A violent cough is always unpleasant. They cause a sore throat, make breathing difficult, and interfere with normal sleep at night. You can fight them with the help of medicines or alternative methods of treatment. One of these are homemade cough drops, which are easy to make on your own in just a few minutes.
Indications for use
Lollipops and cough candies really help to get rid of it for a while. But you need to understand that the cough itself is not a disease, but only one of its symptoms. Therefore, the effectiveness of this remedy depends directly on the reasons that caused the cough. They can be divided into three main groups:
- allergic - when a cough is a manifestation of a reaction to an allergen;
- infectious - a cough is triggered by an inflammation of the throat and an accumulation of mucus, which are the result of exposure to pathogenic microorganisms;
- non-infectious - a cough occurs due to sore throat caused by a cold or mechanical, chemical and other irritants.
Lollipops are most effective in the latter case. They quickly relieve pain and sore throat, stop a coughing fit.
If a cough is triggered by an allergen, lozenges will not help. The only way to stop it is to take antihistamines and then identify and eliminate the allergen.
If an infection has entered the body and has penetrated shallowly, lozenges with essential oils may well help get rid of it. But when the disease is already running, then they must be combined with antibacterial drugs prescribed by a doctor.
Main components
There are many ways to make healthy and delicious DIY cough drops. They are based on honey or burnt sugar. Basically, there is not much difference in what exactly to use as a basis. When heated to high temperatures, honey loses most of its beneficial properties, and burnt sugar is also an excellent cough remedy.
As the second basic component from which you can make cough drops, a decoction of medicinal herbs or teas is used: hibiscus, ginger or green. Best of all to help get rid of sore throat and cough:
- sage;
- mint;
- chamomile;
- coltsfoot;
- thyme;
- lemongrass;
- elder.
The broth is prepared in advance. In a thermos or a tight-fitting teapot, a glass of boiling water is brewed with 2 tbsp. spoons of your chosen herb or herbal mixture. Insist for at least two hours, but you can leave it overnight so that the plants will give all the healing power. Then strain the broth and use for candies.
It is useful to add natural essential oils to cough drops: eucalyptus, cedar, fir, mint, cinnamon, anise. They have the most powerful bactericidal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Essential oils evaporate very quickly, so they are added at the very last stage of making candy and in very small quantities.
The best recipes
Before you start making cough drops at home, you need to prepare molds into which the molten mass will be poured. The easiest way is to buy ready-made silicone molds. They are pre-washed well and lubricated with oil. If this is not possible, you can pour the finished syrup onto regular parchment paper (also oiled) in small portions so that it does not spread too much. For children, you can make lollipops using ordinary toothpicks.
Below are the simplest and most effective recipes for making homemade cough drops. Once you master the general principle, you can come up with your own options, taking into account individual taste preferences:
- Honey herbs. They have strong expectorant properties, relieve inflammation and irritation in the throat. For cooking, you will need one glass of honey and sugar, 100 ml of cooked decoction of herbs. Melt sugar over low heat until liquid, then add honey. When the mass becomes evenly golden, start pouring the herbal decoction in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Bring the syrup to a light brown thick mass and pour into molds.
Gingerbread with cinnamon. They have an excellent antiseptic effect, quickly relieve a coughing attack, help with tonsillitis and bronchitis. This recipe requires a small ginger root, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and a glass of sugar. Grate the ginger root on a fine grater and squeeze the juice out of it through several layers of gauze. Dilute it in 100 ml of pure water. Melt sugar over low heat. Add cinnamon powder to it and mix well. Pour ginger water into the syrup in a thin stream, stirring constantly. When the mass becomes thick and golden brown, pour into molds.- With cocoa butter. Cocoa butter has excellent anti-inflammatory properties and relieves irritation quickly. It promotes the regeneration of cells and tissues, has an expectorant effect and creates a thin protective film on the throat. For cooking, take: half a glass of honey and sugar, 50 grams of cocoa butter. As in the previous recipes, melt the sugar first, then add the honey and finally the cocoa butter. Cook until tender and pour into molds.
- With eucalyptus and lemon. Lemon juice contains a large amount of vitamin C, due to which it stimulates the immune system, helping the body to cope with the disease faster. Eucalyptus oil is a powerful natural antiseptic that also has bactericidal properties. Such lozenges help well even with purulent sore throat, although when used they will slightly tingle the throat. Melt half a glass of sugar and honey until smooth. Squeeze the juice out of a small lemon and strain so that the pulp and seeds do not get into. Pour the juice into the syrup in a thin stream and cook until tender. Before removing from heat, add 10 drops of eucalyptus oil, mix well and pour into molds.
With ghee and cloves. Well softens dry, sharp unproductive cough, eliminates inflammation, sore throat, makes breathing easier. For cooking, take: a glass of sugar, a tablespoon of ghee 10-15 pcs. carnations. Pour the cloves with half a glass of hot water, bring to a boil and boil for 10-15 minutes. Strain and pour in a thin stream into the sugar melted over low heat. When the mixture begins to thicken, add the ghee, mix well, cook until tender and pour into a mold.
Gingerbread with cinnamon. They have an excellent antiseptic effect, quickly relieve a coughing attack, help with tonsillitis and bronchitis. This recipe requires a small ginger root, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and a glass of sugar. Grate the ginger root on a fine grater and squeeze the juice out of it through several layers of gauze. Dilute it in 100 ml of pure water. Melt sugar over low heat. Add cinnamon powder to it and mix well. Pour ginger water into the syrup in a thin stream, stirring constantly. When the mass becomes thick and golden brown, pour into molds.
With ghee and cloves. Well softens dry, sharp unproductive cough, eliminates inflammation, sore throat, makes breathing easier. For cooking, take: a glass of sugar, a tablespoon of ghee 10-15 pcs. carnations. Pour the cloves with half a glass of hot water, bring to a boil and boil for 10-15 minutes. Strain and pour in a thin stream into the sugar melted over low heat. When the mixture begins to thicken, add the ghee, mix well, cook until tender and pour into a mold.You can search for other recipes on the Internet or try to invent your own. The main thing is not to mix too many different ingredients - 2-3 additional ingredients are enough. Then they enhance the beneficial properties of each other.
You can consume no more than 5-6 cough drops per day. This is quite enough to relieve the condition and soften even a strong cough in 2-3 days. If there is no improvement, do not delay the visit to the doctor so that the disease does not cause complications.
Precautionary measures
There are no contraindications to the use of cough drops and cannot be - this is a completely natural product that does not contain antibiotics or chemical dyes. The only obstacle to such treatment may be individual intolerance to individual components. But since you choose the recipe for making cough drops at home on your own, you just need to consider it initially.
You should not take cough drops during his severe attack - there is a high risk of the candy getting into the respiratory tract. You should not abuse it either - sweets contain a fairly large amount of sugar (otherwise they simply will not caramelize) and can spoil the figure. For the same reason, this cough remedy is not recommended for those suffering from diabetes mellitus.
Remember that, even despite the presence of medicinal herbs and essential oils in the decoctions, cough drops are not a medicine, but only a way to relieve the condition and remove pain and sore throat. The body must cope with the disease on its own, or it must be helped to do it with the help of traditional medicines.
