DIY Home Remedy #5: Hiccups and Sugar

Hiccups – while sometimes cute for others, irritating as f* when you have them yourself.  Also one of those things that everyone and their dog have a cure for. I remember when I was young someone told me this trick which I still do – plug your ears, nose and  mouth all at once and count to ten…..needless to say its never worked and I look like a damn buffoon while doing it. See pic below and insert head shake here.     Well good news – this both works good, tastes good and makes you not look like a complete fool! The next time you have the hiccups swallow a dry teaspoon of sugar and it should stop those pesky hiccups in a few minutes.   Is this just some BS theory again or is there actual science behind it? Well Andre Dubois, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine in the emerging infectious diseases graduate program at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD (say that three times over) states that the sugar is believed to modify the nerve muscles in your diaphragm that usually tell it to contract and spasm creating these hiccup’s.   So there you have it, the one and only time I am going to tell you to take a big spoonful of sugar!   Featured Image Source: http://www.teklic.hr/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/spoon-of-sugar.jpg