|
|
And if most of them do not seem to work very well, here is a possible explanation from the book, Confessions of a Medical Heretic, by the late Dr Robert S Mendelsohn.
In the book, Dr Robert S Mendelsohn tells how the strategy behind cough mixtures can be quite puzzling:
Hmmm.... all of you should read Dr Robeert S Mendelsohn's book. It is an excellent expose how illogical and unscientific - stupid - the "scientific" world of modern medicine often is. But I deviate. Back to our topic of natural cough remedies...
Actually, what the person who coughs needs most cannot be found in a pill, syrup or cough drop. It is...
Rest and sleep
I know I already said in the article on natural flu remedies that the flu patient needs lots of sleep and rest. I may be repeating myself slightly here, but I feel that of all flu symptoms, cough is the one symptom most strongly associated with tiredness.
I came to this realisation around 13 years ago. My sister was having a bad cough at that time. I was in the midst of launching an audiophile hifi business and was taking part in a hifi show. So for about a week, I worked extremely hard from early morning till late at night.
When the show ended, I developed a cough. It sounded exactly like my sister's. And it dawned on me that I was not really sick, but just very tired. And that my sister was also deeply tired. She had been coughing for quite a while already. I had all the time to catch her "germs" but I didn't. I started to cough only when I became tired.
One of difficulties with using sleep and rest as a "natural cough remedy", unfortunately, is that coughing often prevents us from getting adequate sleep and rest. It can lead to insomnia or interrupted sleep. So we still need to find a way out of this situation.
Lotus root tea
Among natural cough remedies, the one that I find most effective so far is lotus root tea. The lotus root, with its holes inside, is said in traditional Chinese medicine to resemble the lungs. It has similar energy to the lungs and is used to strengthen or tonify the lungs. For example, regularly taking a soup brewed with lotus root, peanuts and pork ribs is reputedly good for the lungs.
A simple macrobiotic remedy to remove mucus and phelgm is lotus root tea:
This remedy is good for coughs and clearing phelgm, as well as for generally removing mucus from the body and strengthening the lungs.
Macrobiotic and natural food stores sell a powdered lotus root tea and all you need to do is add water and boil for a few minutes. But while the fresh lotus root tea is delicious, the powdered version takes some getting used to.
Black soybean tea
Another of the macrobiotic natural cough remedies, good for dry coughs, is black soybean tea. I remember this was served at the "medical center" when I attended the Kushi Institute Macrobiotic Summer Camp in 1993.
Note: black soy beans are different from black turtle beans, although they look similar. They have different qualities and I don't think the black turtle beans work as a cough remedy. Make sure you buy the right type.
Chinese pears with sweet and bitter almonds
Talkiing about natural cough remedies being delicious, here is one so good you can eat it as a dessert even if you don't have a cough. The main ingredients are Chinese pears and almonds, both of which are different from their Western counterparts.
Chinese and Japanese pears are round or oval, not pear-shaped and they come with yellow, light brown or light green skins. The flesh is crunchy. There are several varieties, including ya li (Chinese) and hosui (Japanese).
Chinese almonds are actually apricot kernels, much smaller and flatter, as well as more triangluar than regular almonds. Two types, Northern bitter almonds and Southern sweet almonds, are often sold mixed together in Chinese herbal and dried foods stores.
Apricot kernels have medicinal properties. They contain the rare Vitamin B17 or laetrile, which is claimed, but not scientifically proven, to be a cancer cure. But they must always be taken cooked (boiled or roasted) and in small quantities, generally not more than 20 a day, as they contain cynaide, which is toxic. For occasional medicinal use, slightly more is okay.
This delicious natural cough remedy can also be eaten as a dessert. You need:
Four Chinese pears - peel, cut into quarters, remove the seeds and soak in salted water to prevent them from turning brown due to oxidation.Put all the ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil and simmer for at least an hour, or up to several hours if you like. Add more water if necessary when you cook for a long time. Enjoy!
Bird's nest
Still on the subject of delicious natural cough remedies, I should mention bird's nest. This is the dried saliva of a species of small swift (or swiftlet) use the build its nest. It is harvested mainly in Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Borneo or Kalimantan in Indonesia.
This is not so much a cough remedy that brings instant relief, but more of a lung tonic for a long-term cure. Regular consumption over a period will strengthen a person's lungs and so this is particularly helpful for those with chronic cough, or those who develop the cough easily.
Bird's nest is extremely expensive. Ready-brewed bird's nest drink costs tens of dollars for a tiny bottle that is basically one guip or two or three small sips.
