If you feel you might be coming down with the sniffles, this recipe provides you with a quick and easy yet Ancient Home Remedy for Colds and Flu that can be made with 1, 2, or 3 simple ingredients and be ready in 30 minutes.
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Table of Contents
- No Special Ingredients Needed
- Disclaimer
- Ancient Home Remedy Revered
- Ancient Home Remedy Perfection
- Feeling the Chills? Try Ginger
- Short on Time?
- REALLY Short on Time?
- Integrative Medicine with Andrew Weil
- An Ayurveda Recipe Video for Gut Health
- More Immune Boosting Recipes
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- Ancient Remedy for Colds and Flu Recipe
- Shop for items used in this blog post or video
No Special Ingredients Needed
The nice feature about this Ancient Home Remedy is that you can make the recipe with one simple ingredient! However, you can get fancy and add two or three more ingredients to boost its healing power.
What are these magical ancient ingredients? You will be surprised to learn you may already have these basic pantry staples on hand. The first ingredient is an onion. Yes, a simple onion! And we’re going to start making this ancient remedy by using that humble onion to make a broth.
Disclaimer
Note: I am not a doctor or medical professional. This information is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any type of illness. If you are not feeling well, please seek professional medical attention and medicine. And if you are thinking of supplementing your treatment with home remedies, be sure to talk to your medical professional about them. It’s important that you get the medicine and treatments you need to get back to good health.
Ancient Home Remedy Revered
Our ancient Greek and Roman ancestors knew that the onion had healing powers. Today, many folks may turn their nose up to the simple onion because it can make our breath smell. But not our ancestors. They revered the onion in all its forms, whether eating the actual onion or making it into a broth, skins and all. They wasted nothing!
And you will be astonished to learn that the ancient Romans revered the onion to such a degree, believing in its healing—and strengthening—powers that the Gladiators rubbed down their skin with onions!
Ancient Home Remedy Perfection
Not unlike the onion, another ingredient often turned to by our ancestors when they were sick was garlic. Just as with the onion, they were not afraid of its aroma. They welcomed it! Remember, these folks did not have antibiotics, so they had to, in essence, make homemade antibiotics.
And like the onion, our forefathers wasted nothing. Ancient civilizations included garlic skins, as with onion skins, in many ancient remedies. Today, we know that both garlic skins and onion skins are rich in vitamins including A, C, and E, as well as numerous antioxidants, including the flavonoid quercetin, which is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. So to improve the healing properties of our onion broth, we’ll add in some garlic too!
Learn more about the healing properties of these foods with the following resources:
- Onions–a global benefit to health
- Health Benefits of the Flavonoids from Onion: Constituents and Their Pronounced Antioxidant and Anti-neuroinflammatory Capacities
- Immunomodulation and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Garlic Compounds
Feeling the Chills? Try Ginger
Nutritionists consider ginger to be a thermogenic spice because it produces heat in our bodies. It helps us warm up internally when we feel cold or feel the chills that may often accompany colds or flu.
Ginger was used in China for medicinal purposes for centuries long before it made its way to the Greeks and Romans. Once it arrived through trade, it became a popular spice, but one that was often reserved for the wealthy. Later, our ancestors of the Middle Ages started using it more commonly and embraced it for its healing properties.
A nice feature about ginger is that if you find the onion broth or the onion/garlic broth pungent, adding a bit of ginger can smooth out the flavor by infusing a bit of pleasant sweet spice.
Short on Time?
What happens if you start to feel a bit under the weather, but you haven’t had the chance to make tonics like Elderberry Syrup or Rose Hips Syrup? Or what if you don’t have the time to let a Fire Cider steep for weeks?
Having this Ancient Home Remedy recipe like this broth that comes together in 30 minutes can be very comforting.
REALLY Short on Time?
If your ancient home remedy onion broth is simmering, but you need something ASAP, I have you covered! Now, this following recipe is not an ancient home remedy, but it is one from my childhood. This remedy is something my mom would whip up in the blender—literally within a minute—whenever I showed signs of the sniffles.
You can take this delightful lemony sweet tonic by the teaspoon full, or you can add it to a hot cup of tea. It only uses four ingredients, which I’m confident you have in your pantry. Watch the recipe video for this Home Remedy for Colds and Flu, and it will be ready in minutes.
