Alright, so folks have been asking me about this raw licorice stuff, what I found out using it. It’s not like I’m some kind of herb guru, you know? Just someone who likes to try things out, see what’s what. And boy, have I mucked around with a few things over the years.
So, How I Got Started with This Licorice Thing
It all started a while back. I kept getting this nagging, dry cough. Not sick, just… annoying. Drove me nuts, especially at night. I tried all the usual pharmacy stuff, you know, lozenges, syrups. Some worked for a bit, some did absolutely nothing. It was like whack-a-mole with my throat.
Then, one day, I was chatting with an old neighbor, real old-school fella. He sees me hacking away and says, “You ever just try a bit of raw licorice root?” I was like, licorice? The candy? He chuckled and said, “Nah, the real stuff, the root.” He told me his grandma used to give it to them. Seemed a bit folksy, but hey, I was pretty fed up with the cough, so I thought, why not?
My Little Experiment: Getting and Using the Stuff
So, I went down to this little herbal shop, the kind that smells like a forest floor, you know? Found these dried, woody-looking sticks. That was it, raw licorice root. Looked pretty unimpressive, I gotta say.
First thing I did when I got home was just break off a small piece and chew on it. Man, that taste! It’s weird. Starts off kinda earthy, a bit bitter, and then this wave of sweetness hits you. Like, a really intense, lingering sweetness. Not sugary sweet, but… different. It was interesting, to say the least.
I did that for a couple of days, just chewing a small piece when the cough got bad. Then I thought, let’s try making a tea, like the old fella kinda hinted at. So, I did this:
- Broke off a bigger piece, maybe an inch long.
- Gave it a quick rinse.
- Tossed it in a mug with some hot water.
- Let it sit for a good 10-15 minutes.
The tea was milder than chewing the root straight, but still had that distinctive sweet aftertaste. I started sipping on that, maybe a cup a day, sometimes two if my throat felt particularly scratchy.
What Actually Happened When I Used It
You know what? After about three or four days of this routine – a bit of chewing here, a cup of tea there – I noticed that annoying tickle was definitely less. The cough wasn’t completely gone overnight, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t some miracle. But it eased up. My throat felt a bit more… coated? Soothed, I guess is the word.
I kept it up for about a week or so, and the cough pretty much disappeared. I also noticed, and this might just be me, but it seemed to help when my stomach felt a bit off, like after a heavy meal. Just a little bit, nothing dramatic.
The biggest thing was that sweetness. It really lingers. Not in a bad way, but it’s there. And you don’t need much of the root to get that effect.
A Word of Warning, Though (My Two Cents)
Now, I’m not a doctor, okay? This is just what I did, what I found. I read up a bit after I started using it, and apparently, you’re not supposed to go crazy with licorice root. Something about it affecting your blood pressure if you have too much for too long. So, don’t go thinking it’s candy and chew on it all day, every day for months. Common sense, right?
I just used small amounts, for a short period, when I actually needed it. When the cough went, I stopped using it regularly. Maybe I’ll have a piece now and then if I feel that tickle coming back, but that’s it.
So yeah, that’s my little adventure with raw licorice root. It seemed to do the trick for my annoying cough. It’s one of those old-timey things that, for me at least, actually had some kick to it. Just be sensible, that’s my main takeaway from messing with these kinds of remedies.
