The Times (UK), 1/21/2006
Chop an onion finely, put it with a tablespoon of clear honey in a screw-top jar and leave overnight. In the morning, drinking a teaspoonful of the juice produced will ease a cough.
This home remedy is typical of the genre in that it contains a mixture of ingredients. As a result, scientific analysis is fraught with difficulties: is the active component the onion, the honey, the screw-top jar or some magical combination of all three?
It is true that both onion and honey have been shown to have anti-microbial properties. But this effect is restricted to bacteria, whereas the vast majority of simple coughs are the result of infection with viruses. So the suggested concoction will not sort out the cause. But could it at least alleviate the symptoms? After all, honey has been shown to have a beneficial effect on the airways.
For example, studies of honey inhalation have demonstrated increased “peak flow” readings, a measure of how open the airways are. Air flow is characteristically reduced in asthma, a cardinal symptom of which is a cough. QED, say the enthusiasts.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
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4 comments:
I have had a tickly itchy cough for the past 4 weeks and have been unable to sleep because of it, yesterday I sliced an small onion up and placed it into half a jar of honey. The honey becomes more fluid and the onion soft. I took approx 20mls in the evening and again before bed and finally slept practically all night. This is a natural remedy but it has worked unlike the cough bottles I have been trying.
Rather cool blog you've got here. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything that is connected to this matter. I would like to read a bit more soon.
The problem with this post is that you've kept only the pros from the original post, which actually refutes that your cure works at all. Strange that you would post something that may be harmful and cause asthma--why would you do that?
Hi there.. I have grown up on onion & honey for cough relief. I used to have chronic broncitis as a youngster and my grandma always made me this remedy. It will help me sleep through the night and make my coughs more productive , rather than choking. 28 years later, I make this for my kids everytime they are sick instead of the antibiotics. Works like a charm and doesnt taste bad.. My kids love it! :) I would add that it needs to be taken pretty often while sick. I start out 1 ts every hour for 3 hrs.. then 4-6 hrs after that until most symptoms relieve.
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