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Here’s a super immune strengthening homemade cough and cold syrup that will help shorten the duration and alleviate the symptoms of a cold or cough.
Homemade Cough and Cold Syrup Recipe
Here’s a super immune strengthening homemade cough and cold syrup that will help shorten the duration and alleviate the symptoms of a cold or cough.
This homemade cough and cold syrup is a tried and true remedy at our house. We take it at the first sign of illness to kick out any colds and coughs that try to take hold in the body.
All the ingredients in this homemade cough and cold syrup have powerful healing properties to aid in helping a cold and cough:
Raw Honey – According to multiple studies, honey is just as effective in helping a cough as over the counter cough medicine (source). And it’s no wonder why. Honey contains powerful anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. In fact, honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases. Just make sure your honey is raw and not heat treated. The beneficial nutrients and enzymes get destroyed when the honey is not raw. Finding local, raw honey is always best, but if you can’t find it, THIS is a great option.
Coconut oil – The large amount of lauric acid in coconut oil kills bacteria, viruses and fungi, which helps to starve off infections. Furthermore, when coconut oil is enzymatically digested, it also forms a monoglyceride called monolaurin. Like lauric acid, monolaurin also kills harmful pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi (source).
Fresh Lemon – Lemons are packed with Vitamin C and flavonoids, which aid in supporting the body’s natural defenses.
Cinnamon – Cinnamon contains anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties.
*Do not give this homemade cough and cold syrup to children under one year old, as they should not consume honey.
Homemade Cough and Cold Syrup Recipe
- 3 tablespoons raw honey (Find it HERE)
- 2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted (Find high quality coconut oil HERE)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Combine all ingredients until well mixed. (Do not heat your honey. Heating destroys the beneficial enzymes. If you must heat your honey, do so at the lowest temperature possible)
- Take 1-2 teaspoons, 3 to 5 times a day at the first sign of a cold or cough. If a cold and cough has taken hold, take every 1-2 hours until symptoms subside.
Alright Kelly, I’m stumped. I made up some of this because the Kid and the Husband were showing signs of getting sick but after an hour or two the coconut oil separated to the top and solidified. If heating destroys the helpful enzymes how do I keep it liquid long enough to be useful?
Hi Jenny! In the winter, I have this problem, too. What I do is warm some water in a saucepan on the stove and put the jar in the water. It heats it just so the coconut oil melts, but doesn’t harm any of the beneficial enzymes. Hope that helps! And hope the family feels better!
Hi,
How long does this keep? Also, do I store at room temp? We all have colds and need something to help. We have been doing straight honey but it just isn’t cutting it!
Thanks,
Amy
Hi Amy, you can either keep this in the fridge for a few weeks or on the counter for a few days. If it’s in the fridge, the coconut oil will harden and if your house is cooler than 76 degrees, it will harden, too. If that’s the case you can put a pot of water on the stove, heat it and put the jar in the water to melt the coconut oil. Or just heat the contents of the jar on a very low heat so you don’t destroy any of the beneficial enzymes.
I put mines in a cup of warm water, coconut oil liquifies above 75F…
Mix the cocounut oil with some olive oil or sweet almond or even jojoba, before mixing with the honey. This should keep the oil liquid.
How much Olive oil
Hi Kelly!
Well, I tried a similar recipe last night but it did have me heat the honey. Yours makes so much more sense! Soooo need my voice back… Thanks!
Laura
Hi Laura! I hope you feel better!! And yes, I am surprised to see so many of these homemade cough and cold syrup recipes instruct you to to heat the honey. I just want to yell, “nooooooo!” LOL.
I just made this and I had the opposite issue that Jenny mentioned. My cinnamon has separated (after stirring and stirring and stirring; it has mainly risen to the top half of the jar. I only slightly warmed my honey by putting it in a glass bowl and set that in another bowl of hot water. My coconut oil was melted, but not hot at all, just barely warm enough to melt it. My lemon did come straight from the fridge, so the lemon juice was chilled. Any suggestions? Thanks so much for the information!
Kimberly 🙂
I had this same problem… did you ever find a solution?
This could have to do with what type of cinnamon you’re using – my mom has the same problem in her tea :). It has to do with the grind. Could try next time with a different brand of cinnamon?
Hey Kelly!!
As Ive told you before, Im allergic to coconut. Do you think olive oil would be an okay substitue in this?
Hi Angela!! Yes, olive oil would be a good substitute.
An even better substitute that I just thought of right after I hit reply is fermented cod liver oil. Do you take that? I take it during the winter season because of the abundant dose of Vitamin D. Here’s the fermented cod liver oil that I take >> http://amzn.to/1ad73i1
Thanks for the quick reply!
I have two different “cold remedies” I’ve made, I thought I would share since it is similar, the first i use in my tea i cut up lemon and put it in a jar with some cloves and cinnamon, covered it all in local raw honey. after a few days the juices mix together, great for sore throat, I’ve read it keeps indefinitely in the fridge, apparently korean markets sell a similar preserved orange or lemon product. I also mixed hard coconut oil with honey and added a couple drops of theives essential oil, along with a little cinnamon and lemon juice. I just beat it with a butter knife until it was creamy, I eat a small spoonful every now and then to help with sore throat, it really works! (store at room temp or fridge if it is too warm and it melts)
awesome, thank you Christina!! Love those ideas!
Thanks for sharing. I have been using raw honey & onion as a cold elixer. I put diced onion in raw honey let it sit for a few days in or out of the fridge, strain the onion out & keep in fridge. You can use it right away if needed. I have found this to work not only as a cough suppressent but also as an expecterant.
