Distilled water is fine. It's what I use in my Neti Pot when I do my sinus rinse. Of course that's a saline solution as well, but the base is pure distilled water. Just don't use tap water of any sort. Make sure it's been purified of all contaminants.
I agree, but I wish to say that adding a little salt has done wonders for me in the past. I remember I sat on a beach once using sea water inhaled from my hand, and strings of yelllow mucus kept coming, and no, the water did not harm me at all - and it was the South China Sea, so certainly not the cleanest of sea water. but sufficiently salty that whatever was in it was neutralized so to speak).
Also, I have discovered that cutting all carbs is essential when one has an infection of any sort. Bacteria live on blood sugar, and your body produces mucus in response to those sugars, so it is a double whammy. For example many people react to lactose from milk. Personally I react to maltose from grain and sucrose. So, even when your congestion is due to a cold, the blood sugar problem worsens it.
Traditionally, we have been taught to drink lucozade or sweetened lemon drinks or something like that when we are sick. Some people turn to tonic water when they are sick. Although I approve of tonic water for the quinine, when people are actually running a fever, we are inundated with sweet stuff - some people even eat icecream to 'soothe' a sore throat.
Stop it.
Cutting all bread, dairy, pasta, sugary treats and sweet fruits can be hard, and you won't notice any improvement until your blood sugar drops sufficiently. Eat some fat: a spoon of real butter (just about pure fat, very low lactose) or some bacon if you feel a bit wobbly during withdrawal. But I promise, making your blood sugar go down will help with the congestion (as well as using the neti pot). If you actually feel like you are going to pass out when doing this, then have a teaspoon of honey in a little warm water, preferably manuka honey, but otherwise keep at it. I am not advising this course of action if one is diabetic - a radically dropped blood sugar can then be quite dangerous. But even then one should consider lowering the sugar intake, but slowly, while testing blood sugar often.
Good comment, Fren! Some tasty tidbits of info in that write-up. Especially the aspect about Manuka Honey.
Few people have even heard of it, let alone what it is and where it comes from. Back when I worked for a retailer that sold it among their other honey products, I did some research and found out that it's basically Tea Tree honey with all the disinfection and virus-fighting power included, but that you had to make sure you get a high-grade for maximum potency. I hear they use it in hospital settings to treat sores, but haven't talked to any doctors or naturopaths to confirm this.
THAT being said, it's certainly great for mouth and throat and sinus infections as well as other uses! Good shit.
True, Fren, but compared to supplements that probably don't do a damn thing, or even the price of a pharma-pill, it's a great investment in one's health.
Question for my own research: Some will mix honey and ACV together to "sweeten the deal". Due to inherent acidity, would Manuka introduced straight into ACV weaken or alter its potency or affect the honey in any way?
Is all good. Honey is inherently acidic as well, so no problem mixing it with ACV. So we often have a bottle handy - Straight ACV (i.e. not sweetened) can be used as part of a salt/vinegar gargle as well, which can clear the throat.
Mind you, I have also turned to using Listerine for clearing the throat in the last couple years, and it works very well - this after years of being an all-natural devotee.
Hydrogen peroxide - even diluted is harsh to nebulize - I had a hard time with it. I’ve heard better things about nebulizing colloidal silver for the same result.
I used diluted food grade peroxide and a drop or two of Lugol’s Iodine and it was MISERABLE to nebulize. I didn’t really feel any benefits. I personally probably won’t try it again, but I will try nebulizing colloidal silver.
Be careful with that stuff. I tried it years ago and my breathing got worse and my lungs felt awful. I was very careful with the amounts and used the correct food grade peroxide, not the stuff from the drugstore. I switched to nebulizer saline and that helped. Eventually I got a prescription for albuterol and ipratropium, which helped the most.
Is mucus your problem? I swear by Umcka Cold Care drops. For me, they helped more than anything for mucus. You can get it on Amazon or try local health food stores.
There are varying opinions on strength, but make sure you get the food grade stuff. There is a difference.
This site seems to have a good ratio:
https://www.drjomd.com/2021/11/nebulize-hydrogen-peroxide/
I would also use sterile saline instead of water.
Distilled water is fine. It's what I use in my Neti Pot when I do my sinus rinse. Of course that's a saline solution as well, but the base is pure distilled water. Just don't use tap water of any sort. Make sure it's been purified of all contaminants.
