Have you ever heard about the AGO for cough home remedy? This homemade recipe only needs 3 ingredients, apple, garlic, and onion. It stands for AGO. That’s it!
It always breaks parents’ hearts to hear their babies cough, especially those stubborn, phlegmy coughs that keep them up at night.
A dozen cough medicines are available in drug stores that claim to be safe and effective. However, some experts don’t recommend over-the-counter cold and cough medicine to kids under 6 years old.
Concerning this, these types of medications come with potentially dangerous side effects that harm young children. Because of this, parents often fear for the worst when their baby suffers from a cough or cold.
Many mummies these days opt for a simple and safe home remedy for cough instead. Singapore mum Dorcas recently shared the magic cure she stumbled upon, for her baby’s cough.
AGO for Cough (Apple, Garlic, Onion): Singapore Mum’s Home Remedy for Babies
Mummy Dorcas starts by saying, “I believe a lot of mummies are struggling when our babies are suffering from common [illnesses] like cough and flu. My baby [suffered from the flu and cough] with a lot of phlegm for more than a week.”
She informed us about the different medicine for dry cough prescribed for her baby.
“I fed her Zyrtec and used Illadin and Sterimar [every day] to cure her sickness but there was no improvement at all even after 1 week.”
When the medications failed to show results, she feared for the worst.
“Well, I was [distraught] that she might eventually end up having bronchitis if the cough persisted for too long.”
Later on, mummy Dorcas tried some home remedies for dry cough that required no oral ingestion.
“I tried applying essential oils too, without success,” she added.
Fortunately, hope walked in, in the form of a colleague.
Mummy Dorcas recalled, “One day, I was telling my colleague that my gal was coughing badly with phlegm, without any sign of recovery.”
“That’s when he shared a home remedy that was really effective for babies’ cough – steam Apple Garlic Onion (AGO),” she explained.
“I decided to give it a try. After the first day of feeding her the essence of steamed AGO, she had recovered by 80%! 2 days later she was almost fully cured.”
Mummy Dorcas encourages fellow mums to try this home remedy for cough. Concerning this, we listed her magic homemade medicine for dry cough recipe below:
- Take one apple (she used a red apple), one big red onion and 4-5 small pieces of garlic.
- Steam for 20 minutes.
- Pour out the water and feed. She tells us that she just gave the steamed juice extracted out from the AGO, and did not mash or puree the mixture.
- She also recommends giving this AGO remedy to the baby just once a day.
Dorcas also told us that the AGO for cough remedy tasted rather sweet. This helped in keeping her baby from making a fuss while drinking the homemade cough remedy.
We also asked her if other mummies felt the same way after trying out the remedy, Dorcas informs us, “Yes, a lot of mummies are trying it out. Some say it works! Some say it doesn’t maybe because their baby only drank a few sips and stopped. Many are planning to try out.”
Well mummies, let us know if Dorcas’ magic AGO remedy for cough works for your baby!
Please do remember, however, that every child is different; if you have any concerns, do consult your paediatrician before trying out home remedies.
Things to Remember When Babies or Kids Suffer From Cough
Meanwhile, here are some things to remember when children have cough:
- Offer plenty of warm liquids: Warm liquids can thin mucus, and ease congestion.
- Honey is magic: Several studies showed that honey is effective in soothing congestion and sore throat in toddlers.
However, we strongly advise you to avoid giving honey to children younger than 1-year-old. It causes infant botulism, a potentially fatal kind of food poisoning.
- More Vitamin C foods: Feed your child foods high in vitamin C, like kiwi, grapefruit, papaya, bell peppers or sweet potatoes. If solid foods are too irritating for your little one’s throat, try juices or a fruit smoothie.
- Avoid certain foods: Experts recommend that you eliminate refined sugar and dairy from your child’s diet when he’s congested. Not doing causes an increase in mucus production and compound congestion.
