In Ayurveda, kapha dosha is a combination of the water and earth elements, which by natural is Heavy, cold and watery. So kapha cough (kaphaja Kasa) presents a wet cough – the cough is accompanied by a lot of mucous, and the mucous is cloudy, white color, thick and sticky. The patient is often has the symptoms of runny nose, nausea, vomiting and cold feelings.
To treat vata cough, Ayurveda usually applies warming and drying treatment to restore the balance of respiratory system. The warming treatment is to warm the body and expel coldness, and the drying treatment is to dry up the body and reduce dampness and mucous.
The remedies that Ayurveda recommends to warm body include:
– Warm foods
– Steaming therapy
– Spices
The remedies that Ayurveda uses to reduce mucous include:
– Dry foods
– Light foods
– Kantakari
– Vidanga
– Chitrak
Since most hot spices, such as ginger, black pepper, garlic, chili pepper, cardamoms and cinnamon, have both warming and drying properties, so to treat kapha cough is simple: use one or multiple hot spices to make a decoction, or add them to foods, and consume it:
– Boil 3-5 slices of fresh ginger to make a decoction, drink it, twice a day
– Take a teaspoon of black pepper powder to make a tea or decoction, drink it, twice a day
– Add chili pepper, garlic, ginger or black pepper to the dish or soup, make a hot spicy food, and consume it
Ayurveda often uses a traditional formula Trikatu to treat kapha cough. Trikatu contains three hot spices: black pepper, long pepper and ginger.
Trikatu is made up of the three herbs in equal amounts:
– Pippali (Indian Long pepper)
– Maricha (Black pepper)
– Sunthi (Ginger)
– Make them into a fine power and store in a jar
– Consume 1-2 teaspoons, twice a day
To moderate the hot, spicy flavors and reduce the side effects (too hot, too dry), you may add honey, sugar, milk or ghee to the remedies.
To learn how to treat vata cough (dry cough) with Ayurvedic remedies, go to this page:
Ayurvedic Remedies for Vata Cough – Indian Cures for Dry Cough
For more information about natural remedies for cough, go to Natural Remedies Center: http://www.naturalremediescenter.com/treat/cough/
