Updated Sep. 6, 2019. Originally published Jan. 1, 2013.
UPDATE Note: There was a lot of great information in the comments, so I’ve compiled many of the best suggestions into a follow-up post: Homemade Chest/Nasal Decongestant, part 2.
It has been a long weekend at our house (New Year’s 2012-13). Our littlest came down with the flu (or some flu-like virus, anyway) – not such a big deal, except that she had a febrile seizure and momentarily stopped breathing, resulting in a 911 call and many hours at doctors’ offices/the ER. Then the eldest and hubby both came down with it. (Little one is doing much better now, by the way. And by “better,” I don’t just mean that she’s breathing! We’re back to normal temps, etc. and just a few residual sniffles.)
Anyway, this was a great opportunity for me to take some pictures of the homemade decongestant I’ve posted here before, and include an actual tutorial/instructions. Hubby calls this “radish juice.” It sounds like it would be disgusting, but it’s actually not nearly as bad as it sounds. (I don’t like radishes or onions, in general, and I find this tolerable, ‘though it’s definitely not a favorite. Hubby actually kind of likes it – especially if his nose is also stuffy so he can’t smell the onion as strongly.)
As long as they’re old enough to safely have honey, even the little ones can take this. (And I was surprised. Our almost-two-year-old, who has been protesting the cherry-flavored Tylenol, drank this voluntarily, and even got mad at me when I took it away out of concern that too much at once might burn her tummy. She did make some pretty funny faces, though.) The recipe came from a friend, and is good for breaking up the junk in your chest. Keep reading below the recipe for a full step-by-step.
Homemade Decongestant Recipe
Homemade Decongestant
Ingredients
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 5-7 radishes
- 1 small red onion
- 6 garlic cloves If my cloves are super-small, I use a couple more.
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and trim the vegetables as appropriate, and cut the onion into 2-4 chunks.
- Dump everything into the blender and blend until smooth.
- Strain.
- Refrigerate between uses, for up to a week or so.
- TO USE:
- Adults take 2 Tbsp. once a day, or more as needed/desired.
- Children take 1 Tbsp. once a day, or more as needed/desired.
- Should begin expelling within 24 hours. (We have typically noticed it kicking in within the first couple hours.)
Assemble the Ingredients
honey
lemon juice
garlic
red onion
radishes
The original recipe calls for freshly-squeezed lemon juice. This would probably be rather higher in vitamin C, which would be beneficial, but lemons are always super-expensive around here during flu season. And this time, I literally couldn’t find any at the grocery store. So I just used the jarred stuff (make sure it’s regular strength, rather than concentrated), and it works just fine. I virtually never make it with fresh lemons anymore.
This is the equipment I use:
Vitamix Standard Blender, Black
Good Cook Touch 8-Inch Strainer2 Qt. Glass Batter BowlBall Regular Mouth Jar Lids
Put Everything in the Blender
If you have a Vitamix or a good blender, you shouldn’t have to do a lot of prep. Wash the radishes, peel the garlic and onion, and cut off top and bottom edges. You might also want to cut the onion into 2-4 chunks. But you shouldn’t have to mince anything, etc.
Because the Vitamix container has measurements on it, I just use that for measuring the liquids, too. I pour in lemon juice to the 1-cup line, then pour in honey ’til it all reaches the 2-cup line, then toss in the veggies.
Blend It
Put the lid on (of course!) and blend everything up ’til it’s smooth. As you can see, it doesn’t look unappetizing at all. In fact, it rather looks like a strawberry-heavy fruit smoothie. (You could have some real fun with someone who can’t smell well! lol)
Strain It
Pour it through a wire mesh strainer. If your strainer is small (about the diameter of a mug, like you’d use for straining herbal teas), strain it into a quart jar, a little at a time. Stir it a bit with a spoon to get the pulpy part out of the way and let the liquid part run through. As each strainerful is done, scoop the pulp out into a separate bowl, to get it out of the way. This is how I did it in the beginning.
