7 Natural Home Remedies For Cold And Flu (Boost Your Immune System!) (2024)

How can you stay healthy this sick season? And if you do catch a stomach bug or come down with a sore throat… what natural remedies will help you get over it fast? From essential oils to homemade tonics, here are 7 natural ways to boost your immune system (for adults or kids!), including natural home remedies for cold and flu!

Flu season is here…

It starts each fall and lasts through early spring.

According to the CDC, “Each year in the United States, millions of people get the common cold. Adults have an average of 2 to 3 colds per year, and children have even more.”

Cold is the most common reason people miss work and school. And, each year hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized because of the flu. 🙁

How can you boost your immune system to prevent coming down with a cold or the flu? And if you do catch it, what natural home remedies are helpful in fighting them?

In this episode of #AskWardee, I’m sharing 7 natural ways you can boost your immune system, including natural home remedies for cold and flu.

Keep reading or watching below to learn more!

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The Question: How Can I Support and Boost My Family’s Immune System Against the Flu?

Amy G. asked:

With fall and winter comes the flu. Me and my family are not getting the flu vaccine this year. I know a healthy diet and good sleep are the best defenses against illness, but what else can I do to support and boost my family’s immune systems specifically against the flu this time of year? —Amy G.

Amy, thank you for your question!

Because we’re featuring your question today’s #AskWardee, you’re getting a gift — a FREE eBook and Video Package! Our team will be in contact with you so you can choose which one you’d like!

What Causes the Cold and Flu?

Cold and influenza are caused by highly contagious viruses that typically infect us through the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, or eyes. Exposure can be airborne from a cough or sneeze — or it can come from touching a contaminated surface, such as a doorknob or telephone, and then touching your nose or mouth.

The symptoms of flu include a sudden onset of fever, aches, chills, and tiredness, and possibly a dry cough, sneezing, and sore throat. Symptoms of cold are sore throat, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, headaches, and/or body aches.

In other words, no fun.

And by the way, since both the cold and flu are viral infections (not bacterial), antibiotics don’t work to fight it off.

How to Prevent Getting Sick with a Cold or Flu

One of the best ways to prevent colds or the flu is to practice good hygiene, tips one through four as I share below, and…

…limiting exposure to others who are sick. For us, this means staying home more often and limiting errands during cold and flu season.

I’ve even started getting my groceries delivered via Instacart so I don’t have to go to the grocery store. (Click here to get $10 off on your first Instacart order!)

If someone in our household does get sick, they voluntarily stay in their bedroom for a few days so as not to infect anyone else in the household. Also, I use this homemade essential oil all purpose spray regularly on all common household surfaces.

7 Natural Ways to Boost Your Immune System… Plus Natural Home Remedies for Cold and Flu

Yet, if you do find yourself sick with a cold or the flu, there are natural prevention and home remedies that can help fight it.

In this episode, I’m sharing 7 natural ways to boost your immune system, including natural home remedies for cold and flu.

In addition to the prevention and natural remedies I’m sharing, rest and staying hydrated are a must.

The first 4 tips below are preventative, and the last 3 tips focus on natural home remedies for cold and flu.

1. Strengthen Your Immune System With A Clean, Whole Foods Diet

Colds and flus are very contagious so it’s critical to build and support a strong immune system which will then be better able to fight off the viruses.

Ideally, you should be following a nutrient-dense, clean, real food diet all year long. This helps you get all the vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients so your immune response is strong and ready when faced with the cold and flu germs. 🙂

Balanced levels of vitamins D3, A, B6, B12, and the minerals calcium, magnesium, zinc, and copper play a particularly important role in immune boosting.

Clean raw milk and cream, grassfed butter, pastured meats, organ meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and eggs from pastured hens are all good sources of the vitamins and minerals your immune system needs to stay strong.

Healthy fats especially build a healthy immune system. So focus on Omega-3 fats and clean, healthy saturated fats such as those found in pastured butter, tallow, and coconut oil.

I want to highlight a few immune-boosting foods in particular…

Bone Broth

Bone broth is an age-old remedy for both treating and preventing illness. Chicken soup, anyone? 🙂

In Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon states,

In folk wisdom — the famous Jewish penicillin [bone broth] — is a valued remedy for the flu. The 12th-century physician Moses Maimonides prescribed chicken broth as a treatment for colds and asthma. Modern research has confirmed that broth helps prevent and mitigate infectious diseases. The wise food provider, who uses gelatin-rich broth on a daily or frequent basis, provides continuous protection from many health problems (page 117).

