Have you ever found yourself coughing in the middle of the night and reached for the cough medicine? If your household is like ours, once in a while that bottle was used up two months ago. Luckily, you can make your own thyme cough medicine that will calm a cough and help you get the sleep you need.
Making Your Own Cough Remedy:
Q. I have had success with a cough remedy that I heard about from the People’s Pharmacy. I pour boiling water into a pint jar with a heaping spoonful of thyme leaves from my wife’s kitchen herbs and spices. After mixing the tea I pour a cupful and add a spoonful of honey. Last winter, regular use stopped the cough that had lingered for weeks after a cold. I’ll be keeping it in mind this year and thought I should share.
A. Thank you for this testimonial about thyme tea. Most of the cough medicines in pharmacies contain dextromethorphan (DM). This compound is somewhat controversial because its effectiveness is uncertain, and it has a potential for abuse.
Dr. Tieraona Low Dog is a frequent guest on The People’s Pharmacy radio show and podcast. She has long recommended thyme tea for coughs and sage gargles for sore throats. You can learn more about these and lots of other simple remedies in our book, Spice Up Your Health: How Everyday Kitchen Herbs & Spices Can Lengthen & Strengthen Your Life. If you grow thyme in your garden or a pot on your back porch, you can use fresh thyme to make this remedy.
How Do You Make Thyme Cough Medicine?
Q. I took a class from Dr. Low Dog and learned her recipe for thyme cough medicine. It consists of water, thyme, lemon and a natural sweetener: 1 cup of boiling water, 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh thyme or 2 tablespoons of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup.
A. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Dr. Tieraona Low Dog gave us a similar recipe that we included in our book, Quick & Handy Home Remedies. Dr. Low Dog is a favorite guest on our People’s Pharmacy radio show.
Thyme Cough Medicine with Thymol:
Thyme leaves contain thymol, a fragrant herbal oil. Scientists in Germany, Poland and Slovakia have studied its antimicrobial activity and found it helpful against cough (Forschende Komplementarmedizin, online Dec. 14, 2015; Wiadomosci Lekarskie, 2016; Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica, Mar-Apr. 2015; Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, June 1, 2013).
Does Honey Play a role in Thyme Cough Medicine?
As for honey, pediatrician and scientist Dr. Ian Paul suggested six years ago that a bit of honey might be an appropriate substitute for over-the-counter cough medicines for which there was little evidence of efficacy (Lung, Feb. 2012). Since then, researchers have conducted clinical trials confirming that honey is helpful against nighttime cough (Pediatrics, Sep. 2012). In summary, a review of the research literature concluded that honey works better than no treatment and than diphenhydramine (DPH, aka Benadryl), though it is comparable to dextromethorphan (the DM in medicines like Robitussin DM) (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Dec. 23, 2014).
In addition, Chilean investigators found that honey seems to decrease the frequency and severity of cough without side effects (Medwave, May 2016). The most recent review supports the use of honey to ease coughs due to upper respiratory infection in children (Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology, online Dec. 2, 2018). As a result, we conclude that you would be smart to sweeten your thyme cough medicine with honey.
Look Further:
It’s good to know that there is scientific support for this simple, tasty remedy. If this is the sort of thing that would appeal to someone on your holiday gift list, you might consider the Healthy Holiday bundle. It includes The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies, Recipes & Remedies from The People’s Pharmacy and Spice Up Your Health: How Everyday Kitchen Herbs & Spices Can Lengthen & Strengthen Your Life. Each of these books contains recipes from Dr. Tieraona Low Dog and some of our other distinguished guests. Consequently, any of them would make a great holiday gift.
