Honey and Onion Cough Cure

January 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. (READ MORE)

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