Each member of our family gets at least one mug of broth a day because of its many benefits. It heals and seals the gut wall which in turn boosts the immune system. We know that gut health plays a huge role in immune system function (source).

We use it in as many recipes as possible, including nourishing soups, stews, and sauces.

Fermented Foods

In addition to bone broth for gut health, fermented foods such as sauerkraut, yogurt, kombucha, and pickles add beneficial bacteria to our digestive tract. This in turn strengthens our immune systems and contributes to overall good health.

Sometimes it’s hard to get fermented foods into our families, either because we don’t have the time to actually make them or because some haven’t acclimated the flavors of fermented foods. For those times, I rely heavily on a good probiotic, like this one or this one.

How can you get more immune-boosting fermented foods into your family’s diet?

• Pack them in your child’s lunch box.
• Mix them into a smoothie.
• Add one fermented food to every meal.
• Enroll in the Lacto-Fermentation eCourse to learn how to prepare a variety of fermented foods.

We call these foods GNOWFGLINS! God’s natural, organic, whole foods, grown locally, in season. 🙂

Be sure you’re NOT eating processed foods, vegetable oils, and lots of restaurant food because these only compromise your immune system.

Pure Water

Also, not to be overlooked… make sure you’re drinking (and bathing in) pure, uncontaminated water! Municipal water is likely not clean, with over 2,100 known contaminants, and even some well water has undesirable dissolved particles.

Whether you rent or own, you can find affordable permanent or temporary solutions within Radiant Life’s water filtration systems. Click here to find out which water filtration systems we use in our home (and why). If you’re at the point of purchase of any permanent or temporary system, use code WARDEE at this link to get $25 to $100 OFF (limited time).

2. Detoxify Your Environment

Our skin is a highly absorbent organ that “eats” too, so it’s really important to “feed” it with non-toxic products that support health and wellness.

From your laundry soap and household cleaners, to other soaps and lotions to your deodorant, skin care, and makeup, too!

And this is my favorite deodorant from Earthley, non-irritating and containing magnesium, too!

If you’re interested in hearing more about the non-toxic and safe skin and hair care products I love and recommend (that also turn back the clock a bit!), visit me at my other website right here.

3. Ditch the Sugar

Reduce or eliminate refined sugars of all kinds and even limit whole sweeteners, especially if you do get sick.

Sugar turns off your immune system for the duration of time it takes to be digested (source).

When you think about the amount of sugar typically eaten from Halloween through Christmas and Valentine’s Day right up to Easter, is it any wonder this sugar-laden season parallels flu season?

Check out 10 Tips for Overcoming Sugar Addiction for help kicking your sugar habit.

Plus, learn about 6 other reasons you should ditch sugar!

4. Balance Your Gut Flora

Did you know… as much as 80% of your immune system resides in the GI tract… the gut?

Beyond following the previous three strategies listed previously, if you also add fermented foods and drinks to your diet, you will strengthen your gut by supplying essential probiotics!

According to a test done by Dr. Mercola, one serving of fermented vegetables has as many beneficial bacteria as an entire bottle of probiotic supplements (source)!

Dr. Thomas Cowan explains the beauty and power of the human gut:

“Think of your intestines as soil and grass: the villi are like the soil, and the layer of good bacteria is like the grass covering the soil. If you go to a meadow or a perennial grass field and you overgraze or do something to strip the grass, the soil will become eroded. If this condition continues, you get further erosion of soil, you get cracks in the soil, and surface material starts seeping into the ground water.

That is exactly the same process that happens in the human gut. People “strip their grass” with antibiotics, with vaccines, with processed foods, with not getting the right flora via the birth canal due either to a C-section or gut dysbiosis in the mother.

Lastly, “civilized” people today are no longer eating probiotic foods. All these factors create an unhealthy gut ecology, a flattening of the villi, and actual holes in the gut wall.” (source)

To summarize this, the human gut is open to the world and takes in harmful substances day in and day out. We survive the onslaught if our gut is protected by a thick and healthy bacterial layer.

If the bacterial layer gets damaged, it can’t digest food well, nor can it protect us from invading parasites, fungus, virus, and harmful bacteria.

Eat Those Probiotics!

As discussed above, one of the best ways to “culture” the gut is to eat “cultured” or fermented foods…. foods that have been cultured or “fermented” by beneficial organisms.

