One of the most annoying problems that we can have in life is a persistent cough. I know what you’re probably thinking, there are a lot of issues that we can experience, but a persistent cough is going to be a problem for you and anybody in your immediate area. If you’re somebody that suffers from this problem, there is no need for you to suffer permanently. In fact, the solution may be as close as a piece of chocolate.
When some people have a persistent cough, they will automatically head to the bottle of cough syrup that has codeine included. Although it may be able to calm a cough to a certain extent, it is a temporary solution, at best. According to Prof. Alyn Morice, head of cardiovascular and respiratory studies at the University of Hall in the UK, you may want to go for something a little sweeter. He says that a little bit of chocolate can cure a cough that has been hanging on.
Prof. Morice is a founding member of the International Society for the Study of Cough. According to his recent study of medicines that are available over-the-counter, he has found that cocoa is a better choice than typical cough remedies.
The study was conducted through the Imperial College in London. It found that theobromine, which is in cocoa powder can stop coughs better than codeine.
Why does cocoa work for coughs?
One of the reasons why medicine containing cocoa may work so well is because of the viscosity. Chocolate tends to be stickier and it can go directly to the nerve endings in the throat that trigger a cough. Patients who took a chocolate-based medicine were able to see an improvement in their persistent cough within 2 days.
Unicough is the name of the medication that contains cocoa. It is available as an oral medicine with nonmedicated lozenges flavored as chocolate and mint.
Drinking some hot chocolate is not going to have the same effect, neither is eating some dark chocolate. The trick is to use the chocolate along with the medication but if you suck on a chocolate bar in the meantime, it may just help.