In medical terms, sore throats are called pharyngitis, which is highly common among people. It will be experienced by most people at certain point of their lives. The most common sore throat causes are viral or bacterial infections, allergies, overusing the throat, environmental problems, and/or tonsillitis. For centuries, honey has been widely used for many health problems. Yet, does honey help a sore throat and other oral issues?
Honey is strongly believed to be an effective natural remedy to help relieve sore throats, and a large number of people consume it with hot tea in order to accelerate the recovery. It is considered as one of the simplest but also effective remedies for sore throats. Honey works in various ways to combat sore throats. Here is how honey works:
- Honey has anti-inflammatory properties working to alleviate inflammation as well as swelling, while soothing the irritation inside the internal glands, skin and mucus membranes.
- Honey consists of an enzyme which is known as “glucose-oxidase” working to combat infections.
- Having great anti-bacterial and antiseptic properties, honey helps to eradicate viral and bacterial infections.
- Honey has a function like a hypetonic osmotic which helps to drain the water from the inflamed tissue, decreasing pain and swelling.
MORE: 15 awesome uses of honey for health, hair and skin
Does Honey Help A Sore Throat? How To Use Honey For A Sore Throat?
Shortly, the answer for your question: “Does honey help a sore throat?” is YES. But, how to use honey for a sore throat? In reality, there are a wide variety of ways you could take advantage of honey for sore throats. You can combine honey with many other natural ingredients to get bigger beneficial impact. The followings are some suggestions on how to use honey for a sore throat:
1. Use Honey Only
- Take 2 tbsp of fresh organic honey and put into a cup of warm tea, mix them well
- Consume the drink a few times throughout the day to get a relief from sore throats
- Drink this herbal tea with honey to get the same effect if you want
2. Honey – Milk
- Take a small amount of milk, heat it until warm. Thanks to the relaxing and soothing properties, milk works to supply the moisture to your throat.
- Add 1 tbsp of honey to that heated milk, mix them well till infused
- Drink the drink a few times throughout the day.
3. Honey – Lemon
Lemon has astringent properties, helping to shrink the tissue within your body. It is also useful for a swollen and inflamed throat. This is an ideal option for a fast remedy for cough.
- Put a pint of the fresh organic honey in the pan on a stove, use the very low heat. Avoid boiling honey because it will change the medicinal properties of this ingredient.
- Take a lemon, boil in a proper amount of water in another separate pan for 3 minutes as well in order to soften the lemon and kill bacteria that might be on the skin of lemon.
- Let the lemon cool enough in order to cut it into slices, add it to the pint of honey on that stove.
- Cook the mixture on the warm water heat for an hour.
- Let it cool, pour into a jar, store in a fridge.
- You can keep this syrup for 2 months in the fridge
- In order to soothe your sore throat, take ½ tsp for 25 lb. child, 1 tsp for a 50 lb. child, 4 times per day, or as often as necessary. Adults could take 1 tbsp doses.
4. Honey – Apple Cider Vinegar
- Mix 1 tbsp each of honey and apple cider vinegar (ACV) in the warm water to create a liquid.
- Drink it while it is warm
- As opposed to drink the beverage, add one pinch of salt to 2 tbsp of ACV, mix them well in the warm water to make a liquid to gargle.
- Follow this at least twice per day to soothe your sore throat.
Does Honey Help Coughs?
As mentioned above, a lot of people infuse honey with the hot tea and drink it to get relief from sore throats, yet beyond that, honey can be used for coughs as well. According to a study, those children taking about 2 tsp of honey before going to sleep showed a result of decreasing in the amount of coughs throughout the night, thereby having a better sleep.
Truth is, honey brings the similar results to OTC cough medicine, thereby meaning it is worth trying if you suffer from nagging coughs. It is also crucial to keep in mind that those children under 1 year old might suffer from reactions if using honey, so they had better not be given it.
