Please excuse my appearance in the following pictures. Keep in mind that these were taken in morning, shortly after waking. It is also Sunday and part of my Sunday routine is to delay showering for awhile so that I can spend the morning in my pajamas, sipping coffee and enjoying the quiet. I am "blessed" with bags under my eyes. I don't know if it's due to age, lack of sleep, "luck", or a combination of all of these. If I was ever to go back to wearing makeup, my bags would be the reason. I've heard cucumbers work but I've chosen not to waste time (or cucumbers...they are better used in a salad) in the mornings. Luckily I'm not too vain about my appearance. I am even more lucky that my husband tells me that my lack of vanity is the most attractive part of me. (Thank you, Lord, for giving me a man that isn't attracted to superficial beauty and loves me as I am.). So, any small amount of vanity in which I possess is being tossed to the side today while I show you my "morning look". All for the greater good of mankind.
I have been battling a cold for a week. Symptoms include sore throat, dry cough, and cloudy vision. I've found differing opinions regarding if there is a difference between an eye cold and pink eye. I don't know. My eyes aren't pink....just cloudy, weepy and full of morning matter (I know. That picture is about as attractive as the ones posted here). I haven't been aggressively attacking my cold. Until now. This cold has got to go!
So this morning I grabbed my garlic and decided to attack this cold with every garlicky-home remedy that I know about. Garlic applied in one way or another on my feet, eyes, ears, and neck all while sipping on my garlic-lemon-honey-ginger tea. Take that you nasty cold!
This week I found that sucking on a piece of crystallized ginger gave me temporary relief for my sore throat. The most common use of ginger is to treat nausea and heartburn but it also promotes sweating which helps remove toxins from the body. This makes ginger a great immune booster. Although ginger would be more beneficial in raw form, I've chosen the sweet and spicy form this week.
Garlic is anti fungal, antibacterial, and antiviral. For years I've used garlic to fight colds by simply making homemade salsa and homemade soup using LOTS of raw onion and garlic. Recently I've added GOOT and poultices to my list of remedies.
Today, before preparing my garlic poultice, I heated some water and added a chunk of ginger, a big slice of lemon, a dollop of local honey, and a smooshed garlic clove to sip on and slathered my feet with GOOT. GOOT (garlic olive oil treatment).
GOOT:
3 T. olive oil
3 T. coconut oil
3 T. garlic
Heat oil until coconut oil has melted. While heating the oils, chop up the garlic. Once oil has melted add the garlic. Throw all the ingredients into the blender and blend at slow speed. Strain the remaining garlic chucks (I save these for sauteing and adding to soup!). Pour oil into a container and refrigerate.
Before going to bed I rub the GOOT on my feet and cover with socks. Whatever oil is left on my hands in spread in my ears.
After slathering up my feet with GOOT and covering with sock, I heated water in the teapot and chopped up a bulb of garlic. I kept two smaller cloves intact to put in my ears. Once the teapot began to whistle, I covered the garlic with about one cup of the hot water.
I made a garlic wrap for my neck using a recycled t-shirt-turned-bib. Garlic can "burn" the skin so take necessary precautions by using cloth between skin and garlic. I folded this t-shirt bib over, wrapped it around my neck (making sure that the garlic poultice was positioned near my swollen glands, and wrapped a scarf around to secure the poultice.
A hat to keep the garlic in my ears and a scarf to keep the garlic around my neck.
Now it was time for my eyes. I wrapped some of the minced garlic which was soaking in hot water into two pieces of coffee filter and placed on my eyes. After a few minutes the garlic began to sting my eyes a bit. So I waited a little longer. :) Use your best judgment when trying this. Although my eyes burned from the garlic, I could feel an immediate improvement.
This morning I woke up with no matter in my eyes, less congestion, no cough and a noticeable difference in my swollen throat.
Shared on Delicious Obsessions, Traditional Tuesday, Hearth & Soul, and The Homestead Barn Hop
I have been battling a cold for a week. Symptoms include sore throat, dry cough, and cloudy vision. I've found differing opinions regarding if there is a difference between an eye cold and pink eye. I don't know. My eyes aren't pink....just cloudy, weepy and full of morning matter (I know. That picture is about as attractive as the ones posted here). I haven't been aggressively attacking my cold. Until now. This cold has got to go!
So this morning I grabbed my garlic and decided to attack this cold with every garlicky-home remedy that I know about. Garlic applied in one way or another on my feet, eyes, ears, and neck all while sipping on my garlic-lemon-honey-ginger tea. Take that you nasty cold!
This week I found that sucking on a piece of crystallized ginger gave me temporary relief for my sore throat. The most common use of ginger is to treat nausea and heartburn but it also promotes sweating which helps remove toxins from the body. This makes ginger a great immune booster. Although ginger would be more beneficial in raw form, I've chosen the sweet and spicy form this week.
Garlic is anti fungal, antibacterial, and antiviral. For years I've used garlic to fight colds by simply making homemade salsa and homemade soup using LOTS of raw onion and garlic. Recently I've added GOOT and poultices to my list of remedies.Today, before preparing my garlic poultice, I heated some water and added a chunk of ginger, a big slice of lemon, a dollop of local honey, and a smooshed garlic clove to sip on and slathered my feet with GOOT. GOOT (garlic olive oil treatment).
GOOT:
3 T. olive oil
3 T. coconut oil
3 T. garlic
Heat oil until coconut oil has melted. While heating the oils, chop up the garlic. Once oil has melted add the garlic. Throw all the ingredients into the blender and blend at slow speed. Strain the remaining garlic chucks (I save these for sauteing and adding to soup!). Pour oil into a container and refrigerate.
Before going to bed I rub the GOOT on my feet and cover with socks. Whatever oil is left on my hands in spread in my ears.
After slathering up my feet with GOOT and covering with sock, I heated water in the teapot and chopped up a bulb of garlic. I kept two smaller cloves intact to put in my ears. Once the teapot began to whistle, I covered the garlic with about one cup of the hot water. |
| I tore the coffee filter in four - two for my eyes, two for my ears |
 |
| Garlic in my ears! |
I made a garlic wrap for my neck using a recycled t-shirt-turned-bib. Garlic can "burn" the skin so take necessary precautions by using cloth between skin and garlic. I folded this t-shirt bib over, wrapped it around my neck (making sure that the garlic poultice was positioned near my swollen glands, and wrapped a scarf around to secure the poultice.
A hat to keep the garlic in my ears and a scarf to keep the garlic around my neck.
Now it was time for my eyes. I wrapped some of the minced garlic which was soaking in hot water into two pieces of coffee filter and placed on my eyes. After a few minutes the garlic began to sting my eyes a bit. So I waited a little longer. :) Use your best judgment when trying this. Although my eyes burned from the garlic, I could feel an immediate improvement.
This morning I woke up with no matter in my eyes, less congestion, no cough and a noticeable difference in my swollen throat.
Shared on Delicious Obsessions, Traditional Tuesday, Hearth & Soul, and The Homestead Barn Hop
I found your post so interesting! I knew garlic was good for you but i had no idea there were so many ways to use it to treat a cold!I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you for sharing all those ideas on how to use garlic! Hopefully I won't need to use them, but if I do, at least now I know what to do! Feel better!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ladies. :) It was amazing how fast the garlic kicked my lingering cold to the curb!
ReplyDelete