With snow days, holidays and hot cocoa, winter can be festive and cheery — but it also marks the dreaded cold season. With 150 coughing, sniffling students crammed into tight lecture halls, facing a cold becomes inevitable for college students.
According to WebMD, the common cold can be characterized by a sore or phlegm-ridden throat, a stuffy or runny nose, headache and sinus pressure, the unbearable need to cough, fatigue and a general feeling of terribleness. While some students may use a cold as an excuse to avoid school, others will bring multiple tissue boxes and a backpack brimming with cough drops to every class in order to brave the cold season.
Doctors usually aren’t consulted over a mere cold, no matter how horrific people feel. So instead of purchasing cold medicines, try the following common household items that are said to offer temporary relief for certain cold symptoms.

Ginger

Ginger contains gingerol, which is known for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and phenolic compounds. This makes it a healthy regular addition to your diet, assisting healthy digestion and heart disease prevention among other benefits — but it is also used by some people to treat headaches and sore throats. As an expectorant it loosens the throat wall and expels mucus, and the smell is said to open sinus passageways. Try making ginger tea by boiling cut up ginger root. Add honey for its strong throat-soothing effect.

Garlic

Garlic is partly made up of the compound Allicin which is noted for its numerous health properties. Like ginger, it is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. People swear by garlic as a treatment for everything from athlete’s foot to acne and hair growth. Lightly chewing and sucking on a garlic clove is rumored to help a sore throat, and many people eat garlic regularly to stave off colds.

Cayenne

Along with other hot peppers, cayenne contains capsaicin, a chemical compound that is noted for temporary pain-killing properties. Mix half a teaspoon of cayenne powder with a cup of hot water for pain relief and add honey as a boosting soother. This should provide temporary but immediate relief to throat pain, and to a lesser extent, headaches. It can also help with muscle pain and headaches. In addition, Capsaicin is a decongestant and can help clear a stuffy nose.

Salt water

Gargling salt water naturally reduces swelling by drawing out water from the cells in the throat. It also flushes out mucus. Eating Ramen noodles can be a delicious way to achieve this soothing benefit.
None of these remedies can entirely replace good old modern medicine, and nothing beats rest with plenty of fluids — but when that history paper is due in the morning and you can’t concentrate past your stuffed nose and raw throat, these common kitchen items can offer a reprieve.