As sore throats are making the rounds through the Medical News Today editorial office, the debate is rife: what is the best drink to soothe the pain? More importantly, whether it’s alcohol, spices, or lemon and honey, what is the scientific basis for our home remedy of choice?
Both hot and cold drinks, or ice pops, can help alleviate the pain of a sore throat, which most of us are familiar with during the annual cold and flu season.
Now, the debate has taken another turn: where do alcohol, spices — such as cinnamon and ginger — and lemon and honey fit into the mix?
To find out, I first conducted a scientific survey among the office staff to highlight our drinks of choice, followed by a deep dive into the scientific evidence underpinning our beliefs.
Among the MNT editorial office staff, a home-made hot drink with fresh lemon juice and honey was the most popular choice, with a staggering 62 percent citing it as one of their ‘go-to’ drinks, while hot lemon on its own took second place with 31 percent.
“Hot water with lemon and honey – I’m sure I’ve read it somewhere,” and “This is mostly based on family and friends recommending it, although reinforced by studies and things based on getting vitamin C from lemon, and the antibacterial/antimicrobial elements of honey,” are just two of the examples that my colleagues cited.
Lemon is popular in drinks because of its high vitamin C content. However, it is
Vitamin C
But there is no evidence that vitamin C on its own can soothe a sore throat.
Honey is known for its antimicrobial properties. One study found that, compared with coffee alone, honey plus coffee and honey alone reduced the severity and duration of post-infectious cough in adults.
Other studies have examined the effectiveness of honey in reducing cough associated with the common cold and flu. Here, research has shown a small improvement in nighttime cough and sleep quality in children.
So, honey probably helps with the cough, and the lemon may or may not help speed up recovery from our symptoms.
While lemon and honey was the clear winner in our race to beat a sore throat, alcoholic drinks took joint second place, with 31 percent of MNT editorial folk saying hot or cold alcoholic drinks soothe their sore throat.
The reasons for this ranged from “alcohol to ‘disinfect’ my throat,” to “alcohol is [an] anesthetic after all.”
Hand gels and sanitizers containing 60% to 95% alcohol can help prevent the spread of illness. The alcohol that you drink cannot.
Alcohol does have anesthetic effects, but there is no scientific evidence of the benefits that we attribute to calming a sore throat. In fact, the opposite may be true: alcohol
However, alcohol is a vasodilator. So, if you are feeling cold and achy from a viral cold or flu, an alcoholic drink can bring a rosy tint to your cheeks and make you feel warm and fuzzy at the same time.
The final category in the office survey was spiced or mulled drinks.
Ginger was cited by 23 percent of my colleagues as an effective method to soothe a sore throat. Indeed, ginger has been shown to
The final throat-soother on our list is cinnamon, which was preferred by 8 percent of the office.
“This is based on trying it out and reading about the properties of cinnamon,” was one of the reasons for choosing this popular spice.
There is some pharmacological evidence on the antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects of cinnamon.
The MNT office is, of course, too small to give us a real snapshot of the general population.
While it’s important to remember that the scientific basis for all of the home remedies preferred by the MNT office staff is fairly slim, hot drinks of any kind of description have been shown to have the best effect on sore throats.
As Prof. Ron Eccles — previously the director of the Common Cold Centre in the School of Biosciences at the University of Cardiff in the United Kingdom — explained to me, hot drinks — especially hot, sweet drinks — help to lubricate a sore throat and soothe the pain.