Natural Cough Remedies

Natural Cough Remedies page - link navigation:

(Clicking on the links below will take you farther down this page to that particular section.)

When to Use Natural Remedies

Natural Cough remedies are effective for most kinds of coughs whether they are due to the flu or a cold, dust in the air or other conditions.

Some more serious coughs should however be treated by a health practitioner such as cough due to tuberculosis, emphysema and other very serious conditions.

Be cautious with over the counter pharmaceutical cough remedies because in the attempt to make their products taste and look good, companies will include ingredients that are harmful to you and unnecessary for healing.

These may include artificial sugars, food colorings and other additives and preservatives.

Another issue with cough syrups is their addictive nature. Many contain Codeine or DXM (Dextromethorphan), which are cough suppressants. Unfortunately, DXM is also a hallucinogen and both are highly addictive.

There is one cough and cold syrup line that we have found that is all natural. It does however have sweeteners in it. If you must have a cough syrup, I would recommend this one unless you are sensitive to sugar.

It's called "Umcka" and Jeff swears by it. On the rare occasion that he catches a cold or gets a cough, this syrup lessens the duration of the whole ordeal by quite a bit. (I use other natural cough remedies because I'm one of those people sensitive to sugar.)

There's a link to it in the right hand column if you'd like to check it out.

List of Natural Remedies that Treat this Condition

(Clicking on the underlined name of the remedy below will take you the page that tells you specifically how to use it for this condition. It will open a new window.)

Aloe Vera

Garlic - Thins out thick mucous and phlegm making it easier to expel.

Ginger

Goldenseal Root – helps reduce the irritation and inflammation in the respiratory tract helping relieve a sore throat and cough. This is usually made as a tea and can be found in most health food stores or online.

Green Tea - Green tea and many other kinds of teas as well, are wonderful for soothing a rough sore throat that you can get from coughing. Be sure to let the tea cool a little however, because while the warmth of the tea is a big part of the soothing effect, drinking tea (or any liquid) while it is too hot will only make your cough worse because it can burn your throat.

Honey (Only Raw Organic) – Honey is one of the most popular natural Cough remedies because it soothes the throat from excessive coughing and the enzymes in Raw Organic Honey will boost your immune system to get rid of most underlying causes.

Onions – helps reduce inflammation in the throat

Salt Water Gargle - Use an unprocessed Sea Salt and mix warm water. Gargle with this mixture whenever your throat needs relief from coughing. Do not swallow the mixture though! Spit it out into the sink because after you gargle with it, it contains some of the bacteria or virus that you're trying to get rid of.

Symptoms

I believe that everyone knows when they have a cough, so instead of trying to explain what one is, here is a list of coughs that you absolutely should seek medical attention for rather than trying natural cough remedies:

Babies coughing – A baby can't give you a description of what they feel when they cough so it's important to take them to a health practitioner to determine the cause.

Coughing that lasts for more than 2 weeks - This could be a sign of an underlying condition that your body's immune system can't handle; it's gone on too long. Get a professional diagnosis.

Coughing that produces blood in the phlegm or mucus - this can indicate serious internal damage either caused by excessive coughing or by a very serious underlying condition such as tuberculosis or emphysema. Get a professional diagnosis immediately.

Causes

There are many conditions that can cause a cough.

Coughing is a reflexive action that the body uses in order to get rid of something that it thinks can be dangerous to you such as a bacterial or viral infection, dust in the air, food or drink inhaled rather than swallowed, and even chemicals or second hand smoke that you may be sensitive to.

Throat irritation from issues like acid reflux or even drinking liquids that are too hot can also cause chronic coughing.

Nutritional and Dietary Support

Coughing is a symptom of other issues, so by itself, there isn't really anything that could be considered nutritional support for coughing alone.

Looking for the nutritional support of the cause of your cough could be quite helpful however. Thinning and reducing phlegm in general can make a bout of coughing more effective and therefore last a shorter time.

It is important however to avoid foods that make you produce too much mucous while you have a cough such as dairy, bananas, chocolate, processed foods, and fried foods.

Avoiding simple sugars will help keep your immune system from becoming weak as well.

Additional Actions You Can Take

Other support for natural Cough remedies can include:

Drinking plenty of fluids will help keep your cough from becoming dry as well as helping your body detox from whatever is causing it.

Staying warm will also help keep your cough from hurting more than it has to.

A water and juice fast can speed up recovery by letting your body focus more on the healing and detox process.

Warm compresses on your chest can encourage your body to get rid of mucous an phlegm faster, making the duration of your cough shorter.

Although this may seem obvious, it's still worth saying; smoking and second hand smoke will make your coughing worse, so please don't smoke or expose yourself to second hand smoke.