Theobromine as antitussive

[Phil Thien]

I'm recovering from another fight with a virus that left me with a dry, hacking cough.

I've visited my doctor for this in the past, he always prescribes "purple drank," which is the street name for cough medicine with codeine. It works okay, but I'm not thrilled with taking all that codeine. Or going to the doctor because I have a cough.

I had a couple of years ago found some links to studies that indicated that theobromine (found in chocolate) has a greater antitussive effect than codeine. One study I found indicated that 300 (or was it 500) mg of theobromine was enough to sooth the vagus nerve.

I tried eating dark chocolate and it did have a very calming effect.

The question was always, how much chocolate do I need to get to 300 (or 500) mg of theobromine. I want to stop the cough, and not get any fatter.

I have found Godiva bars that are 85% cacao. That is a pretty dark chocolate bar. They don't taste great, but I'm not doing this for the taste.

So I called Godiva and asked, "do you guys have any idea how much theobromine is in a 1-oz serving of your 85% cacao bar?"

She came back with "that is like a chemistry question." ["Like, nobody told me I'd have to answer chemistry questions when I applied for this job."]

They didn't have that information, she said.

I did some more googling and found a link to theobromine content in Hershey's products at the Hershey site, but the links were dead. So I called Hershey's, and they were on their game. 41 grams of "Special Dark" contains 179 mg of theobromine, I was told. He said he'd let them (IT guys) know about the dead links.

I did even more googling and found this site with nutritional data including theobromine content:
http://nutritiondata.self.com

This link ranks foods by content of theobromine:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-...0000000-1.html?


Using the data on that page, I was able to determine that each ounce of milk chocolate contains about 57mg of theobromine. Way too low for a therapeutic effect.

Each ounce of chocolate with 45-59% cacao solids contains approx. 138mg of theobromine. (This roughly matches what the Hershey's gentleman told me on the content in their "Special Dark" bar, encouraging).

For bars with 60-69% cacao, the theobromine content is 177mg per ounce (approx.).

And for bars with 70-85% cacao, the theobromine content is 225mg/ounce (again, approx.).

The theobromine "half-life" in your system is apparently approx. 12 hours. So if you get 225mg, in 12 hours you will still have half that amount.

So don't go nuts. There is such a thing as theobromine poisoning.

And theobromine is very toxic to animals (dogs, etc.). Make sure your dogs don't get chocolate.

But I just thought I'd pass this along here in case anyone else ever suffers from an uncontrollable cough and is looking for an inexpensive, very effective remedy.

[Dan Hintz]

Great, Phil, now my wife is going to start faking a cough... "But I need to eat this chocolate bar!"

[Jerry Thompson]

I have never needed a reason to eat chocolate.

[David Cefai]

Dark Chocolate is also good for the heart. I don't know whether it is due to the theobromine but there have been a couple of conclusive studied about.

Can I raise a warning flag? Some medications have a coughing side effect. This can have unpleasant consequences. I was on Coversyl, a blood pressure regulator (don't know what it is sold as in other countries). I fell into the 1% of users who get the cough side effect and this contributed to a hernia (It wasn't the only cause).

So I suggest that if you're taking any medication, check for coughing as a side effect. Meanwhile enjoy the chocolate. Note: the Swiss do dark chocolate VERY well :-)

[Stew Hagerty]

A few years ago I picked up a respiratory infection that literally almost killed me. It left me with nasty cough for almost a year and persistent severe asthma. My Pulmonary doctor prescribed Tessalon Perles for my cough. I tell you, I have never used anything that worked anywhere near as well as those little pills. They actually are amazing.

Of course, they don't have the side benefits of chocolate.

[Phil Thien]

A few years ago I picked up a respiratory infection that literally almost killed me. It left me with nasty cough for almost a year and persistent severe asthma. My Pulmonary doctor prescribed Tessalon Perles for my cough. I tell you, I have never used anything that worked anywhere near as well as those little pills. They actually are amazing.

Of course, they don't have the side benefits of chocolate.

Good to know. I have no doubt they would work great. Did you experience any side effects from the Tessalon Perles?

