When I was a kid, Mum used to see this wonderful Indian G.P who also happily practiced ayurvedic medicine, which she was always willing to adopt because it made sense to her. When we moved to the coast, we found another GP who also practiced ayurveda as well as studied Chinese Medicine and practiced acupuncture too. I've been searching for doctors like that for a long time now, and they do seem few and far between.

The home remedy both doctors prescribed was a kind of cough elixer - simply honey and tumeric mixed into a paste. We've been using this as an altnerative to cough medicine for over forty years now and swear by it. It's the simplest thing - get a huge spoonfull of honey, mix in enough turmeric to form a paste, and consume, letting it slide gently down your throat. Take as often as needed. We never, ever used cough drops - those sugary useless lozenges that only seem to soothe you momentarily.

Image on Unsplash

For years, I thought it was just 'good for the throat' - but it's a far more effective remedy than that. It helps fight cold viruses, ease phleghm, helps with sneezing and a runny nose, and reduces the frequency of colds. And it's not just the turmeric, as I thought - it's the honey too. I always just presumed it was the spoonful of honey that made the slightly bitter, dusty turmeric go down - but it's the honey that soothes the throat more than the turmeric, easing irritation by coating the throat.

And it's also safe for children - check this research out here where they found that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, prevented the replication of Respiratory Syncytial Virus - a virus common in kids under two. This one further backs that honey is good for children with coughs.

I'm also fascinated by turmeric oil - I've never come across it, have you? Here's a study that suggests it's good for upper respiratory tract infections - something that I often got as a kid as I suffered from asthma.

I would presume it goes without saying that if you're going to use honey or turmeric, only the highest quality will do. Imported, pasteurised honey is just like consuming sugar - there's really not much benefit to it. Have a read of this article if you don't know much about the difference between raw and pasteurized, heat treated, filtered and often watered down honey - here's an extract for you from Permuculture News

Bee keepers sometimes use special screens around the inside of the hive boxes to trap propolis, since bees will spread this substance around the honeycomb and seal cracks with the anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal resins. The resins found in propolis only represent a small part of the phytonutrients found in propolis and honey, however. Other phytonutrients found both in honey and propolis have been shown to posssess cancer-preventing and anti-tumor properties. These substances include caffeic acid methyl caffeate, phenylethyl caffeate, and phenylethyl dimethylcaffeate. Researchers have discovered that these substances prevent colon cancer in animals by shutting down activity of two enzymes, phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and lipoxygenase. When raw honey is extensively processed and heated, the benefits of these phytonutrients are largely eliminated.

I'm always told that black pepper helps with the absorption of turmeric - given I usually make myself a big lentil dahl (with lots of turmeric, pepper and garlic) when I'm ill, I don't feel the need to put it in my cough syrup either. And as far as the convenient 'cough lozenge' goes? I just mix it in a little tupperware container to take to work, with a teaspoon.

Have you ever had this mixture for a cold?

Would you try it?

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This post is in response to a challenge by @naturalmedicine, who asks us to post on our natural home remedies. It's also sponsored by @theinnerblocks, and there's over 40 steem in prizes - entries due Friday 17th, so post about your home remedies to win! Check out the guidelines here.

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