.....add to chicken broth or make a tea. Ginger, elderberry flower or mint tea too. Can use those herbs any day of the lunar cycle

And as crazy as they sound, perfectly normal people in my neighborhood say the Vicks on the feet for cough and the bar of soap under the sheet for muscle cramps really works. Why they are called home remedies

lol. Yeah, I picked up a few ideas from that site. It wasn't too hard to follow but I see what you were saying about it being unorganized. The site map looks like Atlanta (things coming/going from every direction). lol

The last two days I've felt quite good actually, until nighttime that is... I've been waking up at 3-4 in the morning coughing, but other than that, all my other symptoms seems to have subsided. Just took a few days of sleep and a bit of water and broth to kick it as usual. No uh... vicks on the feet... lol

I bookmarked the pages I was interested in for next time, but there were also a few preventative things I found that I may start working in also.

Vicks on the feet for cough <-- I thought this was crazy - until I tried it last year when I caught a terrible cough that I couldn't shake and was desperate - it worked! I rubbed vicks on my feet and put on socks - really surprised that it worked on the cough and made my feet so soft!

lol. Craziness. Alright, I've got some in the cabinet, I suppose this is happening. Can't knock it if I haven't tried it, right?

JEY100 I live in Apex North Carolina. Are you from Chapel Hill? Thanks for the link to the website.

Cary, Heard them at great special event fundraiser for the Page Walker Herbfest. I also go Dr Eric Westman's support group in Durham most months..first Tuesday if interested. Wandering around the entire Triangle

When the first symptoms of a cold hit me, I always reach for the vitamin C. I take about 1 gram every hour. You know when you're at full capacity because the bowels loosen. At that point, drop the dosing back. This works for me.

If I am too late to catch the beginnings of the cold, I find aromatherapy oils are fantastic. There are various effective against colds, but eucalyptus, camphor and methol are good places to start. You can use one or a blend of several, add them to steaming bowls of water to inhale, or sniff them straight from the bottle. You could also dilute them with oil or alcohol to make a rub to apply to your skin or mix to add to your bath. These oils are the main active ingredients in the Vicks vapour rub. The pure oils are more versatile, although the Vicks is less bother. If you go down the path of buying the oils and diluting them in alcohol or oil, you can find appropriate ratios on internet sites. You can't put these oils straight onto the skin without diluting them.

To ward off colds and germs, I use a blend of cinnamon, pine and orange aromatherapy oils in the house. It's a lovely wintery scent. You can use an electric diffuser, candle burner, make a room spray (diluted in vodka or another alcohol), or saturate something absorbent, then leave it near the radiator, etc. I think cinnamon is particularly good in this respect. Cinnamon is strong though, so I wouldn't use it on the skin, and take care not to spill it on varnished furniture undiluted. Same with orange - they get it out of the skins of citrus fruit so it's quite acidic.

One thing, though. Aromatherapy oils are quite powerful, so you should limit their use around babies and cinnamon is one of those which should not be used by pregnant women.

P.S. I second janet's suggestion of ginger tea. It's simple to make: take 15 slices of ginger root and boil them for at least 15 minutes in a pot of water. You can store it in the fridge for up to a week and reheat when required. Leave the ginger in it when you store it and the flavour will develop more. I chop and freeze the ginger afterwards for use in curries.

And talking of curries, I think a really spicy curry is another excellent remedy for a cold. Great for clearing the tubes and boosting the immune system.