Children's Cough Food Therapy (by type)

Why people make these

Whenever the weather swings, Nourilo sees children — whose defences against “external evils” are weaker — catch a cough easily. In the traditional view, cough mainly splits into wind-cold and wind-heat types; longer-standing coughs (from phlegm-damp, liver-fire, depleted lung-yin, or weak lung/spleen/kidney) are called “internal-injury” coughs. A new cough is usually external; a long one usually internal. Below are simple remedies matched to each type, so you can pick the one that fits.

Remedies (by pattern)

Pattern	Ingredients	Method
Wind-cold (1)	1/600 ml white radish juice; 1/2 tsp ginger juice; a little malt sugar	Mix, steam-warm, take warm
Wind-cold (2)	Perilla 11 g; ginger 3 slices; northern apricot kernel 8 g; brown sugar	1.2 L water to 2
Wind-cold (3)	Dried tangerine cake 38 g; garlic 19 g	Chop; 900 ml water to 1.5
Wind-heat (1)	Mulberry leaf, chrysanthemum, apricot kernel 11 g each; white sugar	1.2 L water to 2
Wind-heat (2)	Chuan bei 11 g; snow pear 2; rock sugar	Steam in 600 ml water (over age 2 use honey)
Wind-heat (3)	Fresh ox-tongue leaf 38 g; fresh loquat leaf 19 g; apricot kernel 19 g; snow pear 2; lean pork 150 g	1.8 L water to 3 (add 1/2 luo han guo if phlegmy after a cold)
Phlegm-damp	Tangerine peel 11 g; walnut 38 g; ginger 3 slices	Cook into congee
Lung-yin depletion	Scrophularia 4 g; mai dong 15 g; dark plum 2; platycodon 8 g; licorice 4 g	1.5 L water to 2
Lung & spleen weak	Carrot 1 (thin slices); red dates 10 (pitted, sliced)	1.5 L water to 2
Lung & kidney weak	Walnut 38 g; ginger 3 slices; tangerine peel 2 pieces; a little rock sugar	1.5 L water to 2
Lingering	Dried persimmon 2 (stems off); chuan bei powder 1/2 tbsp	Steam; eat in 2 portions a day

Nourilo’s Tips

Match the remedy to the type of cough. A dry persimmon with chuan bei powder, steamed, is a handy general remedy for a lingering cough. If a child tends to run hot, lean cooling; if they tend to feel cold, lean warming. When in doubt, choose the gentlest, most food-like option.