Uncooked bird's nest vary greatly in price, depending on the quality. Some of the most expensive is called blood nest and can cost hundreds of dollars for a few grams, enough to make a bowl of bird's nest soup. Note, however, that some of the cheaper may be adulterated or even fakes, or may have been treated with bleach and other chemicals that you would not want to put into your body. Always buy bird's nest from reputable dealers.
Off the shelf cough syrups
There are a great many natural cough remedies, as well as some "unnatural" remedies that are sold as over the counter medicines. There are too many to discuss here, but as I researched for this article, I found a few surprises that I would like to share:
Chinese cough syrups
For ready-made natural cough remedies, I have developed greater confidence in Chinese cough syrups. This is not because I am Chinese. In fact, I have an English education and a more Western outlook in life. But after I discovred natural health in 1985, I started to explore traditional Chinese medicine and I find that it makes a lot of sense.
Many Chinese natural cough remedies are made either from Chinese red dates or jujubes or from loquats.
Jujube is a small hard fruit about 1.5 to 3 cm long, with the taste and consistency of an apple. Strictly speaking it is not a date, unlike regular dates that grow from date palms in the desert. Instead, the jujube or Chinese red date is from a small shrub that grows extensively, in China, Korea, Vietnam, India, East Asia and Europe.
In the US and Canada, jujube may simply refer to any soft, gummy candy. But there is actually a type of cough candy called "jujubes" that I used to be given when I was young. Again, I stopped eating this when I found out it contains aspartame!
Jujube is also popular in Korea where, besides being a cough remedy, it is reputed to be a stress reliever. In Australia, there is a jujube-based drink called 1-bil, which the manufacturer recommends "when you feel yourself becoming distressed."
Loquat is a bit harder to describe. It is a small yellow / orange fruit, about 3 to 5 cm in diameter, with smooth fine hair on its skin. The orange flesh is succulent, like a cross between a peach and an orange. In terms of botanical classification, it is said to be a distant relative of the apple. But that is misleading because its taste and texture are quite different compared to apples.
Loquats blends well with other fruits and make good fruit cocktails. But before this begin to read like a desserts website, l should note that loquats syrups are very widely used by the Chinese as natural cough remedies. The Chinese name, pipa gao, meaning "loquat paste" is almost synonymous with cough medicine.
There are a number of loquat-based natural cough remedies, of which the best known must surely be King-to Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa. It is one of the few Chinese natural cough remedies that have been scientifically studied. In 1994, a study at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine reported that Pharmacological studies of nin jiom pei pa koa indicated it had significant effect on relieving coughs, removing sputum, relieving asthma in vivo and in vitro.
This natural cough remedy is actually quite a complex blend of herbal ingredients. Apart from loquat and loquat leaves, other ingredients include bitter apricot kernels, ginger, licorice, etc. The base is syrup and honey.
Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa used to be one of my favourite natural cough remedies, until one day my Chinese physician introduced me to something better. This is also one of the loquat-based natural cough remedies, and its English name is Honey-condensed Loquat Extract with Bird's Nest, Cordycep, Sinensis and Fritillaria Verticillata.
What a mouthful of a name! Apart from Bird's nest, cordycep is another expensive ingredient, costing a few hundred dollars for one tahil (a Chinese measure equals to 37.8 grams). So don't expect a lot of these two ingredients in there. A 300 ml bottle contains just 0.36 grams of each.
Whether because of these ingredients, or other reasons, this is the most effective of all natural cough remedies that I have tried so far. Unfortunately, is not as commonly available, even in Singapore, as Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa. But it is just as inexpensive, at about S$7 a bottle. If you have a cough, look for it!
And if your cough persists, then obviously home-made or ready-bought natural cough remedies - or your knowledge about how to use them - aren't good enough.
Coughs can be difficult to self-medicate because there are many different types of coughs. In Western medicine, a difference is made between productive coughs - which expel phelgm - and unproductive coughs which don't. In Chinese medicine, coughs are classified according to whether they are heaty or cooling, dry or damp, etc.
The other difficulty with self-medication is that what the cough patient really needs is plenty of rest and sleep.
So if your cough persists, seek professional help such as traditional Chinese medicine physicians - I have had very good experiences with them - or homeopaths. Regular doctors, with their regular cough mixtures, are not going to be of great help.
In the meantime, you can check out more natural cough remedies on my page about sore throat remedies, since most sore thorat remedies are effective for coughs as well.
Also, click the following links for: