Best Natural Remedies for Cough

 

Coughing affects all people from all regions, it affects both children, young people and the elderly.  Though some cough could be minor clearing with simple remedies while others requires hospitalizations and proper laboratory investigation.  If any cough stays more than 3 weeks after trying several simple home remedies, then that cough should be investigated to know the underlying cause.  It is however better to try  natural home remedies first before resorting to hospital.  Here are some natural foods with positive effect on cough:

1.  Honey and lemon.  This combo are known for their  long time positive effect on cough while honey helps to sooth the throat and provide some nutrients, lemon helps reduce mucus and destroy some bacteria and yeast feeding the cough. It is  easy and simple too. Just boil water,  cut a fresh lemon into two,  it is better not to remove the peels, before now we were using only the juice, but today, we know the peels contain important oils and nutrients that fights disease too.  Brew the lemon with peels add a teaspoon of honey and drink slowly.

2.  Ginger: Fresh ginger is also a long term remedy for cough.  It is always better to use fresh ginger.  Add a little honey or just make tea with it, you can also add a few pieces of fresh tumeric for stronger effect.

3.  Onions:  Fresh onions is a versatile home remedy for most ailments, you can chew it or make tea with it. It contains properties that calms cough and strengthen the immune system too.

4.  Garlic and honey:  Garlic with its strong antibacterial and antiviral properties works best for long standing cough.  Whenever ginger fails, garlic hardly fails.  It is best to take it raw or mix with a little honey and taken on empty stomach.

5.  Steam Inhalation:  This  is also very effective for cough especially if mint oil or other essential oils of your choice like eucalyptus oil is used with the steam.  It warms the entire body, killing bacterias and calming cough too.

6.  Lots of fluid:   If plenty of fluid is included with the exclusion of caffeine, it will help hydrate the body and shorten the duration of the cough.

7.  Cayenne pepper:  This is a circulatory food which helps open up arteries and kills bacterial and that makes cough worse. It can also be taken as tea or just used in cooking.

8.  Cloves:  Cloves contain compounds which not only kills bacterial and stops them from going viral but it kills pain too caused by  frequent Coughing.

9.  Almonds:  During periods of coughing, it is good to avoid peanuts due to its inflammatory effect which can worsen the cough, but the good news is that almond can provide the needed nutrients especially, the antioxidant vitamin E without causing inflammation especially if taken in moderation.

10.  Carrots:  During severe and prolonged Coughing, young fresh carrot could be blended and cooked with a little honey added, this is particularly useful for young children who may be malnourished due to the Coughing and inability to eat.

11.  Milk and honey:  This combo are soothing foods with plenty nutrients to help boost and support the immune system.

Other beneficial foods are grapes, bananas, guava leaf tea and resting the throat. This can be achieved by talking less and resting too. All foods should be warm and the entire body kept warm during cold weather.

In summary:  it is important to know what exactly caused the cough and stop it. Sometimes too much fibre or gluten from grains.  During seasonal foods like corn, better be careful as these are inflammatory foods and strong triggers to cough.  Prevention is always better than cure.