This video by Dave Hax shows how you can make your own cough sweets from natural ingredients, but Hax’s method fails for several reasons. First is the use of sugar, an immune suppressant. Second, the sustained high heat needed to caramelize the mixture into a candy destroys the beneficial activities available in the honey and lemon. Third, the mixture will not solidify without heating to 300 degrees for a time period longer than specified in the video. Instead, here is another very easy cough sweet recipe that does not involve heating in the preparation.
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon powdered slippery elm bark 1 Tablespoon powdered marshmallow root 1 1/2 teaspoons local, raw honey
Instructions
- With a spoon, mix all of the ingredients to form a paste.
- Put 1/8 teaspoon (or 1/4 teaspoon and cut in half) portions on to a plate. Firm up in the fridge for 3 to 8 hours.
- After removing from fridge, quickly shape into balls. You can store them in a covered container, or twisted in pieces of parchment. To learn about the benefits of the individual ingredients in either of these recipes, go to: www.webmd.com, and enter the selected ingredient in the search box at the top of the page. Be sure to consult a doctor if your cough is severe with a rattle, if blood is brought up, or if it does not go away within a week. Otherwise, happy healing! Featured photo credit: sweet/desobte via flickr.com
