This morning I was practicing español via Skype with one of my tutors who lives in El Salvador. I’m in my 3rd week with a cough and sore throat. Because I was coughing a bit during the lesson we began to talk about home remedies for coughs.
I told him about one from my childhood that involves honey, lemon juice, whiskey and hot water. He related how they had a similar one there that involved honey, lemon juice and RADISHES.
The radish part surprised me. He theorized that honey was used for its anti-bacterial properties and radishes because it contained iodine which is a good anti-bacterial also. It is, but I am not sure it functions as such at the levels in his concoction.
I began to wonder about iodine in radishes and found the following information. Radishes actually contain goitrogens which interfere with the uptake of iodine and thus could be harmful to thyroidal health. Here is a link to an interesting article on the subject: One Major Side Effect of Eating Radishes, Says Science
Another Salvadorian home remedy for coughs involves the liquid from the aloe vera plant extracted via a blender.
We ended by my saying that I preferred my home remedy because after 2 or 3 doses you did not care if you had a cough or not.
And so it goes.