Beat the Flu Naturally

By Caitlin Ball
Beat the Flu Naturally-With cough and cold season in full effect, we figured it's time to DIY a natural home remedy with ingredients that we can actually pronounce! Even the easier-to-read ingredients like sugar and artificial dyes are undesirable—we'd rather not have them involved while we're trying to boost our immune system. Instead, an all-natural concoction that uses the inherent cold-fighting powers of lemon, honey, and ginger sounds like a much better way to go!

While you can easily toss most of the ingredients for this home remedy into your basket during your next grocery run, you'll probably have to make a pit stop for the food-grade glycerin. Your local health food store or pharmacy should have the sweet-tasting liquid on hand—just make sure it's food grade and you're good to go!

Ingredients:
- ¼ cup food grade glycerin
– ¼ cup honey
– ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
– 1 teaspoon grated ginger
Materials:
- small, sealable bottle
– sticker label
Instructions:
1. Combine lemon juice and grated ginger into a small saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Strain the mixture with a sieve into a medium bowl.

2. Add food-grade glycerin and honey into the bowl and stir until combined.

3. Pour syrup into a small bottle, seal, and clean off any excess on the outside of the bottle.

4. Add a cute label and be sure to include the expiration date—the syrup will last up to one year in the refrigerator, or as long as the expiration of your glycerin, which may be sooner than one year.

5. To use, take one teaspoon every three to four hours as needed.

It should come as no surprise that a mix of lemon and ginger isn't just a magical concoction in the homemade beauty and home cook realms. Packed with vitamin C, lemon and ginger are the powerhouses of natural immune boosting. So juice your lemon, grate your ginger, add the zesty mix to a small saucepan, and simmer for 10 minutes. Then strain into a bowl.

Next, add the sore throat soothers: honey—use a local honey if possible!—and food-grade glycerin, a sweet tasting, sugar-free syrup that's a common ingredient in many pharmaceuticals. Stir these into your liquid until fully combined.

Now add your mixture into a sealable bottle. If you don't have a funnel on hand, you can always use your lemon juicer to transfer the liquid into your bottle like we did

Once you've wiped your bottle clean, make a label that lists your ingredients and, most importantly, the expiration date. If refrigerated, the syrup will last up to one year unless your glycerin expires before that date—check its label to find out, and go with whatever date comes first, 'cause safety first kids!

If you're feeling that menacing tickle in the back of your throat, take one teaspoon every three to four hours as needed. After the just first dosage, you'll for sure banish the foul-flavored, electric green, over the counter remedies of cold's past. With the zing of ginger and blast of lemon followed by soothing honey, coughs and colds have met their match!