Dealing with a cough can be miserable. But as will most symptoms of illness, it’s actually an important part of how your body helps itself heal. This is why it’s important to find ways to support the body’s response whenever possible, rather than suppressing it. Of course, you also want to find relief as quickly as possible. And this is where herbs shine. These key herbs help naturally support and relieve a cough, helping you feel better, faster.
Picking the right herb for you is key to getting the relief and support you’re after. Which takes a little more effort than just searching “herbs good for a cough” and picking one from the list. Each herb has its own energy and unique properties that need to be properly matched to the situation. That’s why it’s important to determine what type of cough you have before you can choose the best herb to support you.
While there are many herbs out there that are incredibly helpful for coughs, below are three that I turn to again and again for supporting the three most common types of coughs.
The information in this post is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is always best to work with a qualified healthcare professional before incorporating herbs into your diet.
Best Herbal Remedies For Coughs
Unlike most OTC drugs, most herbs don’t stop or alter the body’s natural response. Rather, herbs support and soothe the body, helping you feel better while letting your immune system do its job.
Of course, this isn’t to say that there’s never a time and a place for OCT drugs. They can be helpful when needed and you are the best person to make the best decisions about what your body needs.
There are several properties that make an herb helpful for relieving and supporting a cough.
- Alteratives help tone (strengthen) the systems of the body involved in waste removal (the lungs, for instance).
- Expectorants help clear secretions from the lungs.
- Antimicrobial herbs support the body in killing or limiting pathogens.
- Anticatarrhals reduce mucus formation in the body, particularly in the sinuses.
- Antitussives reduce the cough reflex.
- Antispasmodics relax muscle spasms.
- Anti-inflammatory herbs help keep inflammation in check.
In addition to those herbal actions, each herb has its own energetics. Herbs have an overall cooling or warming effect and an overall drying or moistening effect. This is one of the key reasons it’s important to match the right herbal energetics to the type of cough you have.
How To Pick The Right Herb For Your Cough
Generally speaking, there are three basic types of cough:
Productive coughs are the ones that sound phlegmy, boggy, and/or wet. This is the type of cough that is caused by excess mucus secretion in the lungs and you can hear the lungs moving this mucus out.
Unproductive coughs are the types of coughs that feel tight and don’t sound like they are effectively loosening and moving mucus out of the lungs. These are the types of coughs where it feels like you can’t take a full breath and no matter how hard you cough, you still have that tight, congested feeling in your chest.
Dry coughs might honestly be the most annoying. These are the types of coughs that often linger long after the acute stages of illness have subsided. These are the tickle in the back of your throat or the coughing fit that isn’t doing anything to help the illness anymore because there isn’t any excessive mucus in the lungs. This type of cough often feels scratchy and hot
Understanding which type of cough you have is the first step to matching it with the right herb.
For a productive cough, you want an herb that will help assist the body in removing the excess mucus from the lungs and tone the tissues of the lungs to help them heal faster.
For an unproductive cough, you would want an herb that helps to moisten and loosen the stuck mucus in the lungs so that the body can more easily move it out.
In the case of both productive and unproductive coughs, the body is trying to do what it needs to do in order to remove the illness and heal itself. That’s why stopping a cough artificially, while it might feel better in the moment, can sometimes backfire.
For those dry, hacking coughs, you would want an herb that will help soothe, moisten, and cool the lungs. This is where antitussive action is particularly helpful.
Three Herbs That Are Good For Coughs
Now that you know how to tell what type of cough you’re dealing with, here are three of my favorite herbs to consider.
Productive Cough: Elecampane
Elecampane is one of the best herbs for clearing phlegm and mucus from the body. It is especially helpful for wet, boggy coughs as it increases the flow of mucus while strengthening the coughing reflex. This helps the body more effectively remove stuck mucus from the lungs.
Unproductive Cough: Ginger
If I’m being honest, if I had to pick one herb to have on hand for cold and flu season, it would be ginger. It enhances immune function and is very stimulating, which is perfect for getting stuck mucus flowing again. A ginger poultice over the chest can help relieve congestion. And a strong cup of ginger tea will help relieve congested coughs and stuffy sinuses, as well as warming you up from the inside.
Dry Cough: Thyme
As with so many herbs, thyme doesn’t fit perfectly in a single box. Thyme has been used historically for both wet and dry coughs, but that dry, lingering cough that is deep in the chest but also tickles the throat is where it really shines thanks to its antitussive action. It helps calm coughing spasms and open up the bronchia and the lungs to make it easier to breathe.
Herbs For Cough & Supporting Your Health
Herbs can be such a helpful, easy way to support our bodies when dealing with illness. But it’s important to understand what your body needs and how to match it to the right herbal ally, first.
Rather than simply searching “herbs good for a cough” and trying the first one that pops up, it’s most effective to get to know a few herbs first and how they interact with and support the body through their own unique actions and energetics.
And don’t forget to add fresh ginger to your grocery list. You’ll thank me later.
Looking for herbal remedies that help boost your immune system naturally? Check out this post:
https://cultivateandsavor.com/herbal-recipes-to-support-immune-system/
