Effective Natural Remedies for Cough Relief

I have had a bit of a cough. Last evening it was all of sudden really bad. It was unproductive, constant and causing my throat to hurt from coughing. I realized I probably hadn't had much to drink all evening (which makes mucous in lungs and sinuses thicker) I started to heat up a kettle of water. I immediately drank some cool water with some sodium ascorbate (vitamin C) added. I put a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon of honey and pinch of cayenne pepper in a mug and added hot water. I added a little ice to make the tea drinkable and started sipping. In less than 10 minutes my cough was calmed.

I had more fluids before bed and didn't cough once during the night. I have had some more of my vinegar-honey-cayenne tea today and my cough is rare.

I have used hot honey and vinegar tea for years but that was the most amazing relief I have ever had from a cough.

~Mama to Many~

My daughter had a bad cough due to the flu which was keeping her up and causing her throat to hurt. Found your site because I wanted to treat her naturally. The ACV, raw honey, cinnamon in warm water helped (I added lemon). It is not an instant cure but she was able to get some rest. Will continue to prepare this and drink it. Thanks

My daughter and I both had a bad cold/cough and were driving to the store to buy some remedies to help stop our constant cough. I always keep raw almonds in the car and noticed that once I started snacking on them my coughing immediately stopped. After 10 min I pointed this out to my daughter (who was still coughing) wondering if the almonds were having some affect on my throat or lungs (maybe the fat soothes or coats the throat? not sure). I gave her a handful to eat and her cough also stopped immediately. This is after a few hours of constant coughing. I'd would say it worked faster than a cough drop and the lasting affects were about the same length of time as cough drops...but without all the chemicals, dyes, sugars...

Here's something that works for me. For relief of dry coughs, take one teaspoon of organic almond paste or butter. You can add a half teaspoon of honey if you like. Have as often as needed but 3-4 times a day is usually sufficient.

I read about the Anise Tincture here at Earth Clinic. (Brigitte's recipe.) I made some up a few months ago to have on hand. We had a cough come through this week and I had the opportunity to try it.

When my 4 year old had a coughing fit, I gave him 1/2 teaspoon of the tincture in a couple of ounces of water and it helped him a lot! I gave a dose to anyone who was coughing at bedtime and it seemed to keep the nighttime cough (when it tends to be worse) at bay quite well.

I did use other cough remedies (homemade chest salve and essential oils on the bottom of the feet) that worked well too, but those were not new remedies to me. I love to find something new that works!

• 5 Tablespoons of Anise Seed
• 1 cup of rum
• Put both in a canning jar and leave in a cool dark place for 2-6 weeks. Strain out the anise seeds through a coffee filter. This tincture will keep for years.

I gave middle sized children 1/2 teaspoon of tincture in 2 ounces of water.

If I still had toddlers I would use 1/4 teaspoon in 1 ounce of water.

For adults I would use 1 teaspoon (2 for a large adult) in 3 ounces of water.

It tastes like licorice. :)

~Mama to Many~

If you have a severe cough, dry cough, or wet cough, make Star Anise seed tea and drink once an hour. Maybe 3 or 4 times a day.

Before I was using Flax Seed Tea, but star anise seed tea works even faster and easy to make than Flax Seed Tea. Make sure you treat for your underlying cause as well bronchitis, allergies, mold, lung infection, copd.

To Make Star Anise Tea

• Boil 300 ml of water add 5 Star Anise Seeds.
• Boil for 10 mins in medium heat.
• Add 2 or 3 drops of Eucalyptus Oil.

When it is drinking hot, add honey or other sweetner.

Drink it once an hour till your cough subsides. Usually it works in 1 tea.

Honey and Eucalyptus Oil are optional.

Star Anise Seeds and Anise Seeds both are same.

You can get Star Anise Seeds in Desi Stores, but it is availabe in most of the stores.

The best part is it is very tasty and children will like it.

Please give feedback if it worked for you.

Good Health

Re: Anise seed tincture for treatment of nonproductive coughs.

A nonproductive cough is another name for a dry cough which does nothing to move phlegm from the throat and lungs. This is often a precursor to a more serious ailment like pneumonia. It is of the utmost importance that you remove the excessive phlem from your system.

I have found that the best expectorant that I can find is made by placing five tablespoons anise seeds into 1 cup of rum. (Allow seeds to soak in rum for 2 weeks and then strain out the seeds. The anise infused rum will last for a long time.)

