Natural Cold and Cough Remedies May Be Safer for Children After All

Given the U.S. government’s ongoing campaign against any remedy not marketed by its friends in the pharmaceutical industry, it was surprising to see the recent warning against giving cold medicines to young children. Even the drug companies themselves, fearful of expensive lawsuits, not warn against standard cough syrups and medicines.

But as the Chicago Tribune points out in an article on natural cures for colds and flu, traditional natural cures for colds and flu have been used for centuries safely — and may not be coming back in vogue.

There are several effective natural remedies have been around for centuries: Chicken soup to fight the cold, honey for a sore throat, salt to rinse stuffy nasal passages and regular soap (skip antibacterial products containing triclosan) and water to wash your hands.

Though they’re all considered “folk remedies,” these traditional cures have stood up to scientific scrutiny, which is more than you can say for the heavily marketed drugs that may also carry some risks for children.

Here’s a list of home remedies that work from Consumer Reports on Health:

1. A saltwater bath for a stuffy nose
2. Chewing gum to relieve heartburn and speed healing from abdominal surgery
3. Chicken soup for colds
4. Yogurt for belly aches (look for those that contain live, active cultures or are labeled “probiotic”)
5. Honey for a cough (do not administer to children under 1 year of age)
6. Cranberries for a healthy bladder (look for drinks that list cranberry juice as the first or second ingredient)
7. Staying warm to prevent a cold

The yoga practice of rinsing the nasal passages with warm water also has strong advocates. Many doctors also recommend using a nebulizer and pharmaceutical-grade saline solution to literally neutralize cold and flu viruses. Apparently, some studies have shown that nebulizing (hardly a “natural” cure although it’s only salt water) somehow makes cold and flu viruses less contagious.