Having recently been under the weather with a bad chest/head cold and cough, as many others are right now, I thought I would share a tip that was incredibly helpful and completely free.

Hot liquids during a cold are comforting, but are most of us drinking the wrong ones?

Both tea and coffee have a dehydrating effect on the body. So while they may be comforting and taste good, they actually may be doing some harm during a cold rather than the good you are going for.

It was suggested by a friend who had lived in Thailand for a time that over there they drink hot water. Just hot water. As hot as you can get it down. I added lemon to mine, which is also helpful in detoxifying (plus it makes it taste good).*Please use good clean non fluoridated water*

When you drink just plain water or water with lemon you are rehydrating the body and clearing the organs, especially the kidneys, which during a cold need all the help they can get as they are working over time to try and filter and get you back to health.

I decided this made sense to me and I had nothing to lose by trying it. I boiled up a pot of water, squeezed some lemon and drank it down. The heat felt wonderful. My body temperature began to rise and with that my nose began to drip like a faucet and my eyes started watering as well.

I drank hot water with lemon all day and evening.
The next day?
I felt markedly better!

Now, as this was a lingering cold at this point (going on nearly 3 weeks) I had tossed a lot of herbs, vitamins and pretty much everything I could think of at this cold so I am not claiming that water was the cure… But

I will say this: From here on in if I do get another cold? It will be one of the very first remedies I try.