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Drink garlic tea for colds and flu

last updated on 5 November 2011
by Samantha

garlicbulbGarlic is a great remedy for colds and viral infections. You can think of garlic as nature’s broad-spectrum antibiotic. It’s natural, safe, cheap, easy-to-use and incredibly effective.

Whenever I have a cold or a fever,  I find that garlic gets me feeling like myself again really quickly, sometimes within a day.

You can take fresh garlic raw (and just chew and eat it), but to most people this can be quite punishing.  I find that the simplest and best solution is to make garlic tea.

What is garlic tea?

Garlic tea is really just fresh, chopped garlic that’s steeped in hot water. Some people add lemon juice and honey for flavor, but this isn’t necessary for garlic tea to work.

How to make garlic tea

1) Peel and roughly chop 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. The wait allows allicin to form. Allicin is the powerful anti-bacterial and anti-viral compund in garlic which only forms when garlic has been broken in some way (eg by chewing, chopping).

2) Add the chopped garlic to a mug and fill it with some hot water. Sip the garlic tea once it becomes cool enough.

If you have a mild case of the flu or a cold, garlic tea should start working for you fairly quickly. However, if you’re down with a particularly bad bout of the flu, you might have to take garlic tea over a period of a few days.

13 Responses Leave a Comment →
  1. February 14, 2010

    Yes, this really works. This is also a common Ethiopian practise we use to treat colds and the flu. thanks for this.

  2. June 13, 2010

    My grandparents used to make and drink garlic tea. They swore by it. Also, on TV I saw where the person with the arthritis would hold a bee by a pair of tweezers and make it sting the painful area. They swore by that remedy too, although I don’t know where you would get that done. Just a couple ideas I saw. Hope something works for you! I understand constant pain!

  3. Oscar Rico permalink
    May 7, 2011

    Pretty obvious. Garlic is viruses worst enemie.

  4. Nwite Emmanuel Brown permalink
    August 15, 2011

    Since when i started using garlic ,my body contineous to function well.

  5. anne permalink
    September 30, 2011

    thanx samantha….l really like this garlic tea for cold.And i make it and give to my father.he is severly suffering from cod and cough.

  6. rick permalink
    November 4, 2011

    do you swallow garlic in the tea

    • Samantha permalink*
      November 4, 2011

      You can, but you don’t have to. Just the garlic-infused water works for me.

  7. rick permalink
    November 4, 2011

    Thanks so do u have too cut them small

  8. louise mycee subaldo permalink
    November 23, 2011

    how can i make tea in a bag? or a concentrated syrup? i mean a garlic tea that can be in market and will last long.. is that possible? How can i get rid of the garlic breath?? thanks..

    • Samantha permalink*
      November 23, 2011

      Sorry, I don’t quite understand your questions or what they’ve got to do with the article (?)

      • louise mycee subaldo permalink
        November 24, 2011

        I just want to try if you have the answers on my question coz we are having some research about garlic tea.. so i want to know how long will your recipe would last.. will it spoil after how many days?

        • Samantha permalink*
          November 24, 2011

          I can’t help you, sorry.

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