Image Source: iStock
Benefits of AGO (Apple, Garlic, Onion)
To learn more about AGO for cough, we need to look at the benefits of each ingredient. In doing this, we see how they work together as an effective home remedy for cough.
Apple
The AGO for cough remedy for babies also works well for children when you switch apples for honey. However, we advise you to stick with apples when you want to treat a baby’s cough.
The apples or honey in the recipe works as a sweetener and as a throat relaxer. The sweet apple juice in this home remedy for cough works best for babies who can’t consume honey.
On the other hand, you can switch apple juice for honey if you need to treat the cough of toddlers or children. Moreover, this simple cough home remedy also works for adults.
Garlic
We normally use garlic to add more flavour and aroma to our favourite dishes. However, not a lot of people know of garlic’s additional health benefits.
The well-loved kitchen ingredient worked as an alternative treatment for diarrhoea, fever, and gastric infections. Other health benefits include antioxidant properties and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Onion
Some people believe that the AGO for cough remedy relies on the benefits of garlic. In truth, one of the most known remedies for dry cough includes onion juice.
When crafting the AGO for cough, onion works as the key ingredient. To complete this home remedy for cough, we need to steam onions and extract their juice.
Thanks to the steam, the water or juice extracted contains different healing properties of onions. Additionally, onions offer essential nutrients like Vitamin C.
Alternatively, this famous cooking ingredient helps decrease the changes in heart disease. Onion juice also serves as a home remedy for cases of flu in adults.
Knowing the Causes of Dry Cough
Before we continue with remedies for dry cough, let’s look at the causes of the condition. Furthermore, parents need to keep these in mind to know the best treatments for their children.
We often search for dry cough or itchy throat home remedies to save money. However, we need to know if our children need medical help due to their coughs.
Some of the causes of the itchy throat or dry cough include:
- Asthma
- Allergies
- Tuberculosis
- Laryngitis
- Inhalation of foreign body or bodies
- Lung disease
- Viral infections like influenza, cold, or COVID-19
If your child’s cough lasts longer than a week, we urge you to seek help from your doctor. They may be suffering from some of the conditions we mentioned.
Meanwhile, some experienced parents encourage fellow mums and dads to try home cough remedies first. This helps most of them save money from coughs you can treat at home.
Although, it’s still more advisable to ask your doctor about the safest home remedies for dry cough. They often offer the best treatments because they know about your baby’s medical background.
Moreover, some of the entries in our article might not provide the best results. Because of this, we highly encourage you to seek your doctor’s advice on what we listed here.
Image Source: iStock
Other Home Remedies for Dry Cough
Aside from AGO, we encourage parents to try out different home remedies for sore throats. However, we still encourage you to ask your doctor about these alternatives before trying them out.
Ginger
Aside from AGO, another known home remedy for coughs is ginger. To treat your cough, you need to extract its juices.
Some people make ginger tea by boiling dried or freshly-cut ginger. They then drink tea or juice after every meal to clear their throat.
Gargling Saltwater
Gargling saltwater works as one of the oldest itchy throat home remedies. However, not a lot of people like to do it.
When you gargle saltwater, it helps relieve sore throat and dry cough. Unfortunately, it leaves a salty aftertaste in your mouth.
To try this home remedy, you only need a cup of warm water with at least half a teaspoon of salt. Afterwards, you need to gargle and spit the water after it cools.
Mint Leaves or Mint Tea
To relieve sore throat due to cough, some people turn to mint leaves or mint tea. This ingredient offers relief to those with coughs.
Mint also provides a soothing sensation when used to treat dry or itchy throat coughs. When drank as warm tea, the steam from the drink helps clear out your throat from phlegm.
This article was updated by Kaira De la Rosa.
Here at theAsianparent Singapore, it’s important for us to give information that is correct, significant, and timely. But this doesn’t serve as an alternative for medical advice or medical treatment. theAsianparent Singapore is not responsible for those that would choose to drink medicines based on information from our website. If you have any doubts, we recommend consulting your doctor for clearer information.
