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Coughs Home Remedies
The air passages of the lungs are lined with cells secreting mucus, which normally traps particles of dust. When the membranes get infected and inflamed, the secretion of mucus increases and the lining of the air passages is irritated. Coughing is the action by which excess mucus is driven out.
Here are a few natural remedies that may quell the cough and help you sleep better.
NOTE: If cough is chronic or persistent, have it checked by a health professional.
Natural home remedies
- Drink red raspberry, honey suckle, or liquorice tea with honey.
- A substance similar to that found in the cough syrups is found in hot red pepper. Use red (cayenne) pepper with caution-it can irritate your tummy.
- Soak almonds overnight. Remove their skin. Make a paste of these almonds with little butter and sugar. Very useful for a dry cough.
- For five minutes, cook the juice of one lemon, 1 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of olive oiL Then stir vigorously for a couple of minutes.
Dose: Take 1 teaspoon every two hours.
- Combine 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar with 1/2 cup water. Add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and sweeten to taste with honey.
Dose: Take 1 tablespoon when the cough starts acting up. Then swallow another tablespoon at bedtime.
WARNING: Diabetics and people with honey allergies should not use honey.
Honion Syrup
- Peel and finely chop six medium onions. Put them and 1/2 cup of honey into the top of a double boiler, or in a pan over a pot of boiling water. Cover the mixture and let it simmer for two hours. Strain this concoction we call "honion syrup," and pour it into a jar with a cover.
Dose: Take 1 warm tablespoon every two to three hours.
- Grate 1 teaspoon of horseradish and mix it with 2 teaspoons of honey. (Or, one finely chopped clove of garlic can be used in place of horseradish. )
Dose: Take 1 teaspoon of the mix every two to three hours.
Lemony Fresh
- For a delicious, thirst-quenching and soothing drink, squeeze the juice of one lemon into a big mug or glass. Add hot water, 2 tablespoons of honey and either three whole cloves or a 1/2 inch piece of stick cinnamon.
Dose: Drink one glass every three hours.
- Cook a cup of barley according to the package directions. Then add the juice of one fresh lemon and some water to the barley. Liquefy the mixture in a blender. Drink it slowly.
Dose: Drink 1 cup every four hours.
Holy Rutabagas!
- Cut a hole through the middle of a rutabaga or a yellow onion and fill the hole with honey or brown sugar. Leave it overnight. In the morning drink the juice and it will relieve the cough.
- Cut a deep hole in the middle of a large beet and fill the hole with honey or brown sugar. Bake the beet until it's soft. It's a treat to eat the beet. . . whenever you feel a cough coming on.
Mull This Over
- Adding spices and herbs to wine is called mulling. Into 3 cups of wine, add a 1-inch piece of stick cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of honey, three to six cloves (depending on how much you like the taste of cloves) and a few pieces of well-scrubbed lemon peel Heat and stir.
Dose: Drink 3 cups a day.
Even if this mulled wine doesn't help, you somehow don't mind having the cough as much!
Ginger Gum
- Chew on a bite-sized piece of ginger root just like you would chew gum. Swallowing the juice should help control a cough. Ginger is strong , and it might take some getting used to.
- Take a piece of brown grocery-bag paper, about the size of your chest, and soak it in vinegar. When it stops dripping, sprinkle black pepper on one side of the paper. Then place the peppered side on your bare chest.
To keep it in place overnight, wrap an elastic bandage or cloth around your chest. By morning, there may be a big improvement., particularly with a bronchial cough.
Oats to the Rescue
- Among other ingredients, the polyunsaturated fatty acids found in whole-grain oats have been said to soothe bronchial inflammation and relieve coughing spasms.
- Make a mash from the oats by following the directions on the whole-grain oats box, but reduce the amount of water by 1/4 cup. Add honey to taste.
Dose: Eat 1 cup at a time, four times a day and whenever a coughing spell starts. Be sure the oat mash is eaten warm.
Turney Syrup?
- Peel and slice a large turnip. Spread honey between all the slices and let it stand for several hours while the turnip/honey syrup oozes out and collects at the bottom of the dish. Whenever the cough acts up, take a teaspoon of the syrup.
