Cough can be regarded as one of the most common seasonal ailments which keeps you under the weather.
Instead of reaching for the medicine cabinet as the best way to cure your cough, there are some natural cough remedies to alleviate the symptoms?
Natural cough remedies that can be made by oneself range from old wives tales to those that you’ve never heard but they all avoid the pharmacy.
Though doctor’s visit isn’t a necessity for all colds, if you are wondering how to treat a persistent cough, it is of good advice to visit your doctor in case the cough is a symptom of another problem rather than just starting to treat a cough with natural remedies.
Here are some ways to treat cough
Home remedies for a cough:
Chocolate
In recent research, studies have shown that chocolate is better at treating a cough than standard medicine!
According to Dr Sarah Jarvis, this is due to two reasons:
The first being that chocolate, like honey, ‘forms a sticky coating on the throat that can protect the nerve endings which get irritated when you have a cold’, therefore helping to calm the cough itself.
The second finding is that cocoa contains a substance called theobromine, which ‘has proved to be quite promising in studies looking a suppressing coughs.’
The theobromine is believed to help with coughs as it cuts down the body’s need to splutter.
These reasons give us excuse enough to treat ourselves!
However, before tucking in on a whole load of chocolate at once, it’s important to know that there is a certain way that you need to eat it in order for it to help as a natural cough remedy: by slowly sucking on a single square of dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate has less sugar and higher doses of cocoa than the milky version, which will provide a quick relief for a tickly throat.
This has got to be one of our favourite natural cough remedies.
Honey and homemade cough syrups
It has been to the notice that honey does a great job of soothing irritated throats, it’s known to be a substance that relieves irritation with high viscosity, so coats your mucus membranes completely and soothes the scratch.
Patients are now being advised to use this sweet ingredient instead of using antibiotics which are often ineffective and could help counteract the surge in antibiotic resistance.
Dr Susan Hopkins, a deputy director at Public Health England, said: ‘Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem, and we need to take action now to reduce antibiotic use.
‘These new guidelines will support GPs to reduce antibiotic prescriptions and we encourage patients to take their GP’s advice about self-care.’
Instead of just adding honey to water, make it even more effective by adding a pinch of black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
People also sometimes combine a squeeze of honey with hot water, a slice of lemon and some fresh ginger which has soothing, anti-inflammatory properties.
Homemade teas
Our parents in ancient days used to say that ginger and garlic are good source for cold, and now science has proved it's right!
Ginger and garlic contain anti-viral agents which make a fantastic cold remedy and will reduce the length of your cough.
To make ginger and garlic edible you should blend fresh ginger root with a few cloves of fresh garlic and a little water to make a paste, then add a small amount to hot water, stir and drink throughout the day.
Kaloba tablets
Pelargonium sidoides, present in Kaloba tablets, is a root extract which can be used to treat infections such as coughs, colds, sore throats and runny noses.
Kaloba tablets help to reduce the severity of the symptoms and shorten the duration of the cough.
Pelargonium has anti-viral and anti-bacterial activity and may help improve your immune function.
Licorice root
The sweet licorice herb has been used for centuries to as one of the natural cough remedies treat sore throats and alleviate coughing.
Similarly to honey, it is a demulcent, which works to coat the irritated membranes in your throat and calm down the cough.
Place one teaspoon of the dried herb into two cups of water and boil. Allow it to steep before drinking. But licorice root is not suitable to give to children, so best only use for yourself.
Pineapple
Pineapple might not seem like one of the most conventional natural cough remedies, especially on a dark winter’s evening when you’d much rather have a cup of hot chocolate than a pina colada.
But bromelain, an enzyme found in the flesh of the tropical fruit, has been proven to suppress coughs and loosen mucus in the throat, the perfect treatment for a cough and a great natural remedy. Make sure you eat fresh pineapple, rather than a smoothie or dried versions for the best results.
This natural remedy might sound a little speculative, but it’s great if you’ve been suffering with a cough for more than a week and your throat is feeling strained.
Next time you feel a cough coming on, instead of coughing normally force yourself to take small, gentle, shallow coughs and end on a large one if you need to.
Smaller coughs encourage the mucus higher up your throat so it can leave your body.
