(3/5) Keep A Cold Short & Sweet – Sore Throat

Sore Throat Relief Basics 0:00

chest and the heart too. So that's kind of a nice segue to our third icon here, and that is a sore throat. This is so annoying to me, this is the worst symptom of cold in the flu. It's because it hurts, it's painful, you don't want to talk to anybody, might not even want eat or drink. Some of my tips and tricks for that One of them is what we just talked about with the hot beverages. Hot beverages, especially teas and broths, are mucolytic. So when we come to a sore throat, oftentimes it's sore because there's mucus there, and that's the bacteria.

starting to clump up and that's the body trying to get rid of the bacteria. So mucolytic means something that kills off mucus. Hot beverages are mucolytic so a nice hot tea, a hot broth can help to decrease mucous in the throat and it's also very soothing. so hot teas, hot brats are your friend and they're also helpful for the fever aspect as well. These are there throughout the sore throat and the congestion.

Honey, Lemon, and Throat Coat Tea 1:13

I'm going to give some tried and true things you might have heard of, but for the sake of this talk, I'd like to also offer pieces that maybe you haven't heard up before things, the tips and tricks that are unique. So one of the things that you may have of is hot water with lemon and honey. It's golden, it's an absolutely tried and true way to soothe the sore throat. Two pieces that are extra helpful with the honey and the lemon. The lemon is high in vitamin C. So vitamin c is one of those other tried-and-true things you might have heard of.

It decreases the severity and length of a cold or a flu. Increasing your vitaminC during this time is incredibly helpful. including with hot lemon water. The honey is additionally helpful because it has some probiotics in it that are helpful for soothing the throat, first of all, but also helping to support the immune system to get rid of bad bacteria. So we often forget about honey, or at least I do, when I think of all of these other herbs that I could use, all this armory of natural medications.

But honey is simple, it's affordable, easy to find, and it is incredibly powerful. So don't forget honey. Hot water with lemon, one of my favorites. Second favorite for a sore throat is throat coat tea. This you can find at grocery stores, it's already in a pre-packaged tea bag.

Fire Cider for Sore Throat 2:53

It's delicious. it has a few herbs in it, some of them antibacterial so that's extra nice, but the main herbs are soothing agents, so pieces that will soothe the rawness of the sore throat. A lot of I'm blanking on the medical term for it right now, but marshmallow and licorice and pieces that are very soothing. Demolcins, that's the word. So pieces help keep the throat nice and coated but also can decrease some of the pain in the throats too. Another one of my favorites, my absolute favorites for sore throat specifically, is fire cider.

So if you turn to the back of your handout or the second page of the handout, I gave you my recipe for fire cider. Fire cider is an ancient folk medicine. It's made with chopping up very anti-microbial herbs like horseradish and ginger and onion and garlic and putting them all in a large vat. I usually use a mason jar with apple cider vinegar. Close the jar and let it sit for six weeks. So usually I like to make mine in November so that I have it brewed and it sits for six weeks so I can use it in December, you know, right around the time that people are getting sick.

So fire cider is incredibly potent in antimicrobials. You're letting it ferment for about six weeks. So all of these antimikrobial are brewing and getting more potent. And then after those six week, you strain the fire cider, keep it in a jar, compost all the extra herbs or veggies. And all you need is about two tablespoons, about a shot worth of fire cider when you're feeling that your throat is sore. Two bits of warning for the fire cider. when you're making it. Please, please, don't touch your eyes while you are chopping up these herbs and vegetables, they will knock your socks off.

They are incredibly potent, especially the horseradish, and I usually recommend people doing some peppers in there too because it helps to build heat and it also helps with the antimicrobial piece. So don't touch your eyes while you're making it. Second piece is once it's strained, you'll keep it in a cool, dark place. Sometimes people like to keep in the fridge. I prefer keeping it just on the shelf. It's quite fine to to keeping on a shelf and then it is more room temperature when you swallow it and that can be more palatable on your throat.

Throat Sprays and Congestion Transition 5:55

it doesn't taste great. Keep that in mind. So many people, or a few of my patients have been so excited when I prescribe them fire cider because they think that I'm prescribing an alcoholic beverage or something that is going to be very tasty. It's not, it's medicinal in its truest form. And it tastes fine, but it does, not delicious. So keep that in mind, it is incredibly helpful, specific for the sore throat. It will help with other aspects of the cold too, especially some sinus congestion, maybe a little bit of post-nasal drip, but mostly for sore throats.

So that's my absolute favorite. One other piece that I'd like to give a plug for, and I have no affiliation with these companies, but they are very, very well renowned herb companies are Herb Farm and Wise Woman Herbal. They have a throat spray. Their throat sprays have antimicrobial and antiviral properties in them. So if you're feeling very sore in the throat, like it's sore to drink and talk and maybe even affecting your sleep, I'd recommend those. They have painkillers in there too, so it can help to take away some of that irritation, especially if it is affecting you sleep.

So Wise Woman Herbal and Herb Farm, that's a farm with a pH. They have two throat sprays or throat mists that are helpful for bacteria and colds. So let's go to the fourth piece of the handout for congestion.