- Add 1/2 cup of raw; shelled and unsalted sunflower seeds to 5 cups of water and boil in an enamel or glass pot until the water is reduced to about 2 cups. Strain, then stir in 3/4 cup of gin and 1 1/2 cups of honey. Mix well and bottle it. Whenever the cough acts up, take 1 to 2 teaspoons, but not more than four times a day.
WARNING: People who have problems with alcohol should not try this remedy.
Love That Licorice!
- Licorice root contains saponins, natural substances known to break up and loosen mucus. When you have a hacking cough, drink a cup of licorice-root tea.
NOTE: Do not take licorice root if you have high blood pressure or kidney problems. It can cause renal failure.
Squeezin' Fights Wheezin'
- An acupressure point that has been known to stop a cough is the one near the end of the middle finger. With the fingers of your right hand, squeeze the top joint of the left hand's middle finger. Keep squeezing until you stop wheezing.
Beany Goodness
- This bean puree remedy is for one of those mean, deep-down coughs that nothing seems to reach. Put a cupful of kidney beans in a strainer and rinse them with water. Then put them in water and let them soak overnight (while you probably cough your head off, right?).
The next morning, drain the beans, tie them up in a clean cloth and bruise thempound them with a blunt object like a rolling pin, frying pan or hammer. Place the bruised beans in an enamel or glass saucepan with three cloves of peeled and minced garlic and 2 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for one and a half to two hours, until tender. Add more water if necessary. Take 1 tablespoon of this bean puree whenever your cough acts up.
Types of Coughs
Bronchial Coughs
- Add 3 drops of oil of fennel and 3 drops of oil of anise to 6 tablespoons of honey. Shake vigorously and bottle it. Take 1 teaspoon when you start to cough. If you haven't prepared the syrup in advance of your cough and don't have the necessary ingredients, you may want to settle for second best. Do you have the liqueur called anisette? Take 1 teaspoon of anisette in 1 tablespoon of hot water, every three hours.
just a Tickle...
- Many people are bothered by a tickling type of cough, usually at night in their sleep. Put 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water and keep it by your bedside. When the "tickling" wakes you up, swallow one or two mouthfuls of the vinegar water and go back to a restful sleep.
- Chew a couple of whole cloves to relieve a throat tickle.
- Eat a piece of well-done toast (preferably whole wheat).
Smoker's Cough
- This remedy is updated from the Universal Cookery Book (circa 1888). Pour 1 quart of boiling water over 4 tablespoons of whole flaxseed and steep for three hours. Strain, add the juice of two lemons and sweeten with honey (which replaces the crystals of rock candy used in the original remedy). Take a tablespoon whenever the cough acts up.
- An even better remedy for smokers cough stop smoking!
Dry Cough
- Take 1 to 2 tablespoons of potato water each time the cough acts up. You may also want to add honey to taste.
Nighttime Cough
- To help loosen phlegm, fry two finely chopped medium onions in lard or vegetable shortening. As soon as it's cool enough to touch, rub the mixture on the cougher's chest and wrap the chest with a clean (preferah 1 white) cloth. Do this procedure in the evening It may result in a good night's sleep.
- Right before bed, add 1 teaspoon of dry mustard powder to a half-filled bathtub of hot water. Prepare a hot drink of your choicepeppermint tea or hot water, honey and lemon. Wear bedclothes that leave the chest accessible. Have two rough terrycloth towels and a comfortable chair or stool in the bathroom.
Dip your feet in water and keep them there for 15 minutes. (The rest of the body should be seated alongside the tub.) When the water cools, add more hot water. Sip the drink through this entire process.
After 15 minutes of sipping and dipping (no stripping), dunk one of the towels in the bath water, wring it out and place it on the bare chest. Once the towel cools off, dunk it again, wring it out and place it back on the chest. Repeat this three times, then dry the body thoroughly, bundle up and go to bed.
Nervous Cough
- We know a theatrical stage manager who wants to make this announcement before the curtain goes up.. . .
"To stop nervous coughs, apply pressure to the area between your lip and your nose. If that doesn't work, press hard on the roof of the mouth. If neither works, please wait until intermission, then go outside and cough."
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