Best Homemade Kadha for cough, cold and Fever

India is a diverse country and is home to infinite medicinal herbs from ancient time. We are also home to Ayurveda, which is now gaining its acceptability across the world and hence popularity. In Ayurveda, ‘Kadha’ is an integral part of most of the cures and is popular even now. Basically, a Kadha is a medicinal drink, made with combination of various herbs and spices, which can easily be prepared in a household kitchen. If you are looking for a homemade kadha for cold, kadha for cough or even kadha for fever, you would find all the ingredients in your pantry or the nearby shop.

Table of content

• Why are we talking about kadha?
• How to make Kadha for cough
• How to make Kadha for cold
• How to make Kadha for fever
• When to consume kadha
• Can we store kadha?
• Frequency of consumption
• Tips

Why are we talking about Kadha?

Our country being naturally diverse, sees a lot of seasonal changes throughout. Different parts experience seasonal changes with different frequencies and at different times of the year. However, everyone waits for the winters after harsh summer and vice-versa. Unfortunately, with every seasonal change we see a lot of seasonal flu type diseases, which cause frequent cough/cold/fever etc. and increases our visits to hospitals.

However, I feel, in recent times we have been quite reluctant towards maintaining the immunity of the body and are always in a rush to get quick fixes in hospitals. However, I am not discouraging visiting doctors when needed but if we include such homemade kadha for cough/kadha for cold/kadha for fever in our lifestyle, we can proactively fight such seasonal diseases by maintaining the immunity of the body.

If we go back to our childhood, even our grandparents used to cure or prevent most of such minor sicknesses with homemade kadha for immune system boosting, which is quite a proactive measure to stay healthy.

So, today we will try to talk about a few types of homemade kadha to fight cold, cough and fever at home.

How to make Kadha for cough:

Ingredients:

• 2-inch stick of liquorice (Mulethi)
• 1-inch piece of ginger
• 5 cloves
• 8 – 10 black pepper / kali mirch
• 5-6 tulsi leaves
• 2-inch raw haldi
• 1 and ½ ltr water

Step to prepare:

• Peal ginger and raw turmeric and wash them
• cut ginger in to small pieces, similarly cut raw turmeric in to smaller pieces
• now put water for boiling and add mulethi stick, tulsi leaves, black pepper, cloves, ginger and raw turmeric in to a water.
• Now cover the lid and boil it for 10 – 15 minutes.
• Let all the ingredients boil and infuse in the water.
• The consistency of water should reduce till ¾th remains.
• Switch off the flame and now strain the kadha in to a cup
• Your kadha for cough is ready to sip
• If you want little bit of sweetener then add 1 tsp of honey

Avoid ghee, oil and cold-water during cough and Do not consume any other liquid or eatable till ½ an hour post consuming this homemade kadha for cough. Take this drink twice a day for better results.

How to make Kadha for cold:

Ingredients:

• 1-inch cinnamon stick
• 1/2-inch piece of raw turmeric
• 1/2-inch piece of ginger
• 4-5 tulsi leaves
• 1 tsp carom seeds / Ajwain
• 2 pieces of cloves
• 1 and ½ ltr water

Step to prepare:

• Peal ginger and raw turmeric and wash them, cut ginger in to small pieces, similarly cut raw turmeric in to smaller pieces
• now put water for boiling and add all the ingredients.
• cover the lid and boil it for 10 – 15 minutes.
• Let all the ingredients boil and infuse in the water.
• The consistency of water should reduce till ¾th remains.
• Switch off the flame and now strain the kadha in to a cup
• Your kadha for cold is ready to sip
• Consume hot sip by sip for better results
• Add honey if you want little sweetener

Do not consume any other liquid or eatable till ½ an hour post consuming homemade kadha for cold. Take this drink twice a day for better results.

How to make Kadha for Fever:

Ingredients:

• few sticks of Giloy
• 1-inch ginger
• 1-inch raw Turmeric
• 15 – 20 black pepper/ kali mirch
• 6-7 tulsi leaves
• 5 pieces of cloves
• 1 and ½ ltr water

Step to prepare:

• peal ginger and raw turmeric and wash Giloy sticks nicely peel the upper layer
• Giloy sticks should be thick, thicker Giloy sticks are better, now cut Giloy stick into smaller pieces
• cut ginger and raw turmeric in to smaller pieces and crush them lightly
• once the ginger and turmeric have been crushed
• put water for boiling and add all ingredients in to a water.
• cover the lid and boil it for 10 – 15 minutes.
• Let all the ingredients boil and infuse in the water.
• The consistency of water should reduce till ¾th remains.
• Switch off the flame and now strain the kadha in to a cup
• Your kadha for fever is ready to sip
• Consume hot sip by sip for better results
• Add honey if you want little sweetener

Do not consume any other liquid or eatable till ½ an hour post consuming homemade kadha for fever. Take this drink twice a day for better results.

When to consume Kadha

Normally as soon as you start seeing symptoms of cold or cough you should consume kadha for cough/kadha for cold immediately. Before you start your busy day, you should not forget to take homemade kadha in the morning as it will keep your immunity high for the whole day.

Last but most effective time to consume kadha is in the night before you hit your bed. Night is the time when body recovers and actually fights most of the internal issues. A well prepared homemade kadha, with its immense effects, will support the body mechanism of fighting foreign bodies/allergies and you will wake up fresh as never before in morning, feeling a great relief in cold or cough or even fever.

Can we store Kadha

Yes, we can store homemade kadha but I would suggest not for too long. Making kadha is very easy and hence, can be prepared for each consumption. However, if it’s inevitable, store at max for a day (morning to evening) and you should heat it before every consumption and should essentially be taken lukewarm. Kadha for cough/cold is generally prepared with natural herbs and spices, so there are almost no side effects and will not cause ill effects even if stored for more than a day. However, you can’t beat the effectiveness of a fresh and warm kadha.

Frequency of consumption

In an ideal state consuming 1cup of kadha for 3-4 times a day is very normal. However, be careful about some of the mentioned facts below:

• Too high ginger consumption may cause heartburns.
• Should be careful during fasting as it may cause nausea.
• Black pepper, if consumed more, might give you burning sensation in food pipe and stomach. If you have acidic problems please be extra cautious.

Tips

• If your symptoms are not all ‘above the neck and mild’, you should think of taking some rest and avoid workouts. However, with minor symptoms like runny nose, nasal congestion and sneezing etc its ok to workout but better to avoid exposure to dust and pollution.
• If your symptoms are not mild and are persistent for long, please do visit a good doctor as these symptoms could be the sign of a bigger problem, which should be taken care with utmost priority.

I hope this gives a very fair idea on how to prepare kadha at home. Also, please do visit Tea for weight loss if tea is your favorite beverage like mine.