How To Treat Excessive Throat Phlegm Using Natural Remedies
With a few dietary modifications or creative additions, getting rid of phlegm can even be a delicious endeavour. I recommend consuming a nice mix of them throughout the day to get the maximum benefit. After a while, it's quite possible that the issue will be permanently resolved as it has for me.
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As we age, the number of chronic ailments that can follow us through life unfortunately tends to increase over time. Despite our best efforts to stay healthy, backs start to ache, vision may not be as sharp, cold sores make yet another uninvited appearance, I think you get the idea. Something that has crept up on me in the last five years or so has been battling chronic phlegm in my lungs from time to time, making my breathing more labored than it should be. In general, phlegm naturally tends to be clear, whereas bacterial and viral phlegm is most often dark yellow or green. While viral phlegm is inherently more offensive, I've found that chronic clear colored phlegm is the more difficult ailment to resolve. If you haven't figured it out already, I'm sorry but this isn't going to be the sexiest article.
Back when I first started experiencing congestion in my lungs, it would drive me crazy because I didn't know what was causing the issue, and more importantly, I didn't know what would alleviate my symptoms. It would often put me in a depressed state, because breathing is such an essential part of human existence. When you can't breathe, nothing else seems to matter. I wasn't finding any satisfying solution from pharmaceuticals either, and I instinctively knew this is something that my body could fight off if only I was able to equip it with the right ammunition.
I also didn't know what would increase phlegm production, making my ailment that much worse. There's nothing wrong with high quality dairy for healthy individuals, but sadly it absolutely increases phlegm production and should be avoided if you suffer from this problem. It took me quite some time to come to this realization, but life got a little bit easier once I stopped consuming all forms of dairy. Additionally, ultra processed foods such as white bread or refined sugar will also increase phlegm production, and should be eliminated from your diet altogether.
So how was I able to rid my lungs of chronic phlegm? I've spoken of my affinity for Traditional Chinese Medicine in previous posts, and once again it came through for me here. According to TCM, phlegm can be caused by a few different factors, including:
- The excessive consumption of greasy foods, sugar, sweets, cold / raw foods, and dairy foods
- Alcohol
- Overworking
- Emotional stress
- Internal dampness in the body
Traditional Chinese Medicine is astounding because over the course of its 5,000 year history, TCM practitioners have determined with certainty which natural food and herbal substances both enter and benefit the lungs, which in turn resolves phlegm. I did my research along with some experimentation, and found that a habit of drinking green tea two to three times per day is amazing for clearing phlegm. If I woke up in the morning feeling congested, I'd have a couple cups of green tea first thing in the morning, and within an hour my lungs would feel so much better. I would also consume pears, almonds, walnuts, and drink lemon water throughout the day to keep the chronic phlegm completely at bay.
That's literally all I did on a longterm basis to resolve my chronic phlegm issue, and it has served me well for years now. I can happily report that dealing with phlegm isn't really even an issue for me anymore. But what if none of those foods sound appealing to you? Well I completely understand and empathize what it's like to deal with this burden in life. With that in mind, I've put together an exhaustive list of every food, drink, and western herb known to Traditional Chinese Medicine to resolve phlegm for you here:
Drinks
Fruits
- Grapefruit
- Grapefruit Peel
- Kumquat
- Lemon
- Lemon Peel
- Lime
- Mandarin
- Orange Peel
- Papaya
- Pear
- Persimmon
- Pomelo
- Tangerine Peel
Vegetables
- Bamboo Shoot
- Daikon
- Garlic
- Mushroom
- Mustard leaf
- Onion
- Plantain
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Seaweed
- Winter Squash
- Turnip
- Water Chestnut
- Watercress
Nuts
Seafood
- Clam
- Crawfish (Crayfish)
- Lobster
- Shrimp and Prawn
Culinary Herbs
- Aniseed
- Asafoetida
- Basil
- Caraway
- Cardamom
- Fennel seed
- Ginger
- Horseradish
- Juniper
- Mustard
- Black Pepper
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Savory
- Thyme
- Winter Savory
Medicinal Herbs
- Angelica root
- Bayberry Bark
- Blackberry Leaf
- Calamus
- Camphor Resin
- Coltsfoot
- Cowslip Root
- Elderflower
- Elecampane
- Eucalyptus
- Eyebright
- Goldenseal
- Jasmine Flower
- Licorice
- Lobelia
- Mullein
- Myrrh
- Osha
- Pau D'Arco
- Pine Needle
- Plantain
- Pleurisy root
- Poke root
- Rue
- Saw Palmetto
- Tansy
- Tea Tree
- White Horehound
- Yarrow
- Yerba Santa
As you can see, there is quite literally a plethora of healthy whole foods and herbs available that have the natural ability to clear phlegm from the lungs, making life so much more enjoyable. You don't even need to go to the pharmacy, because it turns out that the pharmacy in this case is your kitchen! Just think of all of the savory and flavourful dishes you can create with the laundry list of spices and vegetables I've included above. With a few dietary modifications or creative additions, getting rid of phlegm can even be a delicious endeavour. I recommend consuming a nice mix of them throughout the day to get the maximum benefit. After a while, it's quite possible that the issue will be permanently resolved as it has for me. Just remember that although dealing with chronic phlegm can be an insufferable experience, it doesn't have to be.
