dark chocolateBelieve it or not, it is possible according to Charles Stuart Platkin (a nutrition and public health advocate and founder of www.DietDetective.com).

But it's dark chocolate that has the benefits, not milk chocolate. In fact, historically, many people including Nicolas de Blegny, doctor to the king of France in the late 1600s, have believed that chocolate can help with coughs.

It is a great natural source of theobromine, which, according to researchers at the National Heart and Lung Institute at the Imperial College London,appears to be a natural cough suppressant. Dark chocolate also seems to be a bronchodilator.

According to the journal Supportive Cancer Therapy,coughing is caused by an effect on C-fibers, which are part of our neural network, and theobromine suppresses that effect. Another supposed effect of chocolate is that it releases mucus in the airways,which can soothe a dry cough.
 
How much do you need? Researchers say about 500 to 700 mg of theobromine twice daily. Dark chocolate (more than 60 percent cacao) has about 250 mg of theobromine per ounce, so we're talking about 4 ounces per day.

But watch out --that can be more than 540 calories per day.