Licorice Root

If you have taken a cough preparation over the counter, it likely contains licorice root. This herb helps to loosen secretions and increases your ability to cough them out of the lungs. In addition, licorice root can suppress a cough so that you sleep better at night. Many cough preparation contain glycyrrhizin which is responsible for the above.

We tend to think of it as being used to flavor cough preparations, but the real effect is how it works on bronchial secretions.