Then I got the larger strainer shown here, and it’s much easier. If your strainer is large, you can set it atop a bowl and pour all the decongestant through at once.
That’s It!
It’s done. Cap it and store it in the refrigerator when you’re not using it. I don’t know for certain how long it will “officially” keep in the fridge, but I wouldn’t keep it longer than about a week or so. As you can see, I still had some variation in the thickness/viscosity, even after straining it, so we shake it up before taking it. There’s a picture below you can print out if you want to use it as a label.
Notes
In case anyone asks…
- I wondered, myself, if this can be frozen and used later, or if it would completely lose its efficacy. (We rarely have these ingredients all on hand when everyone gets sick, so it would be nice to not have to head to the store.) Some readers tried it and shared their feedback. I haven’t found it to be practical to freeze it, myself (due to the honey, it doesn’t freeze as hard as you’d think), but I often freeze the solid ingredients in a Ziploc container so I have them on hand.
- What about the pulp? Usually, I just throw it out. If you want to be less wasteful, there are other ways to use it, since it’s all just food. I’ve frozen the pulp in an ice cube tray in order to use it in small amounts. I think one could probably use a little in soup, but I’ve never gotten around to trying that. I’ve also used it as a seasoning when sauteing vegetables.
- Is it okay for pregnant/nursing mamas? I don’t see why not. I’m pretty picky about what goes into my body when I’m pregnant, and I’ve definitely taken it myself when pregnant. All of the ingredients are things I eat as food, so I don’t think any of it is unsafe. The only downside I can see for nursing mothers is that the garlic and onion are pretty strong and some babies might not like the taste of the milk after mama takes it. I don’t think it would be harmful, though. This is just my educated opinion, though, and shouldn’t be considered medical advice. Do your own due diligence. 🙂
- What about babies? Honey should not be given to babies under a year old, due to the rare but serious possibility of infant botulism. I would guess that if you make it without the honey, you could add about 3 parts of the mixture to about 1 part of glycerin or sugar syrup or something and give it to a baby in small amounts. Again, though, this is not medical advice, just the educated opinion of one mom. Use your own judgment. (If you have a baby that young with respiratory issues, I hope you’re talking to someone with medical experience, anyway, and can seek their opinion.)
- Where did I get that lid? I love these one-piece lids for storage; they’re so much less of a pain than 2-part canning lids. You can get metal ones in the regular size, I think (but I haven’t found the wide-mouth size), but the plastic ones are easier to find and work just fine. I found them on Amazon here: regular / wide-mouth.
BTW, just for the legal cover-one’s-rear stuff: None of these statements are approved by the FDA. I am not diagnosing or treating any illness. I make no guarantees of anything, and cannot be held legally responsible for anything resulting from the use of this recipe or information. Your use of the recipe is at your own risk. In short, take responsibility for yourself and don’t try to sue me for anything, ‘kay?
You are correct, it doesn’t sound appetizing! But then, neither are any of the over the counter meds. I’d rather have this 🙂
Thanks for sharing on Wildcrafting Wednesday!
thanks for the information…. Godbless
WOW I JUST STARTED WITH NATURAL REMEDIES! I KNOW THEY DO WORK I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH WALKING PNEMONIA! I WAKE UP THATS WHEN ITS WORST CANT BREATH COUGHING WEEZING LUNGS ARE FILLED WITH MUCUS! SCARY! I FOUND THIS RECIPE AND AM GOING TO MAKE.PRESCRIPTIONS ARE NOT WORKING !FOUND THIS ON WEB AND GOING TO TRY THANK YOU! WILL REPLY ON HOW IT GOES!
Ooh, yuck – pneumonia’s not good! I hope it worked for you and that you’re feeling much better!
can you juice this instead?
I don’t have a juicer, but I believe previous commenters have said they juiced this successfully.
Sounds like a lot of crap that irrates one’s belly and potentially sinuses. Perhaps a responsible alchemist would comment of the individual affects of each ingredient, thx
Can you use any thing else beside onions…..
