Hiccups are generally harmless, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t slight annoyances that can really knock you off your balance. Sometimes a stream of hiccups can last for whole minutes and it tends to feel as if nothing that you do is going to make it stop. In fact, there are plenty of home remedies for hiccups that will help you get rid of these nuisances in less than a few minutes. Simply keep reading and discover what our top treatment suggestions are so that you can feel comfortable again.
1. Peanut Butter
Great for some good old PB&J, but equally great for helping you get rid of these frustrating hiccups. Peanut butter has a special texture which can help you fend off hiccups. So, as long as you can handle the taste for several long minutes and you happen to have a jar in your pantry, this is an excellent remedy.
Instructions:
- Scoop out a spoonful of peanut butter and then keep it in your mouth for 5-10 minutes.
- Next, swallow it without chewing first.
- This should help you get rid of the hiccups in under several minutes.
2. Sugar
Munching on a spoon of sugar won’t do much by itself, but when you know what to do with the sugar, you can get rid of hiccups in no time. By stimulating the taste buds for sourness, sugar will give them a violent start which will put hiccups, an involuntary process, to a halt.
Instructions:
- Grab a tablespoon of sugar and then set it at the back of your mouth, near the sensors for sourness.
- Let it rest until your hiccups go away.
- Alternatively, you can enhance the effects of sugar by mixing one tablespoon of it with a few drops of red wine vinegar and then just chugging it down at once.
3. Lemon
At the end of the day, hiccups are nothing but involuntary muscle spasms. When looking for home remedies for hiccups, the best criteria to keep in mind are finding foods and ingredients that can counter that. Lemon is among these foods since its strong sour taste will overwhelm your mouth and force it into responding to the sourness.
Instructions:
- Grab a hold of a fresh lemon.
- Then, take a slice and squeeze the undiluted lemon juice directly into your mouth.
- Try to swallow it if you can since this will pretty much make the hiccups go away immediately.
4. Chamomile
Chamomile is a natural relaxant particularly famous for its properties of calming down and soothing muscles. When you’re hiccupping, your muscles’ spasms are nothing but a form of strain and agitation which chamomile can help with. This is why it’s one of the most effective home remedies for hiccups.
Instructions:
- Prepare some chamomile as you would per usual.
- Steep chamomile with one half a liter of water for around thirty minutes.
- Drink all of it and you will see that the hiccups will disappear pretty immediately.
5. Hot Sauce
Sourness isn’t the only kind of taste that can have an impact big enough to make your hiccups halt in their tracks. Hotness is also jarring and it will ensure that when your taste buds come in contact with it, they will immediately overpower the hiccups. We don’t really recommend trying this if you can’t really hold your spices.
Instructions:
- Depending on your tolerance, your taste buds will probably react differently.
- As such, try holding in your mouth a piece of bread with some hot sauce. The quantity depends on the factor mentioned above, so if it doesn’t work at first, just add more.
- You can get similar effects from eating any other kind of spicy food.
6. Cold Water
Another type of shock that you can go through in order to get rid of hiccups is coldness. And since it’s water we’re talking about here, it’s basically impossible for you to not find home remedies for hiccups when you need them right now.
Instructions:
- Quickly down a glass of cold water, preferably with some honey added to it in order to make it even more effective.
- If you find it easier, try gargling with cold water for 1 minute.
- Alternatively, you could try sucking on an ice cube until it melts down.
7. Vinegar
Vinegar, such as apple cider, white, or malt, have particularly sour tastes which work well against hiccups and their causes. The impact with the taste is enough to make your muscles alert and to quickly let the hiccup-causing spasms fade away.
Instructions:
- If you can handle the taste of raw vinegar without any form of dilution, you can digest half a teaspoon of vinegar, drinking a glass of water afterward.
- But if you can’t really stand the strong flavor, mix 1 teaspoon of vinegar with some water and then drink it in small and slow sips.
8. Cardamom
A common item in the kitchens of most people, cardamom also has muscle-relaxing properties which can keep hiccups at bay by dealing straight with the source. When you find a way to help your muscles relax, you can be sure that the hiccups won’t be coming back to bother you again.