I take no more than 2 teaspoons of this as needed to induce a cough which allows for the mucus to be removed from the body. A note to nursing mothers who have problems with milk production; a good side affect of anise is that it increases milk production in lactating mothers. I know this for a fact as my last child was born when I was 40 and I had problems producing milk sufficient to meet my child's needs. Be cognisant of the fact that you do not want to over do it with alcohol if you are nursing as this would be counter productive to the health and well being of the child who depends on you for nourishment. I used an anise tea when I was nursing it works well for increasing milk production.

I started ACV with Sodium Bicarbonate yesterday at ten am. I took a dose in the middle of the afternoon and then before I dined. I am happy to report that last night was the first night that I slept most of the night in years. Only woke one time with a minor cough, a shot of water and I was off to sleep again. I am glad I found this site. Thanks Ted.

I contionued this regime today and hopefully will sleep well tonight. Had a few coughing spells today but not as bad as before the ACV.

I did not have the courage to drop the other meds my doctor has me on. I will eventually drop them if I keep having this level of energy and the reduction in coughing. Thanks Ted for your write up.

Baking Soda inhalation for dry cough

This is the most quick relief remedy for dry cough.

Boil a cup of water then take it on the side and keep your face far and add a teaspoon of baking soda, cover your head with a towel and place it over the B.s and water and open largly your mouth and inhale as long as you can. Directly you will cough out phlegms.

WARNING!

Dangerous Cough Cause:

Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? Is it working? About a month ago a friend of mine had a 3 week cough that was getting worse and started sounding like it could've been pneumonia. Then, one day her landlord came over to check the furnace and found it was breaking down. They measured the carbon monoxide levels and found they were nearly fatal. After replacing the furnace with a new one and installing a CO2 level detector she was immediately better! No coughing and her roommate felt better after suffering from persistant cold and flu-like symptoms. Please check your CO2 and radon levels, since radon causes lung disorders as well.

Feeling persistent cough and tickle in my throat, my hot tea was no longer cutting it. So I added several dashes of cayenne pepper to my tea and instantly my cough stopped. My throat felt mild heat at first and then quickly became very soothed after just a few sips. And the taste wasn't that bad actually. After a couple minutes I barely noticed the cayenne in my tea....my taste buds seem to adjust.

I was up night with a horrible cough. So my throat was on fire this morning. I mixed a little cayenne with Apple Cider Vinegar and warm water. And what can I say it works its a beautiful day out side and I am on my way to enjoy it.

I found cayenne a great cure for pretty much everything some time ago. It wasnt long ago that I came down with a bad sinus infection, cough, and fatigue. I decided to boil water on the stove, and add cayenne (open 3 capsules and pour them in), crushed garlic (4 cloves), half an onion, and grated ginger. THIS COMBINATION IS AMAZING. It is SO powerful. The most vital ingredients are the cayenne and garlic, but the onion and ginger are also very helpful. Make sure and boil everything until the onion is mushy and the garlic is too. Keep a lid on, but every so often inhale the steam from the boiling remedy.. very soothing! Pour it into a glass and drink the whole thing. It is very potent, so what I do is add honey to it and it really tastes like liquid food- like a soup base or something.

Another remedy that I use is cayenne tea- just put a tea bag of your favorite tea in boiling water, and add a capsule of cayenne & some honey. Since I have been using cayenne in tea, and orally, and drinking the onion ginger garlic tincture, I rarely get sick.. When I do, I can kick it within 3 days maximum. Cayenne is also extremely helpful for menstrual cramps.

Faster than anything I've ever tried: One glass water (8-10 oz. ) drunk all at once. This thins the phlegm. Then one small plain chocolate bar, about 2-3 inches, like a "fun size" for halloween. Cough disappeared instantly for 3 hours. Had to repeat during the night, but fell back asleep right away with no coughing!

I suggest using plain chocolate (like Hersheys) without anything added to it.

The British have been researching this since 2004. Lots on Google. Works so well!

Chocolate is amazing for coughs. Research has shown it's even better than cough syrup. Not so good is sugar. When I'm getting sick, I take pure chocolate. I don't think it necessarily helps me recover from my cold or flu quicker in itself. However, having a peaceful night where I can breathe easily definitely helps me recover quicker. I have tried many types of unsugared chocolate. All are gross. Sometimes I use baking squares. Sometimes I mix chocolate powder in water. Sometimes I eat cacao nibs. I think perhaps the most effective (and this may have to do with how much I can stand) is the baking squares.