Pineapple juice for cough relief: what you need to know about the ‘remedy’

Lots of info from unsourced health sites around the internet mention the potential of pineapple juice for cough relief.

The claim seems to come from a paper first published back in 2010. Pineapple is mentioned exactly once in the paper, where it was claimed that “pineapple juice mixed with honey, salt and pepper could help loosen mucus in the lungs of people with tuberculosis“.

This study, as you can perhaps gather, was about alternative treatments for tuberculosis… not coughs.

They proposed that pineapple juice may thin out the lungs’ mucus, making it easier to move when you cough. The study did not say that pineapple juice for cough relief is an effective remedy.

Can pineapple juice help with recovery and wellbeing?

Pineapple juice made with the full fruit in a smoothie does contain large amounts of bromelain and other vitamins, and minerals. that may be beneficial.

You can also read our PineapplesInfo Guide on How to Pick the PERFECT Pineapple to max out your vitamin yield.

Though the evidence for using pineapple juice to help a cough is non-existent, it is possible to still get some benefits from drinking it.

What are the downsides of drinking pineapple juice for a cough?

Depending on your diet, you may have to consider the amount of sugar you’re consuming when trying to self-remedy with pineapple juice for coughs.

Pineapple is high in natural sugars, and so too is pineapple juice.

As we explain in our article about the calories behind every pineapple, 100g of pineapple usually contains 50 calories, and is mainly made up from 13 grams of carbohydrates (of which around 10 grams will be sugar, and 2 grams dietary fiber).

In general, the best way to consume pineapple juice is simply for the taste. When mixed into a nice cocktail, you can visualise yourself being on that white sand beach instead of coughing at home