HEALTH

Buy a humidifier or just hold your head above a boiling pot of water and breathe in from your nose…just don’t burn yourself! Taking a hot shower with the door closed will also ease your sinuses and open up your chest.  Feel like you can’t breathe? Turn the water a tad colder or open the shower door. 

Turns out mom’s chicken soup really does work!  Aside from being super nutritious, remember when we said inhaling steam would do you well? Well, the steam from the soup helps clear your nasal passages.  In addition, there are also amino acids called cysteines in chicken soup, which thin the nasty mucus in your system.  Um, yum?

Do you have a scratchy or sore throat? Gargling salt water can really help!  Here are three do-it-yourself tricks to nix the tickle. To ease a sore/scratchy throat: mix a ½ teaspoon of salt with 8 ounces of warm water, and gargle 4 times daily. Or try this: Take 1 tablespoon of raspberry leaves or lemon juice (either one is fine) in 2 cups of hot water. Mix all that with 1 teaspoon of honey and gargle away!

Everyone always says it—your doctor, your parents, the school nurse, your 2nd cousin once removed and now us.  Drink 8 ounces of fluids (i.e. water, juices, herbal teas, sports drinks, ginger ale) per day.  Staying hydrated will help decongest you.  One more thing? Avoid drinks that contain caffeine.