Ever just want to wrap up your family in a huge Lysol wipe to survive the winter months?

If your insurance is anything like mine, unless you’re hospitalized you pretty much pay every penny of your medical bills. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford multiple trips to the doctor every time someone gets a sniffle around here; $150 office visits add up quickly in a family of six—and because the majority of things we seem to acquire are viral, a doctor’s visit wouldn’t help anyhow.

Aside from a nutritious diet, copious hand washing, or simply locking our families behind closed doors and throwing away the key, is there anything we can do to help prevent our kids from getting colds and the flu? What if they are already sick … can we do anything to speed up the recovery process?

Yes, and most certainly YES.

First of all: prevention, prevention, prevention is our best recourse. I try to limit our exposure to some extent, but you eventually have to get out and brave the world. I keep hand sanitizer in my purse, and in the cup holder in my vehicle. Anytime we go anywhere, as soon as we get back into the car, we pass it around to everyone. It’s wonderful that so many businesses are providing sanitizing wipes for their carts or gel for our hands, but you still never know what you may have touched. Someone else, carrying some lovely germ, may have handled it five minutes before you were there. It’s a simple task, but I’m convinced it’s our first line of defense after exposure.

Not everything is passed through hand contact, though. What about those pesky airborne critters floating around? There is something you can do about them. It’s called Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol, otherwise known as colloidal silver. No, it’s not the stuff people once used that turned their skin bluish-gray. We have used it consistently for several years now, and we haven’t turned into Smurfs. The silver content is 10ppm (parts per million) and quite safe. Silver has well-established antibacterial and antiviral properties, and in my experience, this stuff is AMAZING.

I have to credit my sister for bringing this little jewel into our lives. She talked about it for a couple of years before I decided to give it a shot. I only wished I’d listened to her sooner.

You know when your child first starts to get a sniffle, and that clear mucous starts to trickle? It doesn’t take long to turn yellow or green. Then it inevitably seems to find my kids’ ears to settle down and set up house, and—voilà—ear infection, which equal sleepless nights, horrible pain, expensive doctor’s appointments, and (the grand prize!) a lovely round of antibiotics. If you’re lucky, it ends there; if not, maybe more problems down the road after you’ve destroyed your gut flora.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against antibiotics when they’re needed. But who wouldn’t want to prevent an infection in the first place? That’s where home remedies come in.

Back to my silver bullet: we use Sovereign Silver nasal spray. You will want one for each family member since it goes in your nose. It’s not expensive—a bottle runs about $12 (shipping included if you have Amazon Prime)—especially compared to the cost of a doctor visit. When you come home from being out and about, take a second to squirt a couple of sprays in each nostril. The antibacterial and antiviral properties can help kill off the bugs before they have a chance to set up camp!

The first time I tried this, I was hooked. One of my children used to get ear infections every time he had a snotty nose. Once that yellow discharge started, it ALWAYS turned into an ear infection. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This particular time, though, we had the colloidal silver spray to use. I kid you not, after using the silver spray 4–6 times a day, it was clear again within 24–48 hours after first seeing yellow-greenish discharge! Once it was clear, I scaled back to 2–3 colloidal silver treatments per day until it all dried up. Now we all use it, and it has never failed to clear up the nasal drainage within a couple days. Not once!

I’ve been known to spray it in our mouths for a sore throat aid, as well. I genuinely feel this stuff is nothing short of miraculous.

But wait, that’s not our only secret formula for health. I once read an article from BulkHerbStore.com about something they called “GOOT.” I have since altered the formula a bit, but the initial base recipe came from them. “GOOT” stands for Garlic Oil Ointment Treatment. If you’re any kind of an herbalist, or have dabbled with herbs in the least, I’m sure you have heard about the healing qualities of garlic. Like the Colloidal Silver, garlic is known for being both antibacterial and antiviral, and is commonly used in home remedies.

