What is the best to soothe a sore throat? We appeal to the scientific basis of the most common home remedies: honey, lemon, alcohol, and spices.
Honey and lemon
Generally, a hot drink made at home with lemon juice and honey is usually the most popular option, followed by freshly squeezed and warmed lemon juice. This inclination towards honey and lemon comes from the knowledge transmitted generation after generation (on the recommendation of relatives) and from the media themselves (publishing studies based on the components of honey and lemon).
Lemon is common in beverages due to its high levels of vitamin C. In fact, interest in the use of vitamin C to treat the common cold dates back to the 1940s, but the results of various clinical trials conducted since then they vary. While early studies concluded that taking vitamin C shortened the duration of the cold, the current consensus is that for the general population, it is ineffective.
Although there are certain groups of people who can benefit from vitamin C when a cold is coming (such as those who engage in vigorous physical exercise or those with vitamin C levels below recommended levels), the truth is that there is no evidence that lemon soothes a sore throat.
Honey, viruses and pain
Honey is well known for its antimicrobial properties. A study published in the journal Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine found that Manuka honey is effective in reducing how quickly the flu virus, the cause of the flu, reproduces.
When it comes to pain, honey has been studied primarily in the context of tonsillectomy, and research has shown that honey is effective.
Other studies have looked at the effectiveness of honey in reducing coughs, associated with the common cold and flu. Here, several clinical trials have shown little improvement in nighttime cough and sleep quality in children older than 1 year.
Alcoholic drinks
Many think that alcoholic beverages, hot or cold, relieve a sore throat. While there is evidence that alcohol can kill the viruses responsible for the common cold and flu, these are alcoholic hand gels and sanitizers or pills that contain alcohol, not the alcoholic beverages themselves.
Alcohol has anesthetic effects, but there is no scientific evidence of the benefits that we attribute to various alcoholic infusions to soothe a sore throat. It is pure speculation.
And the spices?
The first spice that comes to mind is ginger. It is often touted as an effective method of soothing a sore throat. But what does science say? Indeed, ginger has been shown to reduce pain.
In a study published in the journal Genomics Inform , researchers used computer models to discover whether ginger could prevent infection with influenza (flu), particularly the H1N1 strain that causes swine flu. The team found that the active ingredient in ginger prevents the virus from infecting human cells.
The second spice on our list is cinnamon. According to research, a component found in cinnamon essential oil inhibited the growth of the flu virus, but there are no specific studies looking at cinnamon and a sore throat.
Referencia: Post Tonsillectomy Pain: Can Honey Reduce the Analgesic Requirements? Anesth Pain Med. 2013 / Identification of Suitable Natural Inhibitor against Influenza A (H1N1) Neuraminidase Protein by Molecular Docking Genomics Inform. 2016 /
