Ode to Olbas oil……

I do not get colds. I used to in my unhealthy youth, but these day – nah……  So when I do get one, I am horribly grumpy and bad tempered, made more so by the fact that, however successful I have been in dealing with it during the day, at night it comes up to get me and I am stuffed up, wheezy, can’t breathe, can’t sleep….

By yesterday I had had two nights of this so was not fit to speak to – until my good friend Lily said, Olbas oil….. Yes,of course I knew about Olbas oil – but had I thought about it? I dug out my trusty bottle (which ‘expired’, I note, in April 2007) and, last night, applied it to nose. Magic! Nose cleared, breathing normal, sleep wafting in… I would not say it was the best night’s sleep I ever had – I kept losing my Olbas-soaked tissue down the bed – but it sure as hell knocked spots off the previous two nights!!

So, may I sing an ode to the wonders of Olbas oil – possibly even more wonderful if it had not already been four years out of date! Cheap, harmless and effective.

While still meditating on this saviour of snuffly Brits, I also came across a Natural News post on ‘natural cold treatments’. Like the Olbas oil, you have probably heard of all of them, but to bring them to the forefront of your mind:
Vitamin C – loads of it. Some people say it should be combined with zinc,  some with elderberry extract but the main thing is the vitamin C.

Echinacea – although you really need to take that before you get the cold to ward it off, rather than once you have got it!

Then two Chinese medicine remedies that my good friend Barbara Hezelgrave has been feeding me for years, Gan Mao Ling and Yin Qiao – in fact, I am sure that the reason I got this cold is because we had run out of Gan Mao. They come in little black tablets that you take by the handful as soon as you feel slightly coldy or flu-ey and normally they work a treat!

Homeopathy enthusaists will know that Allium cepa is the best cold treatment although Pulsatilla often works well for children.

And, according to Natural News, xylitol ‘inhibits the reproduction of viruses and bacteria’ so a xylitol nasal spray (Xclear) could do the trick for you.

Have a happy sniffle-free winter!