I agree, but I wish to say that adding a little salt has done wonders for me in the past. I remember I sat on a beach once using sea water inhaled from my hand, and strings of yelllow mucus kept coming, and no, the water did not harm me at all - and it was the South China Sea, so certainly not the cleanest of sea water. but sufficiently salty that whatever was in it was neutralized so to speak).
Also, I have discovered that cutting all carbs is essential when one has an infection of any sort. Bacteria live on blood sugar, and your body produces mucus in response to those sugars, so it is a double whammy. For example many people react to lactose from milk. Personally I react to maltose from grain and sucrose. So, even when your congestion is due to a cold, the blood sugar problem worsens it.
Traditionally, we have been taught to drink lucozade or sweetened lemon drinks or something like that when we are sick. Some people turn to tonic water when they are sick. Although I approve of tonic water for the quinine, when people are actually running a fever, we are inundated with sweet stuff - some people even eat icecream to 'soothe' a sore throat.
Stop it.
Cutting all bread, dairy, pasta, sugary treats and sweet fruits can be hard, and you won't notice any improvement until your blood sugar drops sufficiently. Eat some fat: a spoon of real butter (just about pure fat, very low lactose) or some bacon if you feel a bit wobbly during withdrawal. But I promise, making your blood sugar go down will help with the congestion (as well as using the neti pot). If you actually feel like you are going to pass out when doing this, then have a teaspoon of honey in a little warm water, preferably manuka honey, but otherwise keep at it. I am not advising this course of action if one is diabetic - a radically dropped blood sugar can then be quite dangerous. But even then one should consider lowering the sugar intake, but slowly, while testing blood sugar often.
Good comment, Fren! Some tasty tidbits of info in that write-up. Especially the aspect about Manuka Honey.
Few people have even heard of it, let alone what it is and where it comes from. Back when I worked for a retailer that sold it among their other honey products, I did some research and found out that it's basically Tea Tree honey with all the disinfection and virus-fighting power included, but that you had to make sure you get a high-grade for maximum potency. I hear they use it in hospital settings to treat sores, but haven't talked to any doctors or naturopaths to confirm this.
THAT being said, it's certainly great for mouth and throat and sinus infections as well as other uses! Good shit.
Yes, it is now shockingly expensive compared to other types of honey, but still worth it.
True, Fren, but compared to supplements that probably don't do a damn thing, or even the price of a pharma-pill, it's a great investment in one's health.
Question for my own research: Some will mix honey and ACV together to "sweeten the deal". Due to inherent acidity, would Manuka introduced straight into ACV weaken or alter its potency or affect the honey in any way?
Is all good. Honey is inherently acidic as well, so no problem mixing it with ACV. So we often have a bottle handy - Straight ACV (i.e. not sweetened) can be used as part of a salt/vinegar gargle as well, which can clear the throat.
Mind you, I have also turned to using Listerine for clearing the throat in the last couple years, and it works very well - this after years of being an all-natural devotee.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8140561/
a Salt Inhaler might help. https://gb.pipingrock.com/bronchial-support/himalayan-salt-air-inhaler-plus-salt-refill-1-unit-39754
I definitely got the food grade.
Hydrogen peroxide - even diluted is harsh to nebulize - I had a hard time with it. I’ve heard better things about nebulizing colloidal silver for the same result.
How about iodine?
I used diluted food grade peroxide and a drop or two of Lugol’s Iodine and it was MISERABLE to nebulize. I didn’t really feel any benefits. I personally probably won’t try it again, but I will try nebulizing colloidal silver.
Make sure you use iodine that can be ingested, not topical stuff.
Jesus Christ I read nebulizer as fertilizer.
Thought the thread was glowing for a minute.
Be careful with that stuff. I tried it years ago and my breathing got worse and my lungs felt awful. I was very careful with the amounts and used the correct food grade peroxide, not the stuff from the drugstore. I switched to nebulizer saline and that helped. Eventually I got a prescription for albuterol and ipratropium, which helped the most.
Is mucus your problem? I swear by Umcka Cold Care drops. For me, they helped more than anything for mucus. You can get it on Amazon or try local health food stores.
I use it 50/50 with purified or distilled water.
I use 3% food grade straight up.