The Hour

When you are loaded with the cold, the last thing you feel like doing is dragging yourself out of bed and trailing down the shops to buy some over-the-counter medicines.

But alas, help in the form of your kitchen cupboard ingredients are sitting waiting, ready to save the day and give you a peaceful night’s sleep, as herbalist Anna Hill explains.

“Generally with a cold, the quicker you get there, the better, so just pinch something from your cupboards.”

The first old-fashioned remedy used to help coughs and sore throats is onion syrup: “Just put slices of onion and sugar into a jar. Leave it overnight in the fridge," Anna said. "What you end up with is onion syrup.”

This syrup can be kept in the fridge for a week and taken like a cough bottle: “It’s the smelly bit of the onion that’s the antiseptic.”

Garlic is a natural antiseptic so is great for chest infections. However eating raw garlic is a very unappealing thought so Anna’s garlic socks are the perfect solutions.

To prepare the remedy, place an old pair of socks on your feet, crush 2-3 cloves of garlic and smear on the sole of the socks. Place another pair of socks over the smelly socks and go to bed wearing them.

“The garlic is absorbed into your skin overnight so when you wake up in the morning, you actually have garlic-smelling breath,” Anna said.

If you are suffering from a head cold or nose congestion, then thyme works as a great antibacterial as it thins down mucus.

Add boiling water to 1-2 teaspoons of dried thyme and inhale, putting a towel over your head to keep in the vapours.

Last but not least, garlic and vinegar is a great remedy to cure a fungal infection: “The vinegar will stop the garlic going off. Dab it on or put it into a foot bath.”