Ailment-of-the-Day

Today, we shall talk about coughing.

Coughing: A reflex action of the throat to expel built-up phlegm or mucus.

Coughing occurs whenever something obstructs the breathing passages. It may cause irritation to the airways. Coughing is a protective response of the body. Cough medicine soothes the throat and reduces coughing in this way. However, it does not treat the cause of the cough and it reduces the clearing action.

There are various alternative treatments for cough but being a food scientist in the making, I shall only discuss the dietary considerations:

• Drink more liquids as it loosens up the mucus/phlegm and makes coughing it up easier. The best are warm liquids and filtered water.
• Avoid caffeine and alcoholic beverages.
• Drink fresh fruit and vegetable juices which may enable the speeding up of your recovery.
• Vitamin C, zinc, potassium, magnesium, chloride supplements along with a well-balanced diet will help as well.

When these and all else fails, call a doctor.

Which reminds me, I've got to call Dr. Jansen Koh NOW.