What qualities does black pepper have to bag the title of “King of Spices”? Pepper not only enhances the flavor of our food but has a long list of medicinal properties that can treat a wide variety of ailments.

Black pepper occupies a prominent place in Indian kitchens owing to its aromatic, culinary and medicinal properties. It is a native of India (particularly South India), Egypt and Madagascar. The fruits are widely used as an active ingredient in various home remedies for a variety of illnesses such as colic, tooth decay, liver problems, lung disease, indigestion, constipation, diarrhea and urinary disorders.

This spice is commonly known as kali mirch (Hindi), maricha (Sanskrit), kalamari (Gujarati), mire (Marathi), Black pepper (English). Black pepper is rich in iron, manganese and dietary fiber. Piperine, a principle alkaloid found in black pepper helps in promoting brain functions, inhibits metabolism of nutrients present in body, improves digestion and reduces the incidence of stomach ulcers and colon cancer. It also acts as an anti-depressant.

Here are some simple and effective home remedies with black pepper that would guide to deal with day to day health problems:

•    To keep a check on cholesterol level, add ¼ teaspoon black pepper in a glass of butter milk. Mix finely diced onion to it and drink.

•    Heat a teaspoon of clarified butter in a pan. Add to it 3-4 black pepper followed by a glass of milk. Now add 3-4 crushed almonds and let it come to a boil. (Add sugar to taste). This formulation is beneficial in cases of sexual debility when taken at bed time.

•    Chewing 8-10 black pepper in betel leaf is known to be beneficial in gaining weight.

•    Take a cup of water and add to it ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoon lemon juice and a teaspoon of honey. Drinking the same would help a person in reducing weight.

•    Grind 5-6 black pepper and mix with natural honey. Lick this paste to relieve dry cough. This formulation also works as appetite stimulant.

•    To cure all kinds of cough, grind black pepper and add sugar to it. Take it with clarified butter.
•    While preparing tea, grind and add 2-4 black pepper along with ginger, a clove and few basil leaves. It works as anti-tussive and is also useful against cold.

•    Black pepper powder taken with jaggery is said to be effective in treating chronic cold.

•    Take equal amounts of black pepper, cinnamon cumin and cardamom seeds. Make it into a very fine powder. Those who suffer from blocked nose due to cold may sniff the same to induce sneezing.

•    For treating asthma, boil 8-10 black pepper, 2 clove buds and 10-15 basil leaves in water for 15 minutes. Filter and add two teaspoon honey. Drink the same with milk.

Effective Home Remedies for Cough using Black Pepper

Coughing is a natural defense reflex of our body by using which our body removes mucus or any other foreign material from the lungs and throat. There are normally 2 types of cough; one is dry or non-productive cough which doesn’t produce any mucus or phlegm from the lungs, and the other is a productive cough which produces mucus from the lungs. There are many home remedies, which can be used to effectively treat both the productive and the non-productive cough. While talking about cough home remedies, it is totally incomplete without the mention of the black pepper. Black pepper plays a very imperative role in healing cough as it opens the chest congestion by the loosening of mucous membrane.

•    An individual having cough may take 2 to 3 seeds of black pepper and chew it, or they can take and chew it by frying them in little oil.

•    Black pepper has strong bitter taste and that is why many people finds difficulty in chewing it, if you are one of them, you can take by adding 2 to 3 pepper seeds in a glass of boiled milk to relieve cough.

•    Suck on sugar candy and black pepper in dry cough as it opens up the throat.
•    Chew 4-5 black pepper seeds with 10 dried grapes; it is even very useful home remedy in cough.

•    While brewing a tea, grind and add 2 to 4 black pepper along with a clove, cardamom, cinnamon, few basil leaves and dry ginger. It is very beneficial against cold and works as anti-tussive.

•    Take equal amounts of ground black pepper, long pepper and dry ginger powder and make a proper mixture of them. After that, take this mixture several times in a day by adding pure honey in it to get relief from cough. This is regarded as one of the best home remedy for cough.
•    The other way for healing cough with the use of black pepper is taking it with cumin seeds. Take the powder of both black pepper and cumin seeds in equal amounts to make a proper mixture and then add 1/2 spoon of salt to this mixture. Lick it slowly.
•    Grind 3-4 black pepper seeds and make a fine powder of them. After that, mix this powder with a large tablespoon of honey and swallow it rapidly as it tastes unpleasant. You can take this mixture before going to bed for cough free nights. The black pepper is highly spiced and honey aids in decreasing the spicy levels.
•    Prepare black pepper tea. This cough remedy is originated in 2 very different traditions: traditional Chinese medicine and New England folk medicine. To brew the tea, take two tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper in a cup. Then, fill the cup with boiling water and let covered, steep, for 15 minutes. Strain it and take it. This is best home remedy for coughs that produce mucus, but it is not appropriate for dry coughs. The underlying principle behind this remedy is that black pepper stimulates mucus flow and circulation, and honey is a mild antibiotic and natural cough reliever.