Spring is coming and, hopefully, the severe cold and flu season we’ve been having this year will end as the weather improves. In the meantime though a new discovery I made last night may come in handy.
Karen rarely gets sick. This year has been an exception and she’s been sick twice this year. She seems especially susceptible to catching things from our adorable granddaughter who always wants to kiss us whether she’s sick or not. Recently Evie got a cold which she processed through pretty quick. Karen, however, wasn’t doing so well. She has had a severe cough the last couple of days.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) she cannot take most cough medicines or expectorants like mucinex because they contain ingredients that aggravate gut problems for those needing the SCD diet (more info on our web page). Last night the cough was so severe she was hurting herself and could not sleep. I was more than a little concerned, which prompted me to do some research on www.pfaf.org, an incredible database of over 7000 edible and medicinal plants.
Looking for expectorants, I found that garlic was not only one of the best expectorants but was also a good anti-spasmodic. Of course I knew about the anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities of garlic but the expectorant and anti-spasmodic properties were news. I minced up about a teaspoon of fresh garlic and mixed it with a tablespoon of homemade yogurt and had her just swallow it without chewing.
Within 20 minutes the horrible hacking cough was reduced to almost nothing! Karen got a good night’s sleep with almost no coughing and she is dramatically better this morning. She has decided to make the garlic and yogurt “cough medicine” and take it every hour until she’s well.
BTW, garlic is also an excellent anti-inflammatory so may be good for aches and pains associated with colds and flu.
So, the formula is: 1 tsp minced fresh garlic (not the stuff in the jars) mixed with 1 Tbs of yogurt. Swallow it down without chewing and you won’t have much garlic breath. Take as often as needed for a natural, non-toxic cough medicine that also boosts your immune system and is anti-inflammatory!