Thanks for the great info! I guess the heat of the radishes would be good for your throat and as a decongestant. 🙂
Yes, the second time she had it, my toddler indicated that it was “hot.” lol But she still drank it all!
Really – radishes? Who knew?! Thanks so much for sharing this at this week’s Whip It Up Wednesday. Hopefully, I won’t need the recipe anytime soon though!
I hope not, too!
I am always on the lookout for natural remedies, so thanks for the recipe! I will definitely keep this on hand.
what a wonderful alternative to scary drug store decongestants! and if you don’t use it all, you could make it into a salad dressing! 😉
thank you for sharing your post with us at the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up – I hope to see you again this week with more seasonal & real/whole food posts! xo, kristy
I love the salad dressing idea! I just made 1/3 of a batch, wish I had read your post first, I would have made more! lol
I actually like the way it tastes, but would add a few more herbs for the salad dressing.
Printed out today and entire family will take this tonight..I don’t like using the over counter meds so anything healthy with no adverse effects I am going to try..Thanks for the recipe.
You can always freeze the lemons to have them on hand. I also freeze my onions, but that is because I can’t use them fast enough….
Good to know, Tara. Thank you!
you can also freeze lemons to use them to help prevent cancer cells from developing on ur everyday food that you eat all all u do is take the frozen lemon and great the whole lemon skin n all add it to the top of you meal and eat. To help kill bacteria in the air cut a onion in half and place a peice of it in the bed room and for larger rooms place both pieces of the onion in the room it has been proven that the onions will pull the bacteria into it and trap it i do this when one of my kids r sick to prevent the rest of us from getting sick and it realy works I love Safe N Natural ways to help my family stay healthy and not have to take medications for sicknesses Hope this helps
I love the onion information, thanks!!!
Great tutorial! I will have to try this next time we come down with a cold. Thanks for linking up with the Tuesday Baby Link Up! I hope you’ll join us again tomorrow!
I was given a similar recipe by a naturopath for my son’s asthma, only he used white radish(daikon) and rice syrup. I’ve also made it with unsulphered molasses, but I like the honey( unfiltered). I add dginger as this is also soothing for the throat, and many other health benefits.
I like the honey, too, as it has benefits of its own related to coughs. But it’s helpful to hear that the recipe your naturopath used has rice syrup, because I think that should be okay for babies under a year old, where honey isn’t recommended.
Honey also has natural antibiotic properties so other “sweetners” might not have the same effect.
Careful Maria De, Brown Rice Syrup is known to contain Arsenic, as is ALL brown rice and processed foods containing rice flours etc.
Stephen, while the products do contain trace amounts of arsenic. Gerber baby juice which is the very first thing the tell you to give your baby has rather high amounts of arsenic. As do most other apple juices. I am going to try this homemade decongestion remedy I feel that hemopathic medicines are safer than anything OTC. My grandmother used to mix fried onions and lard and make a rub to put on your chest to break up congestion and it worked wonders.
Hi there! I liked Maria’s idea with ginger. I may experiment and add some ginger to the next batch…..
I froze my last batch.
I can’t tell if it loses any efficacy~it tastes just about the same, but changes the thickness.
Is it thicker? Or runnier? We froze some, too, but I didn’t pay attention to this. (I’m not sure about the efficacy either. It’s hard to compare, ’cause it’s never quite going to be apples to apples.)
It had been proven, that onions in a room DO NOT pick up bacteria !
I love natural preventatives and cures, but that one does not work !
Proven? By whom?
Thank you for putting this on facebook. It sounds good, and I am wondering if the lemons, onions, and radishes could be put through a juicer? I use mine a lot when I am canning, and right now with the Master Cleanse, and it leaves just a tiny bit of pulp in with your juice. I also buy the plastic one-piece lids at Wal-Mart and at Tractor Supply Company. They come in the regular and wide-mouth sizes.
