Make a Honey and Onion Remedy for Chest Colds
Honey and onions contain substances that are excellent for soothing and opening up airways. You can use them as a basis for creating a safe, natural and inexpensive home remedy for treating common chest colds and other respiratory ailments. Take a look at the recipe below and see how easy it is to make your own batch, and you may be surprised at how effective it can be for reducing symptoms and speeding the recovery process.
Preparing the Remedy
The first step is to dice up a medium to large onion and place it in a pot over medium heat. Add enough honey to cover the entire onion and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to maintain a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally and continue to simmer until the onions soften and the liquid develops the consistency of syrup.
Add about a tablespoon of regular black pepper and stir. You can use a hotter variety of pepper if you like, as the capsicum will be more potent, but don’t make it so spicy that it will be difficult to consume later. Once everything has been mixed together, remove from heat and immediately pour the mixture into a blender or food processor. If you allow it to cool, the honey will thicken and get gooey, making it difficult to pour and mix.
Run the blender or food processor for a few seconds to break up the onion into smaller pieces. The finished product should look a bit like a relish or marmalade, or a little bit lumpy but even throughout. Scoop the mixture into a container with a screw-cap lid, wipe down the rim with a damp cloth and store the refrigerator until needed. Take a couple of tablespoons of this remedy by mouth a few times a day and watch how quickly your congestion can disappear.
You can also add some lemon juice to the mix in order to enhance its antiseptic properties. You can also use the lemon juice as a partial alternative to pepper if you are sensitive to spices. Just squeeze in about half of a lemon or two tablespoons of lemon juice extract before blending the ingredients.
Why This Works
Honey has actually been tested in clinical settings enough times to justify its purported healing properties. This is particularly true in the evening before going to bed. In fact, it is considered to be just as good, if not better, than dextromethorphan, or one of the common ingredients in over-the-counter cough suppressants.
One of the active ingredients in onions, allyl propyl disulphide, is a powerful analgesic that is also known to help the body to regulate blood sugar. It differs slightly from allisan, which is found in garlic, in the sense that it seems to target the respiratory tract and lungs more effectively. The trick is that you don’t want to overcook the onions otherwise this compound will be destroyed, and the potency of the remedy will be significantly reduced. However, slightly cooking the onion will help to reduce the sharp “bite” in the taste and make it easier to ingest.
Try this remedy for yourself and see how it can help to alleviate symptoms, open up airways and help you to breathe easier the next time you have a persistent cough or cold. Just make sure that you are using pure bee honey as opposed to products that contain clove or synthetic alternatives.
