Homemade Cough Syrup



Squeeze the lemons. Need 1 cup.

The other day someone complained that there was a lot of coughing going around the orphanage and it was too expensive to buy cough syrup in town. So I suggested we make a batch of our own instead.

I started by looking into some of the tropical medincine books hanging around the compound to see if someone had already figured out a recipe. I was thrilled to find the following recipe almost immediately. Plus all the ingredients were easy and (more or less) cheap to find.

I just finished my first batch today and it turned out great. Good luck on your own batch! 

Stir sugar into boiling water.



First you have to make Honey Wine, then you make the Cough Elixir. I'm very pleased with the taste. 

Honey Wine:
Honey Wine is used as a basic liquid for medicinal wines and syrups. If prepared well it contains 12-14% alcohol.

Honey** 2.5 liters


Stir for 15 mins at a high boil.

Water 2.25 liters

Fruit juice* 0.25 liters (or 1/4 bottle or 1 cup)

Yeast ½ teaspoon (brewers yeast or normal baking yeast)

 
**If you do not have honey, use sugar (2 kg) with 2.75 liters of water, 0.25 juice, and ½ teaspoon of yeast.

* You can use the juice for any fruit (i.e. mango, orange, lemon). It’s needed to supply the eyast with the minerals needed.

Boil the honey or sugar, water and fruit jice mixture for 15 minutes. Filter and pour into a 5 liter container (preferably glass, otherwise plastic). Leave to cool. Add the yeast.

Yeast is added once wine is cool.

Drill a little hole in the lid of the container adn insert a thin tube (i.e. a tube used for medical infusions). The other end of the tube is inserted into a mug filled with water. This has the effect that the surplus carbon dioxide can escape but no atmospheric oxygen can enter the container and spoil the wine.  

Keep the container in a warm place and shake it gently every day. After 2-3 weeks th efermeneting process is finished. Filter the wine through a clean cloth. Store teh wine in an airtight bottle in a cool, dark place.  

Pound out Eucalyptus leaves.



Cough Elixir:

Honey wine 5 liters

Eucalyptus leaves 250 grams --(dried and pounded)


Mix and keep in a warm place, covered but not tightly closed, for 5 days. Filter and store in airtight bottles in a cool, dark place.   

Dosage:

Adults 1 teaspoon, 3 times daily

Add eucalyptus only when wine is done.

Children 20-40 drops, 3 times daily

Recipe reproduced with permission.

“Natural Medicine in the Tropics” by Dr. Hans Martin Hirt and Bindanda M’pia. Published: by anamed (Action for Natural Medicine), Schafweide 77, 71364 Winnenden, Germany

Website: www.anamed.net