Hello steemians... As sore throats are making a round, 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 our home remedy of choice?
A few weeks ago I found out that both hot and cold drinks or ice pops can help alleviate the pain of a sore throat that most of us will be 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, MNT conducted a scientific survey among the office staff to highlight their drinks-of-choice, followed by a deep dive into the scientific evidence underpinning their 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.
Our faith in lemon and honey stems from knowledge passed from generation to generation and reports in the media.
Lemon is popular in drinks because of its high levels of vitamin C. Interest in the use of vitamin C to treat the common cold goes all the way back to 1940s, but results from the various clinical trials conducted since then varies. But there is no evidence that it soothes a sore throat.
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HONEY, VIRUSES, AND PAIN
Honey is known for its antimicrobial properties.
One study found that manuka honey is effective in reducing how quickly the influenza virus the cause of flu reproduces.
When it comes to pain, honey has been studied mostly in the context of tonsillectomy, and research has shown that honey is effective. BINGO.
other studies have looked into the effectiveness of honey to reduce cough, associated with common cold and flu. Here, several clinical trials have shown a small improvement in nighttime cough and sleep quality in children over the age of 1 year. So, honey probably helps with the pain and the lemon may or may not help speed up recovery from our symptoms.
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*ALCOHOLIC DRINK JOINT SECOND * FAVOURITE
While lemon and honey was the clear winner in the race to beat a sore throat, alcoholic drinks took joint second place, with 31% of MNT editorial folk saying hot or cold alcoholic drinks soothe their sore throat. The reasons for this ranged from "alcoholic to 'disinfect' my throat," to "alcohol is an anesthetic after all."
While there is evidence that alcohol can kill the viruses responsible for the common cold and flu, this is really only the case for alcoholic hand gels and sanitizers or for lozenges that contain alcohol.
Alcohol does have anesthetic effect, but there is no scientific evidence of the benefit that will attribute to various alcoholic concoctions in calming our sore throat. it is purely speculation.
However, alcohol is a vasodilator. So, if you're feeling cold and achy due to a viral cold or flu infection, an alcoholic drink can bring a rosy tint to your cheeks and help you to feel warm and fuzzy at the same time.
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SPICES BRING UP THE REAR
The final category in the survey was spiced or mulled drinks.
Ginger was sited by 23% of the MNT colleagues as an effective method to soothe a sore throat. Indeed, ginger has been shown to reduce pain. In one study, research has used computer modelling to find out if ginger could prevent influenza infection-particulaly the H1N1 strain that causes swine flu. The members of the MNT found that the active ingredient in ginger prevents the virus from infecting human cells. The final throat soother on the list is cinnamon, which was preferred by 8% of the members.
"This is based on trying it out and reading about the properties of cinnamon", was one of the reasons for choosing this popular spice.
According to one study, a component found in the essential oil contained in cinnamon inhibited the growth of influenza. A virus in vitro and in vivo. but there are no specific studies looking at cinnamon and sore throat.
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