Spicy placebo.

Sick MrsDarwin posted her hot toddy recipe a few days ago in between coughs:

[MrsDarwin's] Hot Toddy

In a large cup, combine 1 spoonful honey, juice of ¼ lemon, 1 cinnamon stick, small dash tabasco (optional but recommended) and the tea bag of your choice. Stick 3 cloves into 1 small lemon wedge and add to the cup. Pour in a slug of bourbon, as much or as little as you like. Fill cup with boiling water, stir well and let steep 5 minutes. Savor slowly; repeat as necessary.

 

I confess I'm bemused by the combination of caffeine and booze, Irish coffee notwithstanding.  But hundreds of miles away, I have been coughing and sniffling and sipping my own concoction, the one I always go for when I have the latest creeping crud.  

I leave out the tea, because I want to sleep, and I leave out the alcohol, because it rarely makes me feel healthier.   The rest of it is borne out of a mix of vague theoretical herbalism (I heard that the allium family is supposed to have anti-viral properties, and isn't honey a natural cough suppressant?) and desire, after several days of my nose not working, to sip something -- anything -- that I can taste. 

I give you Erin's Spicy Placebo:

Into a mug place:  

• 2 slices lemon
• 1 slice orange
• Several thin slices of fresh ginger
• 1 fat clove of garlic, crushed with the flat of a knife
• 1-4 thin slices of fresh jalapeño chile

Pour boiling water over and steep for several minutes.  Stir in a generous dollop of honey and sip slowly, breathing in the pungent steam.

People generally look at my drink with alarm.  I have no idea whether the contents of the cup are, in fact, therapeutic.  I only know that they make me feel better, as the tingle of the chile penetrates my sinuses and the pleasant ginger-scented vapor settles my stomach.   This is good enough to keep me coming back to it time and time again.  

When I run out of lemons and oranges, I substitute a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to keep the mixture tangy; I can't smell the citrus anyway, so one acid is probably as good as another.  If I close my eyes and picture lemons and oranges, I can almost fool myself.

If you happen to know for a fact that garlic's antiviral properties are exaggerated and that honey is no better than plain hot water at suppressing coughs, I only ask you to keep it to yourself.  This stuff is working for me, better than anything else this nursing mother wishes to take, and I would hate for anything to happen to the web of belief that keeps it that way.

Last night my father-in-law offered me a slug of brandy for my mug and I tipped just a little in.  It wasn't bad.  I haven't decided if I want to modify my recipe or not, but I do want to note something Mark told me he read once:  the more expensive that people believe a "medicine" to be, the more likely they are to experience the treatment as successful.  I suppose I might be willing to add some booze to my brew, but if so, I'd better be prepared to stick to the top shelf.

Comments

[LeeAnn Balbirona]

I am making vegetable soup today, as we are all under the weather with cough, fever and sniffles. My special ingredient: red pepper flakes. To me, the spicier the soup, the healthier it makes me feel.

[mandamum]

A friend passed on his mom's recipe once, that I go to when I have the ingredients on hand - it sounds a lot like yours:

honey
lemon juice
fresh garlic clove crushed
red pepper flakes

He himself, last I heard, just went straight for the "chew one clove of garlic" method, best for the mouth-of-steel camp. Keeps unwanted people away too, I believe ;) Oil of oregano under the tongue can have the same effect(s).

I love the spicy for helping clear and soothe sad sinuses.
I've been going with the "alcohol kills germs" placebo effect myself, as I sip hard cider in the midst of my sickos.... But when I'm sick, I prefer hot and tea-like.

[Jenny]

Raw unfiltered honey is definitely a cough suppressant with antibacterial qualities.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/expert-answers/honey/faq-20058031

It's what we use the most.

[Christy P.]

I dried a bunch of lemon verbena from my herb garden last fall, and while they aren't as effective as the fresh leaves, it makes my similar concoction of lemon juice, honey, hot sauce *look* healthier because it has something green floating in it.

[bearing]

Hey, jalapeños are green...