The best way to end this annoying cough is ... a little chocolate. At least so says an expert of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom, which has successfully tested a drug with chocolate as the main ingredient. Its efficacy is greater than that of the usual cough syrup.
Alyn Morice, who is leading the studies on the respiratory system and circulation at the University, conducted a test with 163 patients with a medicine with chocolate as the main ingredient.
The test results showed that theobromine, an alkaloid found in chocolate, is able to suppress cough more effectively than codeine, a compound commonly found in anti-cough medicines.
In the study, the use of chocolate medicine showed that it reduced the frequency of cough and sleep problems in only two days. In fact, many of the subjects who tried this medicine completed the treatment earlier than expected before the cough disappeared.
The researchers emphasized that the reason for the success of the chocolate drug is based on the 'softening' properties of cocoa, which are more effective than traditional cough medicines. What the caco does is to protect the nerve endings in the throat that cause the need to cough, similar to how honey and lemon do.
However, it was also clear that drinking hot chocolate is not enough, since cocoa needs to be in contact for longer with the throat in order to form such protection. Chocolate works in conjunction with diphenhydramine, levomenthol and ammonium chloride, which are also part of that "softening effect" that can alleviate cough symptoms.
Morice, a member of the International Society for the Study of Cough, also claims that it is not mucus that causes the need to cough. The cough is caused by the defense mechanism of the body which, in case of infection, makes the nerves in the upper respiratory tract become hypersensitive.
Researchers are intent on continuing to investigate why chocolate has this ability to fight cough to equate its use with that of mentholates, for example. "We used to think that menthol was simply aromatic, but now we know that they have a pharmacological effect on certain receptors. I have no doubt that the same thing happens with chocolate."
