Dare I say it was actually kind of chilly in Chicago this morning? Does this mean cold/flu season is coming??!
I hope not. I’ve managed to not have a major cold/flu outbreak for a couple of years, by following these tips and tricks. But sometimes you can’t avoid it. I haven’t been sleeping very well recently, and I also stopped taking my apple cider vinegar tablets when I ran out (apple cider vinegar lowers the pH level in your body, making it harder for bacteria/viruses to take root).
Low and behold, last weekend when my sister was visiting, my throat started hurting. I shouldn’t have ignored it – I thought maybe I could sleep it off? Well by Saturday morning, my throat was ON FIRE. Like I thought maybe I had strep, except that I didn’t have a fever. I tried lemon water, I tried grapefruit juice, I tried hot and sour soup. Nothing. So finally on night Saturday, I had to break out the big guns. Raw garlic.
This cure is not for the faint hearted, and I’m saying this as a garlic lover. I love garlic so much, I chop it up and sprinkle it on my salads and pasta, RAW. I’ll even eaten raw chunks of it with food. And it’s in my blood!
Interesting story – Apparently, China produces 80% of the world’s garlic, and my dad is from of the provinces that grows the most of it. I’ve seen the garlic farms when I’ve visited – did you know the garlic peels are not actually dried out like that when pick it? Fresh garlic has soft “skin” that you could eat. My mom even used to grow garlic plants in our apartment when I was a baby, and she said I’d always crawl over to it and eat the green shoots.
Anyhow, my point is that I love garlic. But this cure is hardcore. By Saturday night, my throat was hurting so much that I didn’t think that eating it with food was enough. So instead, I put a small peeled clove in my mouth, chewed it a couple of times to release the juices, and then just held it in the back of my throat like a lozenge. Each time it dried up, I’d just chew it up a bit more, until I ate the whole thing.
And Sunday morning, my sore throat was completely gone. Yes! Entirely gone. If you don’t believe me, check out this health blogger’s post on naturally curing a sore throat in one day…spoiler…it includes sucking on a piece of raw garlic. But she also has some other tips if you don’t think you can stomach it.
But if you’re brave enough to try this magic cure for sore throats, let me know! How did it go for you?
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