I’m new to natural. I love it! Where does one go to buy RAW honey? and since my family is sick. Can I use regular honey in the mean time?
Jen, grocery stores with well stocked organic food sections should carry it. You just want to make sure what you have is real honey. A lot of honey in the grocery stores are just high fructose corn syrup and contain either no or very little honey. If you can’t find real honey at the grocery store, you can always find it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/160khZv
I hope you and your family feels better soon!!!
I was thinking of adding apple pie moonshine to it (for flavor and to raise the body temp). Just wondering what your feed back was on this. I don’t see how it would react to any of the other ingredients. Do you?
I just made this as my daughter has a fever and headache. I am hoping to ward off any further symptoms. About ten mins after making it the cinnamon has clumped together with the oil on the top. The oil is still melted and everything was room temperature, including the lemon. It won’t break up and mix in when I stir it. Any ideas?
I just made this cold and cough stuff yesterday. Having symtoms of cold or flu thought I’d try it. I made triple batch. After adding real lemon juice and stirring it clabbered up. So I just added more coconut oil and raw honey and whipped it with a hand beater. Used less lemon. It came out creamy and taste better good. Should still work, right!
Sounds great! And yes for sure!
Ach, an epic fail! After I made my concoction, my chef-husband informed me that the lemon juice should be slowly added to the cinnamon to make a slurry as finely ground powders are hydrophobic and won’t mix with a large volume of liquid .(he got rather sciencey). I love the concept behind this, but I need to work on my technique!
LOL!! I don’t have a problem with it blending together, but I use an immersion blender to blend all the ingredients together so maybe that is why it blends well for me 🙂
My husband has a terrible chest cold and coughing. I made him this to try to help and he threw up right after he took it. Any ideas why? Alternate suggestions? I don’t like making the man sicker when I’m trying to help.
Awww 🙁 I have no idea why that happened! Could he be allergic to coconut oil or anything else in there? Have you heard of or ever tried thieves oil? You can read about it here, but it works well for us over here: http://www.primallyinspired.com/prevent-flu-naturally/
I’ve made this for my two older children 9 and 7, but do you think it would be okay to give to my 1yr old? Well he is 11 months and 1 week.
Please, for someone who coughs incessantly from lung cancer, could this possibly help? thank you for a reply. God bless.
Hi Betty, I think it’s definitely worth a try. It’s very soothing to the throat and the ingredients will help keep infections at bay, too.
This is a great article! I would revert to using homeopathic methods as an alternative for synthetic drugs which are harmful for your liver. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe.
Hi, may i know whether it would be ok to substitute the lemon juice with a few drops of lemon essential oil?
Yes, if you feel comfortable ingesting your brand of essential oil, that’s a great substitution.
I bought Honey with the mix of calamansi at SM Hypermarket, is this considered as RAW HONEY even if mixed with calamansi? Please do comment before I combine all the ingredients. Also, is it okay not to include coconut oil?
Fely, that’s perfect! Calamansi is considered a natural remedy for colds and coughs so that is great. You can leave out the coconut oil, too.
Had no problem at all getting this to mix together;) Not one for measuring so unfortunately I can’t share exactly what I did. However, I did set the glass jar on top of a stovetop that was still slightly warm for just long enough for the coconut oil to melt then added the lemon juice. Thanks for the tasty recipe that will surly prove beneficial!
Eating citrus fruits was very mandatory at home whenever one of my young siblings had a cold or cough back then whenever they were young. Cold remedies can not only be limited within lemons but the whole citrus family as a whole. They taste freaking good too if you ask me.
Yes! Love citrus fruits!
I am vegan and don’t use honey, what would be a good substitute?
Hi Mary! You could just leave it out. Although honey adds a nice double whammy, the coconut oil has plenty of healing properties that can do the job just fine 🙂 Another super effective option for vegans for a cold and cough is elderberry syrup. You can make your own or buy some at a health food store — THIS one is the kind I like because it’s organic, free of preservatives and tastes really good, too 🙂
Hi, I’m in desperate need for relief for my 2 y/o! He is sick as a dog. Can I completely melt the coconut oil?
yes! Hope he feels better soon!
Hi how long can this last for? Could I keep it refrigerated to last longer thank you
Hi Star! Refrigerated, it will last a month.
I don’t see the amounts of ezch of the ingredients to make the cough and cold syrup. I must be blind! LOL! Thanks for your help.
Hi Barbara Ann – you are not blind! 🙂 Somehow when I updated the recipe, the ingredient list mysteriously disappeared — oh my! It’s fixed now. I’m sorry about that!
I am quite interested in making this but, unless I’m overlooking it, I’m not seeing where the actual recipe is with the ingredient measurements. Could you help me out? Thanks!
Hi Karen, thank you for letting me know about that! The ingredient list mysteriously disappeared yesterday and I’m not sure what happened, but it’s fixed now. Sorry about that!
This post seems to be missing the actual recipe, like how much of each ingredient
Oh my, Janet – thanks for letting me know! Wonder what happened?! I just fixed it 🙂
I was going to make this, but I cannot find the measurements. I have looked several times, I don’t know where I’m overlooking. Please advise. My husband got up with a terrible cough and this looks like just what he needs. Love all of your recipes that I have made.
Thank you
Hi there! Thank you so much for letting me know about this — somehow when I updated the recipe, the ingredient list mysteriously disappeared. I’m so sorry! It’s fixed now. Hope your husband feels better soon!
Got it! Thank you so much