I don’t have a juicer, Shasta, so I couldn’t tell you for sure, but I don’t see why you couldn’t put them through the juicer.
And thank you for the lead on the plastic lids! I hadn’t seen them locally, but we have both Wal-Mart AND Tractor Supply Company, so I’ll have to check for them. It would be nice to not pay to ship them. 🙂
I was going to ask this, but I just can’t imagine that it would lose any efficacy going through a juicer. Two things come out of a juicer, juice and pulp. The pulp is drier than anything I’ve ever pulled out of a sieve after straining. That’s got to mean more juice to consume. I’m going to try juicing it. 🙂
Jana, a few people have contemplated that, but I haven’t yet heard from anyone who actually tried it. (I don’t have a juicer, or I’d test it out!) I don’t know of any reason it wouldn’t work, though.
I found my white lids at Safeway, Am going to try this because we all suffer from nighttime stuffyness
Hi, this sounds like a great addition to our homestead medicine chest…. we are on the path of becoming self sufficient and one aspect i am always trying to work on is the medicinal part… I have added this to my website on our “being your own doctor” page in our garden section… I have linked back to your site also this is just great thanks.
Hi,
Could you please tell me how to find your website? Would love to take a look. Thanks. God bless.
Kacie’s name (on her comment) is clickable – if you click it, it will take you to her website. 🙂
Says 404 page not found :\
It didn’t when the comment was originally posted. It would appear that either she’s removed her site, or she’s having technical issues. 🙁
Here’s her G+ page: https://plus.google.com/108691975165949920850/posts
Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts as to another alternative to rice syrup. Cant find it around here (rural). I was questioning Agave or even maple syrup?
I think I’d avoid agave if possible; my understanding is that it’s highly refined like corn syrup, despite being touted as a health food. Maple syrup might taste pretty funky. I think if I had a need to make it honey-free, and didn’t have access to anything “alternative” like rice syrup, I’d probably just make a sugar syrup. It’s probably not ideal, but it would still be better than OTC cough syrups, which contain sugar and preservatives, dyes, etc.
Organic coconut nectar is a great alternative. Safe for all ages and does not alter sugar levels like honey does. You can read more about coconut nectar here.
http://lachicaorganica.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/what-can-be-used-as-a-sugar-soy-sauce-flour-vinegar-and-nectar-with-exceptional-health-benefits/
Coconut nectar is a great suggestion for those who can’t use the honey! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Just “googled” coconut nectar. It is ideal for diabetics and would do very well in this recipe, many OTC for diabetics are so expensive!
Simple syrup made with organic cane sugar would be better then agave. Jmo
Vegetable glycerin! It works great as an alternative. Usually stevia mixed with the glycerin is a great combo. And good for diabetics.
I’ve never tried glycerin as a sweetener, but that’s a great suggestion; thank you! (Note to other readers who may not be familiar with glycerin: please make sure you’re buying FOOD grade. You can get it at Vitacost.com if you have trouble finding it locally.)
Thanks so much for this recipe. I made it up this weekend for my sick son but subbed daikon radish and shallots because that is what i had in the house. He coughed up tons of “gunk” during the day, had a good sleep and woke up the next day feeling a whole lot better. So glad I didn’t resort to over the counter cough syrup for him.
This really works ,don’t knock it till you try it….
How does this effect your stomach? Does it make you cramp or cause diahrra?
We haven’t had any trouble with it, that I’m aware of. If you took a lot, it might clean you out. We typically only take – at most – about 3 doses/day. Of course, if you are sensitive to one of the ingredients to begin with, your results might be different. And the honey/lemon juice sort of “buffers” it so the raw garlic doesn’t burn your stomach or anything.
i use this all the time, not just as a decongestant, but for flu/cold prevention. i add apple cider vinegar to my recipe (and don’t always use radishes as i sometimes cannot find them fresh in winter). the apple cider vinegar works wonders. powdered ginger is also really great to add as well as powdered tumeric.