Hav­ing a cold or flu is nev­er fun, and run­ning to over-the-counter med­ica­tion is not al­ways every­one’s first op­tion. Here are a few home reme­dies you can try be­fore pop­ping the pills.

Stay Hy­drat­ed

Try to avoid any­thing that can make de­hy­dra­tion worse like, cof­fee, al­co­hol or caf­feinat­ed soft drinks. Stay hy­drat­ed with wa­ter, fresh juices or even warm wa­ter with lemon and hon­ey, which can help break/loosen con­ges­tion. Soups are al­so great to help with hy­dra­tion but avoid heavy soups with a lot of cream or dairy. Phlegm at the back of the throat can be made thick­er with dairy there­by caus­ing more ir­ri­ta­tion. Go for soups with a clear broth.

Rest

While we may some­times feel like rest has be­come a thing of the past, when you have a busy lifestyle tak­ing care of your­self should be your first pri­or­i­ty. Tak­ing the time to rest when you are feel­ing ill is es­sen­tial for a speedy re­cov­ery. Not rest­ing and just go­ing on with life as nor­mal can cause your cold or flu to linger.

Gin­ger

The health ben­e­fits of this root have been known for cen­turies and will be known for cen­turies to come. Re­cent stud­ies have shown that gin­ger can ward off feel­ings of nau­sea that usu­al­ly come along with any type of in­fluen­za. Gin­ger is al­so great for sooth­ing a cough or sore throat. Boil a few slices in hot wa­ter and drink it as a tea. You will feel the re­sults al­most in­stant­ly. If you would like to get more in­for­ma­tion on gin­ger (Dani, I put this in), check out our Face­book page for videos and more. (@health­plus­themag)

Pro­bi­otics

Pro­bi­otics are live mi­croor­gan­isms in­tend­ed to pro­vide health ben­e­fits when con­sumed. While gen­er­al­ly used for im­prov­ing gut health, pro­bi­otics can al­so give your im­mune sys­tem a boost.

Warm baths

Steamy show­ers can help open your nasal pas­sages when you are feel­ing con­gest­ed and they can even calm you. Try steam­ing al­so - run a hot show­er and sit on a chair near­by, this can help clear your nasal pas­sages and make it eas­i­er to get some rest with­out feel­ing con­gest­ed.