[Stew Hagerty]

Good to know. I have no doubt they would work great. Did you experience any side effects from the Tessalon Perles?

Yes... Peace & Quiet

Here is the Drugs.com page for them: http://www.drugs.com/cdi/tessalon-perles.html

[Phil Thien]

Yes... Peace & Quiet

Here is the Drugs.com page for them: http://www.drugs.com/cdi/tessalon-perles.html

Are they expensive? How often were you taking them per day?

Thanks for the feedback. The problem w/ the drugs.com side-effects for almost any drug is they (drug companies) report pretty much anything anyone told them. People say "I'm constipated" and they put it down as a side effect of the drug. Well, how do we know that the person didn't go on a cheese-eating rampage the night before?

So it is always nice to hear first-person reports.

[Stew Hagerty]

Are they expensive? How often were you taking them per day?

Thanks for the feedback. The problem w/ the drugs.com side-effects for almost any drug is they (drug companies) report pretty much anything anyone told them. People say "I'm constipated" and they put it down as a side effect of the drug. Well, how do we know that the person didn't go on a cheese-eating rampage the night before?

So it is always nice to hear first-person reports.

You know, I was so out of it at the time that I have no idea how much they cost. And, to be perfectly honest, I didn't care. They worked, and that was good enough for me.

You're absolutely right about the side effect lists. It's nothing but a CYA list for the drug companies.

[Andrew Joiner]

Great info Phil. I've seen studies saying dark chocolate is heart healthy and helps lower blood pressure. However drinking milk after eating dark chocolate blocks the effect! I love dark chocolate,but I can't imagine eating it without a glass of milk.

[Jim Koepke]

Of course, they don't have the side benefits of chocolate.

Do you mean like "love handles" along one's side?

jtk

[Don Jarvie]

Try a product called Delsym. Its a bit on the pricey side but works quite well for a dry hacking cough.

The product that calms the cough outside of codeine is detromethorphan or DM when you see the it on the package. Delsym is just DM so its for calming a cough.

[Phil Thien]

Try a product called Delsym. Its a bit on the pricey side but works quite well for a dry hacking cough.

The product that calms the cough outside of codeine is detromethorphan or DM when you see the it on the package. Delsym is just DM so its for calming a cough.

I understand DM works for many. And it has worked for me in the past.

But it has been completely incapable of taming this cough. I've tried the Mucinex DM which is the maximum dosage of DM that you can take, and it didn't do anything this time around. And the side effects of that much DM (very dry throat/mouth).

The chocolate is just too much chocolate. I just cannot eat enough chocolate to get enough Theobromine. It works, but you get sick of eating all the chocolate.

I did some research on Amazon for cough medicine and came up with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Um...keywords=umcka

It uses some plant the Zulu tribe (NOT making this up) from Africa discovered that sooths bronchitis. 5/5 stars with 35 reviews, available at my local health food store, very popular (the active ingredient) in Europe (from where the riving knife hails, so it must be good), figured it was worth a shot.

So I tried it and a couple hours later I was sleeping soundly. No side effects except a sort of weird cool feeling in my lower throat). You're supposed to take it every eight hours, it lasts six hours for me (but I'm a big guy).

[Dan Hintz]

It uses some plant the Zulu tribe (NOT making this up) from Africa discovered that sooths bronchitis.

Search turns up nothing like this... are you sure the info wasn't just found on Amazon reviews?

[Phil Thien]

Search turns up nothing like this... are you sure the info wasn't just found on Amazon reviews?

http://herbalafrica.co.za/HerbsPelargonium.htm

Introduction:
For hundreds of years the Zulu, Basuto, Xhosa and Mfengi cultures have used Pelargonium sidoides as a curative for coughs, upper respiratory tract irritations and gastrointestinal concerns. Today, with the advantages of modern science and clinical research, we are able to better understand what makes this traditional remedy work so effectively.

http://www.drugs.com/npp/pelargonium.html

Pelargonium

Scientific Name(s): Pelargonium sidoides DC., Pelargonium reniforme Curt. Family: Geraniaceae
Common Name(s): African geranium , Umckaloaba (Zulu language, severe cough), kalwerbossie , Rabassamin , Zucol