Chicken Soup for the Cold

After attending daycare for 2 weeks, Ariel has finally fallen sick. As what many parents who have kids going to school will testify, it is somewhat expected, that they will fall sick more frequently compared to kids staying at home.

Moreover, Autumn is here, and so is the Cold season. However, in addition to having a cold, my little girl has also been experiencing loose/unformed stools for more than 2 weeks now. We brought her to see the doctor, and had been advised to give her yogurt everyday. It somewhat helped as the yogurt has helped to stabilize the stool condition. But with the onset of the cold, I have to be ever more careful of her diet.

Since coming to Corvallis, I have become a firm believer of natural remedies, especially for kids. In Singapore, whenever we go see a doctor, we'll always be given a bag of medication. Over here, I'm kind of glad that our PD recommends natural remedies, instead of pushing us to get OTC drugs for our baby.

Thus, I decided to check out what are some natural remedies that are good for colds plus loose stools at the same time, and this is what I found:

1. Chicken Soup
According to this website i found: www.healthcentral.com, Chicken Soup does help in relieving some Cold discomforts. Besides the fact that it serves as a good source of nutritious fluid, "chicken soup actually reduces the inflammatory compounds that rise with a cold and flu, called cytkines, which trigger body aches, fever, and fatigue. Studies have actually shown that chicken soup inhibits the release of neutrophils, thus reducing the discomfort of a respiratory infection."

The ingredients I put in my Chicken Soup includes:
Carrots, Celery, a slice of Ginger, a small clove of Garlic OR a small slice of Onion, Chicken Breast, Tomatoes, Corn (optional).
* Spices like Ginger and Garlic are actually very good for colds.

I have found that Chicken Soup really soothes Ariel and myself too.

2. Stewed Apples
As mentioned earlier, Ariel had been having loose stools. So I was really careful about giving her fruits that will cause her to have diarrhea. But at the same time, I understand that she does need the Vitamin C. Upon a quick check at Nutritiondata.com, I found that stewed apples still retain a fair amount of Vitamin C, and are supposed to be good for diarrhea. (apple juice, however, should be avoided during diarrhea).

3. Honey with Lemon
Lastly, I've inevitably caught the cold bug from my girl as well. What works for me is simply a warm drink of 1 tbsp of Honey plus a few drops of Lemon. It's actually not very tasty, but works wonders for sore throats.

According to our PD, kids attending daycare are expected to get about 6 bouts of Cold this winter. From what I read, we just got to let the Cold runs its course, and no medication is actually required.