#decongestant

Everyone's got lingering congestion this year, so as someone who's no stranger to phlegm, and inherited the folk wisdom of a stage actress (the show must go on!) I share with you my recipe for making things better:

2L water

the juice and rind of one lemon (just dump the juiced rinds in, don't zest them, you maniac)

a small thumb of fresh ginger, sliced in coins

about a dozen cloves, some star anise, peppercorns, and maybe whole cinnamon or allspice or whatever else you like, in a tea ball (except the cinnamon if it doesn't fit, obvs)

good dollop of honey, to taste

Bring the water to a boil then dump in all the stuff. Keep it hot but not boiling – a slow cooker is good for this. Keep this pot on a low heat all day and serve yourself a mug every so often, adding water as necessary. At some point you will need to add a new lemon and some more honey, but the spices can generally carry over two pots if you're drinking it regularly.

The key ingredient that underpins many nasal decongestants don't work as promised when taken orally. Following an evaluation of clinical trial data, a panel of expert advisors for the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agrees oral phenylephrine-based (PE) drugs are no better at reducing stuffiness than a placebo. While still safe to ingest, too much of the medicine is broken down before it gets to the bloodstream to have any real effect, they say. The panel's recommendation, laid out in a briefing document published this week, is that the FDA reclassify oral PE decongestants so that they are not falsely labeled as effective. This could force manufacturers to reformulate products like Advil Sinus Congestion & Pain, Sudafed PE Nasal Decongestant, and Tylenol Cold & Flu Severe, among many, many others.

With winter setting in around much of the country, many people are also gearing up for cough and cold season. But the Food and Drug Administration now says that phenylephrine, a long-used ingredient in many over-the-counter medicines, is ineffective and should be removed.