Cure Hiccups With A Spoonful Of Ingredients You Have In Your Pantry

One way to cure hiccups is to overwhelm the vagus nerve — and you can do so with a yummy spoon of chocolate powder!

The vagus nerve delivers sensory information about the body's organs to the brain. When distracted or “overwhelmed” by some other kind of information, it basically tells the brain that something more important has come up and the hiccuping should stop.

Because of this, swallowing a spoonful of powdered chocolate drink mix right off the spoon can do wonders.

When you put peanut butter in your mouth, the pasty texture forces you to take your time chewing. Plus, you spend a lot of time licking it off your teeth and getting it off your tongue.

These acts distract you, your natural breathing patterns are interrupted, and before you know it your hiccups are history.

If you want to distract and overwhelm your senses, what could be better than hot sauce?

Swallow a spoonful of hot sauce, and not only will your vagus nerve be distracted, but so will your brain! This will focus your attention on the burn rather than the hiccup.

Ironically, if you eat a spoonful of hot sauce without the hiccups, it may actually cause the hiccups…

Swallowing a spoonful of sugar is enough to stimulate the vagus nerve and make the body forget all about the hiccups.

However, people who swear by this method can never agree on whether to the sugar should be swallowed dry or washed down with water.

Honey can actually tickle your vagus nerve, forcing the hiccups to halt.

The best technique for taking honey is to stir it into a cup of warm water. Sip this mixture and let it rest on the back of your tongue, then swallow it.

Vinegar is an acquired taste, but this is definitely an effective way to cure hiccups.

The sourness of vinegar can stun and slightly irritate the esophagus, kicking the hiccups out of your system.

Another great way to distract the vagus nerve is by chewing dill seeds — plus, it tastes good!

The theory as to why this method works is that the vagus nerve is stimulated as you swallow the seeds, making the hiccups go away.

Another school of thought on curing the hiccups involves interfere with one's breathing patterns. Doing this increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood, causing the body to focus on getting rid of the of the CO2 and not making hiccups — and breathing into a paper bag does just that.

To do this technique, you need to breathe slowly and deeply into a small paper bag until the hiccups stop.

However, if you feel lightheaded, it is advised that you stop and try another method.

Don't have a paper bag handy? Place a single paper towel over the top of a glass and drink through the towel.

It sounds weird, but this will force you to pull harder to get the water into your mouth. This concentrated gulping offsets the spastic movements in your diaphragm.

Do you have a hiccup cure that we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments!

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