Is ginger honey water useful for treating cough?

Cough is a common symptom of lung diseases. It may occur all year round and is the most common minor illness in life. There is an old saying that ginger mixed with honey can cure a cough. Ginger and honey both have the effects of nourishing qi and moistening the lungs, nourishing the heart and promoting blood circulation. In some cases, they can complement each other and benefit each other, and they also have a good effect on relieving cough and asthma. Then let me tell you why ginger honey water can relieve cough.

Traditional medicine believes that coughs can be divided into two types: exogenous and endogenous. Exogenous coughs may be caused by wind-cold, wind-heat, or dryness-heat. Internal coughs may be caused by phlegm and dampness invading the lungs, liver fire invading the lungs, or lung deficiency causing coughs.

Ginger is pungent and warm in nature. Its main pharmacological effects are to dispel cold, stop vomiting and open up phlegm. It can treat colds, vomiting, phlegm, wheezing and coughing, bloating, diarrhea and relieve the toxicity of some drugs and foods. Modern medicine has discovered that ginger contains volatile oils and gingerol, which can stimulate the cardiovascular system, dilate blood vessels, accelerate blood flow, increase body temperature, and increase sweat gland secretion, thereby producing the effect of sweating and dispelling cold. At the same time, it can promote gastrointestinal motility and secretion of digestive juices, enhance small intestinal absorption, strengthen the stomach and stop vomiting.

Speaking of honey, it tastes sweet and is mild in nature, and is rich in glucose and fructose. Traditional medicine believes that honey can treat dry cough, dry intestinal constipation, stomach pain, nasal sinusitis, mouth ulcers, etc. Modern pharmacological research has proved that honey has the effects of maintaining the myocardium, protecting the liver, lowering blood pressure and preventing vascular sclerosis.

To sum up, there are many causes of cough, including cold, heat, deficiency and excess, and the pharmacological effects of honey and ginger are also diverse. According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine for treatment based on syndrome differentiation, only certain types of coughs can be treated with ginger and honey. First of all, let’s talk about honey. It has the effect of moistening the lungs, so as long as you have a cough, you can basically eat honey. As for ginger, its use is more limited. It is only suitable for two types of coughs caused by exogenous wind-cold and cough with excessive phlegm. For other types of coughs, whether caused by heat or dryness, or yin deficiency and excess fire, it is not appropriate to use the spicy and warm ginger.

Although ginger honey water is very effective in relieving cough, if the cough is severe and does not heal for a long time, it can easily affect the function of the internal organs and worsen the lesions. In this case, you must seek medical attention as soon as possible and do not take any medicine casually. In addition, you must not use boiling water to rinse or high temperature to cook honey, as this will seriously destroy the nutrients in the honey.