5 Homemade Cold Remedies: Old-Fashioned Cold Remedies that Work

By Kami McBride
Published on March 8, 2023
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For the last century, so many family lines have dismissed homemade cold remedies as archaic and unnecessary “old wives’ tales.” But in many cases, these heirloom practices were passed from generation to generation for good reason. They’re simple, affordable, comforting – and most importantly – they work!

Since throwing our great, great grandparents’ herbal knowledge to the wind, many are now engaged in re-learning the art of home remedies and herbal care. You could say that we are now exposed to more information in a couple of years than our forebears were in a lifetime. Over the course of three decades teaching the art of home herbalism, I’ve heard an increase in the number of students who say there is actually too much information out there! With the rise of the internet, a seemingly endless amount of information makes it hard to know where to begin with natural remedies.

Homemade Old-Fashioned Cold Remedies

What is the best thing to take at the first sign of a cold? Start with what’s already in your cupboard! In this article, I’ll share five old-fashioned, homemade cold remedies: onion poultice, saltwater gargle, respiratory steam, raw garlic, and hot toddy. The value of these methods is in their simplicity and time-tested reliability.

1) Onion Poultice

When it comes to all-but-forgotten homemade cold remedies for clearing congestion, onion poultices are top of the list. The advent of modern antibiotics made them seem antiquated for most of the last century, but due to the growing awareness of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, as well as the damage antibiotics can do to the gut microbiome, there is renewed interest in this use for onions.

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