Unregulated Drugs! In the kitchen!

While I'm a skeptic about alternative (or naturopathic) medicine, if I hear about a treatment for the more annoying symptoms of the common cold, I'm quite willing to check it out, especially if it's harmless. And if it works, I spread the word.

For example, I have long believed in the value of sage tea in drying up even the most stubborn cases of sniffles. What I do is fashion a teabag from a coffee filter and dump in at least a tablespoon of sage, throw that into a large (12 ounce) glass and add boiling water. When the color turns yellow, it's ready to drink. It's a lot cheaper than Sudafed (which is now a real hassle to buy), and I use both in combination. The sage tea will make you a little drowsy, and if you fall asleep you'll almost always wake up feeling better. I don't know what active ingredient might be responsible (a number of them are listed at Wiki), but I doubt there's enough money to be made for such a common substance that would justify expending the huge sums it would cost to bring a drug to the market. Sage has been used for many years in treating sinus infections, but I've never read about a serious double-blind study.

So sage is classified as food; just a kitchen spice. I have no idea how it works against rhinitis, but it does.

The worst part of having a cold is the cough. I don't get colds very often, but when I do the accompanying coughs are awful and seem to drag on endlessly. As they are aggravated by rhinitis, both sage and sudafed tend to help, but what I really need (especially to sleep) is to suppress the cough at night. I have tried just about every cough remedy available at the drugstore; I find guaifenesin useless, and that dreadful dextromethorphan has side effects more hideous than the cough. While it is possible to go to the doctor for prescription cough medicine, that is not always feasible for a cold.

But once again, there are remedies easily available in the kitchen. First there's chocolate. One official study found chocolate to be more medically effective against coughs than codeine.


In a cough suppressant study performed by London's National Heart and Lung Institute, chocolate's theobromine significantly outperformed codeine, the primary active ingredient in prescription cough medicine. Participants in the study were treated at different times with a placebo, codeine, and theobromine before being exposed to capsaicin via an inhaled gas. Capsaicin, a chili pepper derivative, has long been used to induce coughing in clinical research.

As a cough medicine, codeine (mostly known as a painkiller) had nominal success compared to the placebo, but theobromine was 33 percent more effective than codeine to stop coughing. Theobromine was found to work directly on the vagus nerve, which is responsible for triggering coughing. Researchers found nearly identical results in guinea pigs as in humans.

Beyond theobromine's increased efficacy, it's safer than over-the-counter and prescription cough medicines. Cough medicine is rarely harmful, but can have minor side effects; most common are drowsiness, constipation, and dry mouth. We've been conditioned not to operate heavy machinery after taking cough medicine. It is, however, perfectly safe to eat dark chocolate in your crane, forklift, or other industrial vehicles, provided you're still paying attention. Theobromine has not been connected to any side effects (though it should be noted that the substance has just begun to be studied in the past few years).

The required dose of theobromine can be obtained from eating dark chocolate or making cocoa:
The quantity of dark chocolate that should be eaten to stop coughing--about two ounces for an adult and about half as much for a child--is not enough to get children wound up, or for the minimal caffeine to cause sleep disturbances.

Theobromine levels are directly related to the cocoa content in chocolate. Milk chocolate contains little theobromine, while dark chocolate usually has about 400 to 450 mg of theobromine per ounce. Thus, to stop a chronic cough, or even a coughing fit, eating dark chocolate with as high a percentage of cocoa as possible is preferable when using chocolate as a cough suppressant. Or, to put it another way, the higher the cocoa content, the less chocolate needed to stop coughing.

You can also buy cocoa in pill form. I tried drinking cocoa today and it seemed to work once it kicked in, but it's not as immediate as cough syrup.

However, I did find something that works quickly, and remarkably well.

A concoction of four simple kitchen ingredients as described here:

It soothes an irritated throat and relieves chest congestion and phlegm. The bad news: it tastes terrible -- it really does -- but if you have a persistant cough, it's worth a try.

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1 Tablespoon honey

  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • Mix and take by the teaspoon.

    The recipe doesn't indicate how much to take. I took 3 teaspoons the first time because I had a bad dry cough for over three weeks, and I was desparate for some relief. It worked and I got a good night's sleep. I have been recommending it to others ever since, and many have confirmed my positive results.

    Consider the beneficial effects of the individual ingredients...

    (Go to the site if you want to read about what the ingredients might do and why.)

    Frankly, I was very skeptical about this, but I made it up and tried it. I didn't have the cider vinegar, so I used balsamic vinegar instead. I disagree that it tastes terrible, as I rather like it. It has a medicinal taste, somehow like spicy Asian food, and there is a distinct peppery sting as it tickles the throat. It made me cough immediately, then things quickly calmed down noticeably. I can highly recommend it (or cocoa) over any of the over the counter remedies I have tried, hence this public service post.

    While the FDA would probably arrest anyone who tried to sell the above as treatments for the common cold, I'm not selling anything; just relating my personal experience (which I think the First Amendment still allows).

    Besides, what with impending collapse of the health care system, nothing beats being prepared.

    posted by Eric on 01.10.10 at 08:21 PM





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    Comments

    Interesting post. The next time I get the sniffles I will try the sage tea trick. Ditto your cough remedies.

    For stopped up nose, I use chili peppers.Clears the sinuses every time.
    I attribute my lack of colds to copious use of chili peppers (usually jalapenos chopped and marinated in vinegar, but also anchos and chipotles) and garlic.

    Gringo   ·  January 10, 2010 09:33 PM

    Usually I do a mixture of honey, lemon, hot water, and bourbon. Two or eight of those and my cold doesn't bother me anymore and I sleep like a baby.

    Phelps   ·  January 11, 2010 01:15 AM

    My doctor told me that you can ditch all the other ingredients and just swallow the raw honey for the same effect. It's the coating action of the honey, I guess.

    Lynne   ·  January 11, 2010 07:23 AM

    I'm with Phelps.

    Donna B.   ·  January 11, 2010 08:59 AM

    Which reminds me of a show on the Beverly Hillbillies years ago about some folk remedy for a cold. After much brouhaha, the remedy was located, with the following instructions: "Take the remedy and lie in bed for a week."

    Gringo   ·  January 11, 2010 11:16 AM

    Interesting. I used to drink sage for tea for excessive sweating. My hands are very sweaty and clammy (and cold too), and I just sweat a lot in general, and because of their coldness and clamminess every woman I've dated screams "don't touch me!". Which I may add is awesome to hear growing up and had no negative affect on my psyche whatsoever. So sage tea is supposed to help among other things.

    Though a few weeks ago I found a better solution, which is finding someone that likes when you touch them, which is easier on both parties. :)

    plutosdad   ·  January 11, 2010 01:38 PM

    Sorry you still have that cough, eric, but thanks for sharing these tips which I filed for later. More than happy to try anything that will keep me out of a doctor's office.

    Over the years I have had similar problems. More than I like to think about, but that's what happens when you smoke. In any case, let me mention that the single over the counter drug that has helped me the most is Mucinex. It doesn't work right away. In fact, on average I would say that it takes at least five days to begin to do its thing. I used to buy the small package because the stuff is expensive, and then just as I was starting to get better, the box was gone, and I had to buy another one. So if you try this, buy BIG originally.

    Two other things that were recommended to me, have seemed to make a difference in avoiding some of these problems in the first place. One is daily vitamin c, and the other is daily saline nasal spray. I had ongoing sinus issues for years, which when they raged, would lead to bronchitis. The regular use of the saline spray has kept that sinus problem in check.

    Penny   ·  January 11, 2010 06:45 PM

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