Home remedies for treating cough

Coughing is one of the most common health problems. Most of us know how disrupting, irritating and painful a cough can be. The common cough can be harmless, but a persistent cough can signify a more serious illness. Learn more about the reasons why we cough and how to treat it with a few simple home remedies.

Why the hack we cough?

When there is a blockage or irritant in your throat or upper air passages, your brain thinks a foreign element is present and tells your body to cough and remove that element. The body uses all power to expel those harmful elements. A cough reflex can expel a foreign substance at velocities as high as 100 miles per hour. 

It is an extremely useful process and one of the many ways in which the body strives to keep harmful substances out, ensuring you stay healthy. This cough is common cough and is caused by factors such as cold air, irritating fumes, breathing dust, or drawing food into the airways.

However, coughing can also be due to a viral infection, common cold, flu, and smoking or health problems such as asthma, tuberculosis and pneumonia. This is called persistent cough and requires medical attention as it may be a symptom of serious illness like cancer etc.

How to get rid of common cough naturally.

Sputum buildup can lead to a feeling of congestion in the chest and the entire respiratory tract; expelling this sputum therefore provides relief from cough and congestion. Some of the symptoms of a cough are itchy throat, chest pain, and congestion. Instead of using over-the-counter cough syrups, you can try some natural cough treatments using readily available ingredients in your kitchen.

1) Garlic is  an expectorant, full of antibiotic and antiviral properties, plus garlic helps you cough up stubborn bacteria or mucus that are languishing in your lungs. Experts advise that to reap garlic's full cold- and flu-fighting benefits, you have to eat it raw. If you don't like to eat it that way find some ways to mix with your food. or Boil two to three cloves of garlic in a cup of water and add a teaspoon of oregano. Allow it to cool to room temperature, add some honey and drink it. This will help your breathing and alleviate other cough symptoms.

2) Honey has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for coughs because it's a natural expectorant, promoting the flow of mucus. This is the simple recipe: Mix 1 tablespoon honey into 1 cup hot water and enjoy. Now how sweet is that? Squeeze some lemon juice in if you want a little tartness.

3) Heat a glass of milk, mix in half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and drink warm to find relief from cough. 

4) To one cup of hot water, add in half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and half a teaspoon table salt. Use this liquid as a throat gargle and you are sure to experience relief from cough.

5) Prepare turmeric tea by adding one tablespoon of turmeric powder into 4 cups of boiling water. Keep for a few minutes, strain and mix in some lemon and honey to the liquid and drink.

6) For a dry cough, turmeric powder mixed with a teaspoon of honey taken three to four times a day is effective.

7) Take a dried turmeric root, burn it and inhale the smoke. Another way out is to place a few pieces of red hot charcoal in a small mud pot that has been placedon a cup of water. Add a few dried leaves over the charcoal and a spoonful of turmeric powder over the leaves. Gently blow to ignite the turmeric powder and inhale the smoke emitted.

8) A glass of hot milk with some honey added just before going to bed is effective at relieving night time cough.

9) Mix in honey and lemon juice to a glass of warm water and drink this three times per day for relief from cough.

10) Take about 3 tablespoons of flaxseeds in 1 cup of water and boil. When the water starts thickening, strain the liquid and mix in 3 tablespoons each of lemon juice and honey. Swallow about 1 tablespoon of this mixture when you experience a severe coughing 

11) Take 10 black pepper corns ( not grounded or powdered pepper please) and boil them in a glass of water. Boil the water till it reduces to half a glass. Filter the pepper corns and allow the mixture to get luke warm. Mix a spoon of honey and take small sips. It will fix the cough for few hours and then repeat. After 2 days of regular use the cough will be gone completely.

12) For a dry cough, one of the easiest ways of finding relief is to cut a piece of fresh ginger, sprinkle some salt on it and chew on it for a few minutes. However, not everyone likes the strongly aromatic taste of ginger and in such cases, a tea made with ginger is equally good. Chop ginger into fine pieces, add into a vessel containing one cup of water. Keep boiling the liquid till the volume reduces to half the original quantity. Strain the liquid, add one teaspoon of honey and drink when warm to give a soothing effect against cough.

13) Gurgling in salt water always proves to be beneficial in offering relief to an infected or an itchy throat aggravated by coughing. But for an effective change one may resort to gurgling in spinach juice after extracting and warming the same with a dash of salt.

14 ) Herbal tea enriched with basil and aniseed may turn out to be soothingly effective as a homemade remedy for sore throat.

16) Nutritionally resourceful almonds also play a proactive role in the healing of cough. Paste made out of soaked almonds can be had with a touch of butter for relief from cough.

You can find relief from cough by using these natural remedies. However, it is equally important to remember that if you find the cough persisting for an extended period of time, it is best to see a doctor to identify if there is any underlying serious problem that is causing the cough.