When a virus is going to war on your body, a “flu bomb” might be the answer to blasting it out.
So says Australian alternative health care advocate Barbara O’Neill, whose recipe has gone viral down under — and beyond.
The easy-to-make mixture requires just seven ingredients, she promises that drinking it daily can shorten illnesses from the flu, a cold, a sinus infection, or just about any respiratory illness.
“This is your natural antibiotic, this drink,” she said. “When someone has bronchitis or a sinus [infection] or pneumonia, they take the flu bomb.”
The first ingredient is garlic, and she advises using as much as you can bear drinking, calling it a “natural antibiotic.”
Garlic contains the antibiotic allicin, which gets released when a clove is chewed or crushed up. It’s been used to fight disease for thousands of years, though research on its effectiveness at preventing and fighting colds is limited.
One study found that people who took a garlic supplement for 12 weeks during cold season got fewer colds than those who didn’t — and their colds cleared up faster than those not taking garlic.
O’Neill’s flu bomb also contains eucalyptus oil, which she said is “nice for clearing airways.” Eucalyptus is in fact present in a lot of cold and flu remedies because it can relieve congestion and loosen phlegm.
Other ingredients include ginger and honey, both natural expectorants, and as much cayenne pepper as one can handle, as the capsaicin in pepper has been found to relieve congestion and sneezing.
O’Neill says to drink it three times a day when symptoms set in, “and often, after two or three days, that’s enough.”
Ingredients:
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1 drop eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil
- cayenne pepper
- juice of a lemon
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup hot water
While the recipe has a whole hasn’t been the subject of any scientific studies, anecdotally it has plenty of fans who rave about its effectiveness.
“This is the one thing that I take very single time that I’m sick. It basically eradicates the flu,” said influencer Jasmine Dinis.
“I was so sick… I took this… in 3 days it was like I was not sick at all,” wrote another TikToker.
“One of these a day will fix you right up,” raved Ebby Moyer. “I swear if you consistently use this from the moment your symptoms appear — you’ll see.”
