Home remedies, grandma recipes: Everyone's got one for the cold and sniffles: which ones do not work?

My grandparents used to “put alcohol on it”, whether “it” was a bruise, scrape, or bone fracture. I can’t say the method ever worked.

@Vortico Mine always put alcohol in it. Tea plus vodka.

Isopropyl alcohol in my case, but you knew. Just clarifying. :)

None of them work except for washing your hands.

For colds and sniffles, I’ve never found that taking Vitamin C or eating oranges ever helped a bit.

Possibly “stay in bed” doesn’t work for a cold but extra sleep worked for me when I used to get them. And I couldn’t sleep unless I used nose spray at bedtime.

Force feeding meatloaf and lima beans to regain health and vitality doesn’t work at all.

This graphic shows which natural ingredients in a lot of home remedies have more scientific evidence supporting them.

So ginseng and vitamin c aren’t overly proven to do anything that’s claimed, but others on the scale have been shown to be effective.

@Cruiser ; I like meatloaf and lima beans. Just sayin’.

My mother always claimed that she could stop a cold in its tracks by gargling with Listerine at the first sign of a sore throat. I have tried it, and it never worked for me.

@lonelydragon do you still have your tonsils? I’ve always thought gargling with Listerine was good if you still had your tonsils.

Yes, and even given that fact, the gargling never did anything for me.