And great news! There are hundreds of ways you can get a healthy dose of probiotic-rich foods everyday: condiments, salad dressings, dips and spreads, chutneys, and drinks!

We have a whole course on fermenting foods at home, which you can check out here or is available along with all our other eCourses, too, for our premium Traditional Cooking School members right here. Not sure? Click here to grab my FREE Fermenting Formulas Cheat Sheet to dip your toe in!

5. Use Herb and Food-Based Natural Home Remedies for Cold and Flu

If, in spite of these important diet and lifestyle strategies, someone in your family still catches the flu, there are many herb and food-based home remedies to help your body fight the cold and flu viruses.

Elderberry Extract or Gummies

Elderberry extract is one such powerful natural flu remedy. It prevents the flu virus from invading the membranes of healthy cells.

There have been several studies which prove that elderberry’s anti-viral properties are effective against 10 strains of the flu. Also, that it relieves symptoms of fever, aches, and congestion 3 to 4 days earlier in people who used it than in those who didn’t. (Source.)

One study showed 90% of elderberry extract users had complete recovery in 2 to 3 days (source). The studies used 15 milliliters of elderberry extract 4 times a day for 4 days. Half that amount was used with children over age 2.

Try making your own elderberry extract with this recipe here. Or, if you have access to fresh berries you can put them in your juicer and add them to fresh juice daily.

Or, you can make homemade elderberry gummies from only 4 ingredients!

Lindsey Dietz, TCS contributing writer, shares how her family takes elderberry syrup:

This time of year, I like to mix up a quart or so of elderberry syrup. My husband and I take about a teaspoon and a half daily, while our children take one teaspoon daily. Oftentimes, we just mix our syrup with our liquid probiotic and shoot it down. The taste is so great that no one minds their daily spoonful, and we often have children asking for more. 😉

Other Herbs and Supplements

Other effective virus-fighters include raw garlic, fresh ginger, and raw honey. That’s why ginger and honey are ingredients in old-fashioned homemade cough syrup.

You can make this easy natural cold remedy (that really works and is pictured above) that uses raw honey, raw apple cider vinegar, ginger, cloves, and cayenne. Keep it on hand during cold and flu season! It works so well to soothe a sore throat.

Vitamin C is another great immune-supporting nutrient. Combine it with ginger in this drink, or make high Vitamin C sauerkraut.

We keep this Viracid herbal supplement on hand year-round. Our family takes it preventatively when we know we’ve been exposed to germs, and also if we feel any cold or flu symptoms coming on.

Containing all the illness-fighting vitamins and minerals, as well as echinacea and elderberry herbs, our experience has been that it is effective at preventing cold and flu from settling in.

We also use these zinc lozenges preventatively and at the first sign of a tickle in our throats! We find that they keep us healthy or significantly improve the severity of illness. A must-have natural remedy for cold or flu. 🙂

For even more food-based natural remedies, check out Lindsey’s post: A Peek Into Our Medicine Cabinet: Fighting Illness With Food.

6. Try Essential Oils to Relieve Cold and Flu Symptoms

Essential oils are also powerful aids! Lavender, oregano, cinnamon, chamomile, hyssop, helichrysum, ravintsara, coriander, and clove are all useful against viruses.

Tea tree oil can prevent the flu virus from entering healthy cells (source).

Use oils like eucalyptus and thyme to wipe off frequently touched surfaces and prevent the spread of the flu virus. Add 15 drops each of eucalyptus and thyme to a 100ml spray bottle, then fill to near the top with 1/2 each of vodka and distilled water. Label the bottle and shake well before spraying it on doorknobs, counters, and other surfaces.

You can also diffuse anti-viral essential oils into the air in your home or office. In this #AskWardee 054, I shared another “easy to breathe” diffusion recipe using just 3 essential oils — rosemary, eucalyptus, and lemon.

Or take a hot bath with a couple of drops each of tea tree, lavender, and thyme added to the bath water.

If you’re looking for more essential oil recipes, try these:

• DIY Essential Oil Chest Rub Decongestant (for adults, kids, and babies!)
• Homemade Non-Toxic All Purpose Cleaning Spray with Essential Oils
• Homemade Essential Oil Foaming Hand Soap

Refer to The Ultimate Guide to Essential Oil Properties for more information on anti-viral essential oils, plus which oils are safe for use around young children, as well as older children and adults.

The key to using essential oils safely is dilution. To find a dilution rate that works for you and your family, check out this helpful chart.