- Mix 1 teaspoon of cardamom with a glass of hot water.
- Set aside for around 15 minutes and then strain it.
- Drink the resulting mixture slowly and feel as the hiccups go away.
9. Yogurt
Just like plenty of our other home remedies for hiccups, yogurt possesses a particularly jarring taste which is enough to give a benevolent ‘shock’ to your muscles and release them from the involuntary spasms. In this case, yogurt is bitter and bitterness is just as effective against hiccups as the other sense-dulling tastes.
Instructions:
- Take 1 cup of plain yogurt and then add roughly 1 teaspoon of salt in order to enhance its taste.
- Eat the yogurt slowly until the hiccups eventually go away.
10. Honey
Just like sugar, honey is a sweetener, which makes it, by default, a very… well, sweet product. The strong sweetness of honey is good to give a bit of a ‘scare’ to muscles and get them to ditch the spasms in favor of trying to accommodate to the sudden intrusion of your senses.
Instructions:
- Since honey is natural and danger-free, you can consume it raw and without anything else.
- Simply dip some honey directly down your throat and it won’t take more than 10 seconds for the hiccups to go away.
11. Pepper
Do you know what they say about making one particular pain go away by installing another? Yes, this is pretty much one of those home remedies for hiccups that follow this formula. If you want your body to stop paying attention to the hiccups’ causes, you’d better give a pretty impressive stimulant. And black pepper is perfect for that, all thanks to its infamous capacity to trigger an avalanche of sneezes.
Instructions:
- Simply take a few deep inhales from a handful of fine pepper power.
- You will feel your nostrils tickle and then it won’t be long before you go on a serious sneezing spree. The bad part is that you’ll have to wait for them to calm down. But the good part is that at least you’re not hiccupping anymore.
12. Breath Holding
Moving on from foods and other various kitchen items, we have one of the oldest tricks in the book. And if you’ve never heard about it before, you definitely are right now. Hiccups often have as their source some sort of carbon dioxide and oxygen imbalance, which you can rectify using this particular method.
Instructions:
- First, plug your ears using whatever you have readily available.
- Afterwards, take in a deep breath, just enough to make your stomach inflate and expand.
- Hold that breath in for as long as you can.
- Finally, repeat this process several times until the hiccups go away.
13. Paper Bag
Most people have brown paper bags in their homes, which is why it’s among our readily available home remedies for hiccups. Breathing a certain way into a sealed brown paper bag can help you solve that oxygen-dioxide imbalance we’ve mentioned earlier. Beware, however, that this isn’t a method that those with heart conditions or a stroke predisposition should try.
Instructions:
- Grab a brown paper bag and place the opening over your mouth and nose, making sure to cover them completely.
- Try sealing the bag if you can, so that you won’t have much air passing through.
- Inhale and exhale deeply, repeating this process several times until the problem goes away.
14. Mustard Seeds
Mustard seeds have the same beneficial, anti-hiccup properties as many of the other home remedies for hiccups on this list. It also has a very distinct taste that could contribute to the method of ‘scaring’ hiccups away by flooding your mouth with an avalanche of shocking tastes.
Instructions:
- Mix 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds with 1/2 teaspoon of clarified butter.
- Stir everything together for proper incorporation and then drink the mixture, preferably all at once.
15. Castor Oil
Finally, we have here castor oil, another substance which will help you regain your normal composure, especially when you combine it with another “anti-hiccup militant” we’ve mentioned before.
Instructions:
- Simply mix 1 teaspoon of castor oil with 1 teaspoon of honey, which creates a flavor counterbalance that shouldn’t let it taste too overwhelming.
- It’s preferable to consume it by licking off your fingers, so that you can get small quantities.
Conclusion:
To wrap up, these were the home remedies that we’ve offered as recommendations. There are plenty of other methods, but these are the ones that you can rely on the most. Many people have been turning to these treatments to get rid of the unpleasantness of hiccups and they’ve worked like a charm since then. That being said, next time you’re feeling those muscle spasms, simply rummage through your fridge or pantry for a solution.
Leave a Reply