Natural Cough Remedies To
Stop a Coughing by Getting Rid of Phlegm
Since there are a number of natural cough remedies that really work,
you don't have to rely on prescription medicines or over-the-counter
drugstore products that do nothing more than suppress the symptoms.
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The first step to determining which of the natural cough remedies you’ll want to use is determining if you have a productive or unproductive cough. A productive cough is one that is bringing up a substance such as phlegm which means the body is successfully getting rid of the irritant. You don’t want to suppress this type of cough.
What you do want to use is a supplement that will accelerate the process of flushing out the gunk that is causing your cough. Look for a remedy that contains ingredients like marshmallow, licorice root, horehound and bryonia. Together, these herbs and phytonutrients make for effective natural cough remedies that get rid of phlegm and congestion quicker than you could on your own.
An unproductive cough is one that is not clearing the body of anything and is just irritating the air passageways. This type of cough can be suppressed.
Natural
Cough Remedies
Get Rid of Phlegm & Congestion
For centuries one of the most highly recommended natural cold remedies has been to use honey mixed with something else such as ground white pepper, orange juice, vodka or brandy, or onion juice. The basic premise is that the honey coats the throat and soothes the irritated tissue while the other ingredient helps to break up any mucus or phlegm and helps the body get rid of the irritant.
Another of the natural cough and cold remedies is to gargle with salt water. The salt will kill most bacteria and virus germs in the mouth. This will reduce the amount of time you’ll have to suffer through the other symptoms.
If you have a green thumb you might consider growing elecampane (this is reputed to be a very easy-to-grow herb if you don’t happen to be good with plants). Elecampane is a completely natural cough suppressant and expectorant (which means it’ll help your body get rid of the cold bug).
The most common way to use elecampane is to fill half a jar with bite-sized pieces of the roots and then fill the entire jar with honey and place it in your refrigerator. Turn the jar over once a day for about a week to infuse the root with the honey. When you have a cough or cold, simply chew some of the root pieces and eat the honey.
Of course if you don't have the time or interest in making an infusion, then just get holistic natural cough remedies made from herbal and homeopathic ingredients that will also give you quick relief from phlegm and congestion.
Zinc lozenges
are another of the more popular natural cold remedies.
It’s believed that zinc
prevents the cold virus from spreading and prevents it from actually
entering your nose and throat. Whatever the philosophy, all I know is
that they work. Using some recently helped me get through the night
after catching a particularly bad summer cold.
Throughout the world garlic is one of the most well-known natural cough remedies. These remedies range from chicken soup made with a good amount of garlic to actually eating raw garlic. The allicin in garlic has antibacterial properties and is what helps fight off coughs and colds.
Elderberry is another of the natural cough and cold remedies that
has been around for a very long time. You can find this in most health
food stores as juice, syrup, and capsules. Studies indicate that it
strengthens the immune system and keeps cold and flu viruses from
actually getting into our tissues. Elderberry/zinc lozenges are good to have on hand, especially if you tend to get a lot of colds.
Many of these natural cold and cough remedies have withstood the test of time and have been around for far longer than over the counter medicines which contain drugs that some people cannot tolerate or that can be dangerous when mixed with prescription medicines.
They are not expensive and have fewer side effects than most of the drugs available for treating coughs and colds.
