Summer Colds and Herbs

The summer solstice has passed and half of 2024 is already coming to an end. Amidst the humidity unique to this rainy season, colds are going around again in Tokyo, especially among children. Rather than running a high fever, it seems to be a common pattern for summer colds where the nose stays stuffy and only a cough lingers for a while. I imagine some of you might be thinking, 'If only the cough would stop, it wouldn't be a problem...' In the first place, it is said that cough medicine is almost ineffective for this type of cough. Since a cough is a physical reaction caused by the body trying to expel something like pathogens or phlegm, there is a medical perspective that forcibly stopping it with medicine has its pros and cons. Therefore, in this 'Mel Wisdom,' I would like to introduce several 'grandmother's wisdom' style natural remedies that are expected to be quite effective and have been scientifically proven! Of course, since these are not medicines, you can try any of these methods at the same time!

1) Inhale steam
Drop a few drops of essential oils such as rosemary, tea tree, or eucalyptus into a bowl of hot water, cover your head and the bowl with a bath towel, and inhale the steam coming from the bowl with deep breaths for about 15 minutes. It will also clear your nose!

2) Drink warm beverages such as hot water or herbal tea
Experiments have shown that this also has the effect of suppressing coughs.

3) Lick honey
Surprisingly, research has proven that honey itself has a cough-relieving effect. It is also known to soothe pain when you have a sore throat. However, I would like you to be careful here: some commercially available products are not 100% natural, but have been heat-treated or processed with impurities mixed in to cut costs! Naturally, if it is not natural, you cannot expect much of a cough-relieving effect. It is better to avoid products that list 'molasses,' 'glucose,' 'corn starch,' 'glucose solution,' or labels like 'refined,' 'processed,' or 'sweetened' on the ingredient list.

4) Ginger
This is sometimes used in herbal medicine, but it is also recognized for its anti-inflammatory properties and its ability to improve asthma by relaxing the muscles in the airways. If you put freshly grated ginger into lukewarm water, dissolve it, and drink it all, it will stop nausea in no time! I actually use this in my daily life, and I was surprised at how quickly it worked!

5) Marshmallow root
As you might imagine! This is where the name marshmallow comes from! Real marshmallows are said to be made from these roots, not gelatin. It is expected to have the effect of keeping the throat moist and calming a cough. This is sold astea (marshmallow tea)and so on, so please try drinking it warm!
※Please note that because it has a high detoxifying effect, if you drink it with medicine, its effectiveness will be halved.

I have shared five methods above; how were they? I think most of the items were easy to obtain. For a cold with a lingering cough, I thought it might be good to try these natural remedies first, rather than medicine which always comes with side effects.

Well then, until next time (^o^)/