Integrative Medicine with Andrew Weil
If you have been with me for a while, you know that I am a fan of integrative medicine—an approach that integrates modern medical treatments with those of traditional healing practices to best help the patient.
Dr. Andrew Weil is a pioneer in this field, and I highly recommend his book Spontaneous Healing to learn more about integrative medicine. Dr. Weil is an authority in the subject of how best to integrate modern medicine with ancient healing systems, ranging from traditional Chinese medicine to the Indian practice of Ayurveda.
You can learn more about Dr. Weil and the Center of Integrative Medicine that he founded in Arizona with the following reference:
- Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (University of Arizona)
An Ayurveda Recipe Video for Gut Health
Scientists tell us that the better gut health we are able to maintain, the healthier we are overall. So on that note, if you have had any problems with your digestive health and need some food to soothe your gut so that you can begin to improve its overall health, be sure to try my Kitchari recipe. You’ll find it easy to make and very tasty!
More Immune Boosting Recipes
Now that you know how to make this Ancient Remedy, be sure to watch the following recipe videos and stock your pantry with these other Immune Boosting Foods and Home Remedies for Modern Pioneer Living.
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Ancient Remedy for Colds and Flu
Equipment
- Medium Sized Soup Pot or Saucepan
- Mesh strainer or colander
Ingredients
- 1 large Yellow Onion Skins left on and chopped. You can substitute other types of onions.
- 32 ounces Water
- 1 bulb Garlic, optional Skins left on and entire bulb sliced crosswise. You can substitute ground powdered garlic up to 1/2 teaspoon.
- 3 inch Fresh ginger, optional Slice ginger thinly. The skin may remain on fresh ginger if it is organic. Otherwise, remove the skin. You can substitute ground powdered ginger up to 1 teaspoon.
- Pinch Sea salt, optional
- 4 tsp Ghee, optional You can substitute butter, coconut oil, or another type of fat.
Instructions
- Place the chopped onion into the soup pot and add water. If just making onion broth, place the soup pot on the stove burner and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- If adding garlic, ginger, or both, add those ingredients to the soup pot along with onions and water. Place soup pot on the stove burner and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn the burner off, remove the soup pot from the stove, and place it on a heat-proof surface.
- Place a mesh strainer or colander over a bowl and pour the mixture through the strainer, separating the solids from the liquid.
- Do not discard the solids. Transfer the solids to a freezer-proof container so you can add them to your next batch of bone broth.
- To drink, pour approximately 8 ounces of this ancient broth remedy into a mug. If you want, you can add a pinch of sea salt. You may also add 1 teaspoon of ghee or other fat to the broth. Stir to dissolve fat and drink broth warm.
- If you prefer, you can blend the broth with the sea salt and ghee to create a frothy beverage in which the ghee or other fat is completely emulsified with the broth.
- This broth (without the added fat) will stay fresh stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. If frozen (without the added fat), this broth will stay fresh for 2-3 months.
- To rewarm broth, add a specified amount to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, add to a mug, (along with sea salt and ghee, if desired), and enjoy. Hope you feel better soon!
Video
Notes
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Recommended Reading
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- Nourishing Traditions
- Nourishing Broth
- Spontaneous Healing
- Medicinal Herbs – A Beginner’s Guide (by Rosemary Gladstar)
Disclaimer:I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.
Would it be ok to use bone broth to make this instead of water?
Hi Sharon,
Yes. Adding bone broth would give your remedy an extra boost of nutrition. I wouldn’t recommend adding any juice, since the fruit sugars won’t add much to the broth.
Thanks for your comment. I hope the broth helps you.
Love and God bless,
Mary
We two 69-year-olds are getting the Covid vaccine. One of us finished up on Thursday 2/18/2021 and the other got shot #1 Friday 2/19/2021. I used this onion broth to make chicken veggie soup and we have been eating it the day before and the day after the injections. Happy to report no major side effects from the vaccine, which I am attributing in part to this wonderful recipe. Thank you Mary!
Oh Kathy! I am so happy to hear this!! Love, Mary