How to stop that annoying cough

Natural licorice has a more subtle sweetness than the candy version

Almost every Winter I pick up a dry, annoying cough usually caught from my time spent on Mars. Also known as Delhi where, the pollution level oscillates from ‘very poor’ to ‘hazardous’ with ‘severe’ levels of air pollution providing a happy medium through which to admire the glowing orange skyscape.

So how do you stop your annoying cough?

A natural remedy that always works for me is natural licorice. You can buy natural licorice root that look like twigs or as ground powder. It has a natural sweetness with a hint of spice that I can’t quite describe as pleasant although it tastes good compared to cough syrups and medicine. There are two ways I consume it depending upon my mood, the frequency of the cough and how much time I have.

If you have time, soak a few twigs of natural licorice root in water over night and then add that water and root into a saucepan, adding more water if necessary, bring to the boil, strain and use it to make tea with a tea bag and milk as you like it.

If you don’t ha

ve time to soak and boil your natural licorice you can make a cup of tea as you normally would and add 1/4 tea spoon of ground licorice powder. It tends to settle at the bottom so stir it again just before drinking so that you consume the powder.

If your cough is particulary dry and frequent, rinse a piece of root in water to clean it, snap a part off and keep it in your mouth chewing it to release its sweetness and the comforting properties.