Several years ago, when I first heard of this GOOT stuff, I decided to give it a try. As I began to chop up garlic, my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter came over and, seeing me working in the kitchen, assumed it was something yummy and asked for a piece. I assured her it wasn’t anything she would like, and sent her off to play. She, of course, had decided she would indeed love it and simply had to try it. I again told her it was spicy and it might burn her mouth. Still, she insisted she wanted it. I’m not normally one to give in to a child begging for something, but I figured it would be good for her if she ate it, and if she hated it … well … she might learn that mama knew best. Surprisingly, she actually did eat it, asked for more, and proceeded to enjoy it any time I chopped up garlic! Ten years later, she no longer eats raw garlic unless she swallows pieces whole, so I can’t say whether it was just stubbornness at the time (to prove mama wasn’t always right) or her tastes have changed. Who knows.

But on to the GOOT. It is used as a salve that you rub on the chest and back, to prevent pneumonia or other chest/lung issues during and after a cold. You know when your cold settles into your chest and produces that seal-like bark that lasts for a month? Well, I’ve found that this stuff—which is best used at the onset—can help prevent that altogether or shorten it to a couple of days.

Since garlic is such a powerful antibiotic and antiviral, you can’t lose with this stuff. I whip up a batch immediately when I notice the first sign of a cold. Even my once-skeptical husband allows me to rub it on him now, and my R.N. mother-in-law recently called me asking for my hocus-pocus recipe … because you’re only a “quack” until people have tried your home remedies and seen the benefits for themselves!

Base GOOT recipe:

• 3T. chopped garlic
• 3T. olive oil

3T. coconut oil

Coconut oil is not usually liquid at room temperature (unless you keep your house a lot warmer than mine), so I spoon it into a small dish and gently warm it on the stove.

Once it has liquefied, I turn the heat off and add my chopped garlic to the coconut oil, then let it steep for 20 minutes before straining out the garlic pieces. Next, mix the garlic-infused coconut oil into the olive oil, stir it all up, and refrigerate. As it cools, it hardens and becomes a salve. It will last for at least two weeks, if not longer, in the refrigerator. I usually use mine up before it has a chance to go bad.

Since first discovering GOOT, I have beefed up the recipe a bit by adding these ingredients to the mixture before it is refrigerated:

• 3 drops eucalyptus essential oil
• 3 drops organic cayenne essential oil

Any time my children are sick, I rub it on their neck, back, and chest first thing in the morning, again during the day, and before they go to bed, to help prevent sniffles from turning into lung infections or pneumonia. They may smell like a piece of garlic toast, but this stuff works! (Note: it will not hurt your child, but if you have a very young infant that develops a rash, the garlic might be a little strong. Either reduce the amount of garlic a bit, or don’t use the GOOT quite as often. We have one child with extremely sensitive skin, and I can only remember needing to reduce how much I used once, when she was an infant.)

So what about you? Does your family have any home remedies that you can’t live without? If so, drop a note in the comments below. I’d love to hear about them!

 

Common-sense disclaimer:  We are not doctors here at A Reason For Homeschool; we’re homeschool moms.
Bridgitt is sharing home remedies that have, in her experience over the years, worked to keep her family more healthy.
However, your DNA is different (that much we can promise!) so your mileage may vary.
If you have questions, or if someone in your family has preexisting health conditions or signs of serious illness,
please consult a physician—which we reiterate, no one here is claiming to be!

 

Bridgitt’s GOOT Recipe  (download a printable copy)

• 3T. chopped garlic
• 3T. olive oil
• 3T. coconut oil
• 3 drops eucalyptus essential oil
• 3 drops organic cayenne essential oil

If coconut oil is solid, spoon it into a small dish and gently warm it on the stove. Once it has liquefied, remove from heat, add chopped garlic, then steep for 20 minutes. Strain out the garlic pieces. Mix the garlic-infused coconut oil into the olive oil, add eucalyptus and cayenne essential oils, stir it all up, and refrigerate. As it cools, it hardens and becomes a salve.

When anyone in your family is sick, rub the GOOT salve on their neck, back, and chest first thing in the morning, again during the day, and before they go to bed, to help prevent sniffles from turning into lung infections or pneumonia.

Note: it will not hurt your child, but if your very young infant develops a rash, reduce the amount of garlic or the frequency of application.

Lasts for at least two weeks in the refrigerator.