Herbs for Colds & Flu

I have a particular blend of herbs, that I love for winter to just keep the flue symptoms at bay, and Yogi Tea makes it. It includes licorice, orange peel and cardamom (not sure of it is the black or green one), and I add tea spoon of organic honey to it for the throat.I have had homemade orange peel tea on itself before and it tasted bitter, but by some reason I do not taste bitterness in this blend. I love drinking it all the time, however licorice is one of the herbs one should be careful with. It can cause your blood pressure to raise, if taken on daily basis. It is better to avoid drinking the same herbal tea for few days in a row. I tend to change them frequently, despite that some blends and herbs are my favourite. It is not good idea to overdose on single herb or blend of the same herbs.As with anything the dose matters and the time of exposure as well. Sometimes, I leave my immune system to just battle things without any additional help, so it does not become too weak over time.

Thank you for adding this, Art! I've actually had a few of the Yogi tea blends. My husband got me some of the sampler packs of it. He got me some of the ginger and dandelion ones. They are both very good. The ginger was for digestion support and I believe the dandelion helps with liver and kidney function. I drink a lot of coffee so I drink the tea one or twice a week (along with a lot of bottled water) to help prevent kidney infections from all the caffeine. The tea is amazing and the ginger, I've found, works really well for tummy troubles (stomach aches, nausea, etc.)

You are welcome. Ironically, I drink ginger mainly when I start coughing, and I have very bad congestion. I hate the taste of it, even though I add lemon and honey to the ginger tea.

I have never tried the dandelion blend. I should give it a try, if I can find it in the same store I purchase my Yogi tea. My only worry with this herb is that it is rumoured to increase the appetite.Does this blend taste bitter? I find the taste of both ginger and dandelion to be bitter overall, but this brand tea are know to try to balance the taste of their herbs.

In my country, according to our herbal traditions linden tea is the staple during winter. It also tastes amazing, very flowery and sweet. My family uses the flowers mainly. I always bring some dried flowers from my country, when I visit my parents.My family gathers it from the near by mountains, where the air is clean and pollution levels low. Of course, I try to not overdose on it as well. However, overdosing on it might cause the speeding up of the onset of heart disease. People with heart disease and people with family history of it must be very careful. I also use it to battle my anxiety. I do not know what is about it that helps in this aspect, the taste, the smell or the active ingredients, but seems to work in my case.

I personally find them both to be very pleasing to the palate, though I also add a lot of honey to my teas.

Nice post!! Personally, I find that ginger, lemon and honey work well to relieve colds and flus.

I agree! Ginger and honey have always been my go to for the flu or a cold. I actually mix it with peppermint and a squeeze of fresh lemon or orange juice. I've found it can really help with some of the symptoms.

What about turmeric powder? It has a LONG list of health benefits! - https://authoritynutrition.com/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric/

I know you're talking specifically about the cold and flu, but I'm throwing it out there because I swear it helped keep me from catching the cold when my employer and my client both caught it. Both of them coughed right in my face, but I still didn't catch it. I was making "golden milk" to help boost my immune system and clear my complexion. It's great for a wide range of things, including the cold and flu :)

I've personally never worked with it, but my father and a friend of his use it. His friend usually just dissolves a teaspoon of it in a glass of water and drinks it every other morning. From what I hear, it works fairly well, though I am not sure he uses it specifically for colds. I believe he has another health issue that he takes it for.

Oh, just in water? You should let him know that if he takes it with pepper it absorbs into his body more easily. He could always swallow a couple pepper corns like pills with it. I like to mix it in my coffee. I was following the golden milk recipe and decided to change it up a bit by adding coffee with it. Coffee, turmeric powder, pepper, chocolate almond milk, and some ginger powder. Always make sure to stir before every drink ^^; since a lot of it doesn't dissolve, lol