7. Don’t Forget Homeopathy to Treat Cold and Flu

Homeopathy is another effective treatment for cold or flu.

If you are new to homeopathy, use just 1 or 2 pellets in the 6c, 12c, or 30c strength — then wait to see if there is improvement.

You can repeat the dose in an hour or two or wait several hours.

If there is no improvement, try a different natural cold or flu remedy. Always consult your doctor if you have any concerns.

Here are additional remedies that can also be useful:

• Arsenicum album for fevers, influenza, anxiety, exhaustion, and restlessness.
• Bryonia for splitting headaches, influenza, dryness of mouth, excessive thirst, nausea, dizziness, and faintness on rising up.
• Cinchona officinalis for dehydration, influenza, traumatic fever, and pain in limbs and joints.
• Eupatorium perfoliatum for influenza with great soreness of muscles and bones, fever, and thirst.
• Gelsemium sempervirens for colds, aching, tiredness, heaviness, weakness in muscles, sneezing, drowsiness, and pain from throat to ear.
• Influenzinum for fever, headache, weakness and fatigue, general ill feeling with chill, headache, and dry cough.

Immune-Boosting Common Sense

Here are a few simple reminders that go a long way in helping us stay healthy!

Drink plenty of fluids.

Whether you prefer a mug of bone broth, hot tea, fresh spring water, Kombucha, or another concoction, just make sure you’re getting enough liquids for your body. Dehydration weakens our immune systems, so let’s avoid that and drink up! (You might want to start your day with this.)

Get enough rest.

I know it’s hard, especially during the holidays, but all the right supplements, essential oils, and foods in the world don’t outweigh the importance of a good night’s sleep. Although nourishing foods and exercise definitely have a positive influence on your immune system, they aren’t nearly as crucial as getting enough sleep (source).

Let stress and anxiety go.

The holidays are stressful times for many. Strained or awkward familial relationships and financial stress related to gift-giving during the holidays are pressures your body has to physiologically deal with.

According to the American Psychological Association, the holidays can be more stressful for women who often bear alone the burden to plan, shop, and prepare food for large crowds, and then clean up after everyone (source).

All that extra stress and anxiety, coupled with the fact that this time of year is naturally a time when more people are becoming ill, can really take a toll on your immune system. Slow down, breathe, and don’t try to do it all alone this year. Your immune system will thank you.

Challenge Your Thinking

A bout of acute illness should be viewed not as a punishment, but as an exhilarating challenge to our thinking process. The onset of a cold or the flu is actually an opportunity to augment the body’s cleansing process…restoring balance to living organisms…[A]llow the mental body to accept infectious illness for what it is – the body’s demand for a chance to rest and detoxify. Infectious disease is actually illness that leads to health.

from The Fourfold Path to Healing by Thomas S. Cowan, MD

Helpful Links

• Eat God’s Way books
• Instacart Grocery Delivery (follow my link to get $10 off on your first Instacart order!)
• Earthley Deodorant
• Innersense Hair Care Products
• Immune-Boosting Homemade Elderberry Gummies (only 4 ingredients!)
• 5 Foods That Are Compromising Your Immune System
• Cinnamon-Licorice Tea To Boost Your Immune System
• How To Boost Your Immune System With Pepper Juice Tincture
• 14 Herbs To Boost Immunity (8 may already by in your kitchen!)
• Should You Take A Multi-Vitamin Or Individual Vitamins? #AskWardee 092
• 2 Natural Cold Remedies That Really Work! #AskWardee 054
• DIY Homemade Cough Syrup
• A Peek Into Our Medicine Cabinet: Fighting Illness With Food
• DIY Essential Oil Chest Rub Decongestant (for adults, kids, and babies!)
• Homemade Non-Toxic All Purpose Cleaning Spray with Essential Oils #AskWardee 061
• Lacto-Fermentation 101 Video Series
• “immune” article search
• Viracid herbal supplement
• Zinc lozenges supplement
• Exploring Water Filtration Options {which water filter is best?}
• Radiant Life’s water filtration systems — get $25 to $100 OFF with coupon code WARDEE for a limited time

How do you boost your immune system during cold and flu season? Do you have any tried-and-true natural home remedies for cold and flu?

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You are responsible for your own health and for the use of any remedies, treatments, or medications you use at home.

This post is a combination of posts originally published and written by Lindsey Dietz and Lee Burdett on 11/18/14 and 11/9/15 respectively. It was updated and republished on 1/15/20, and again on 2/18/22.