Honey for a sore throat

Honey, as a natural remedy for a sore, painful throat, has been used for centuries in practically every region of the world. This product, made by our bee friends, is famous for its many health-benefiting properties, including antiseptic ones-simply put, fighting microbes naturally. Thanks to these, it is effective in fighting many types of infections and their symptoms. One of the more popular and unfortunately well-known ones to probably all of us is the troublesome sore throat.

Over the next few minutes of reading, we will try to find out why honey is an excellent solution for our sore throats, which type will be the best choice, how we can use it in this case, and why researchers from the University of Oxford proved in their studies that using honey in the event of a throat infection can be more effective than popular over-the-counter medicines.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Honey for a sore throat- a natural remedy
2. Which honey for a sore throat to choose?
3. Honeys for a sore throat- types of honey.
4. How and with what to use honey for the throat?

1. Honey for a sore throat- a natural remedy 

Throat inflammation is probably one of the most troublesome symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. It causes pain, burning, scratching, and swelling, which often makes it difficult for us to speak, eat, and sometimes even perform such an obvious action as swallowing saliva. Then, wanting to find relief as quickly as possible, we reach for, for example, lozenges or other well-known medications that we can find in a nearby pharmacy or shop.

And have you ever wondered what one of the main ingredients of these pharmaceuticals is?

Yes! Many of these preparations contain honey, which, as we have already said, has an antiseptic effect. Honey works well for a sore throat. The substances it contains fight the microbes that are often responsible for the inflammation. They also reduce the swelling of the mucous membranes and thin the secretion, which makes it easier to expectorate and often brings us a great sense of relief.

Remember how we mentioned the research of University of Oxford staff at the beginning? Indeed, in 2020, a group of researchers decided to compare in their work the effectiveness of honey and popular agents used in the case of a cold, analysing available research results.

Compared to over-the-counter medicines, honey proved more effective at relieving upper respiratory tract infection symptoms such as coughs, runny noses, or indeed a sore throat. They showed that honey helps not only with a sore throat, but also helps reduce the frequency of persistent coughing fits by up to 36 percent, and equally importantly, reduces their severity by 44 percent.

2. Which honey for a sore throat to choose?

Knowing how effective consuming honey can be in fighting infection, it is worth considering which of its types will be the most effective for our sore throat. If you are looking for an answer to the question, which honey for a sore throat to choose- in this post, we will help you choose the right one. 

The properties of the available types of honey differ primarily depending on which plants the material used by our winged friends comes from during the production of the honey itself. Although honey itself has strong bactericidal and virus-fighting properties thanks to enzymatic activity, not every one will be equally effective in this specific case. For it to have the best antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect, it must, of course, be good quality honey, so it is always worth checking the origin of the product before purchasing and making such purchases from proven suppliers.

3. Honeys for a sore throat- types of honey.

One of the most popular and easily available honey species, probably well known to each of us, is multi-flower honey, which, thanks to regular use in your diet, will help you noticeably strengthen your immunity. Thanks to its high content of antibacterial substances, it effectively supports us in the fight against colds or flu, but its use is also known as a kind of remedy for allergic reactions and accompanying upper respiratory tract ailments.

An interesting solution also seems to be the slightly less popular buckwheat honey, which contains an ingredient that is hard to find in other species, namely- rutin. This is a substance that stimulates the action of our immune system and also accelerates the regeneration of mucous membranes, which are often significantly damaged during such infections.

However, three types of honey show the greatest effectiveness in fighting upper respiratory tract infections and sore throats: raspberry, lime and honeydew. These are honeys that, besides acting as a tonic, antibiotic, and antipyretic, also show strong expectorant properties, while soothing a persistent cough. Additionally, these honeys also have a regenerative effect on the body, thanks to which, by fighting the symptoms of the infection itself, we can speed up our return to full health.

4. How and with what to use honey for the throat?

We already know how and why consuming honey can help us with a sore throat, and which type is best to reach for in a given case, so finally, let's talk about the most popular and effective home methods of taking it. Before we list these methods, let's remember the correct dosage.

The most frequently recommended dosage of honey, based on research, is from about 1 and 1/3 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons (in the case of children – small teaspoons) about 3 times a day. Summed up, this gives us a daily portion of 80-120 g (for children it is 25-50 g).

Honey for the throat- how and with what to use it? Home remedies:

• Tea with added honey - in this probably most popular way for each of us to take honey during periods of colds and infections, our favourite black tea will work well with additions that have warming properties (raspberry syrup or elderberry syrup) and provide us with necessary vitamins and micronutrients (like lemon or ginger).

• Milk with honey and butter - this one of the oldest and most proven liquids for soothing troublesome cold ailments, which each of us probably heard about in childhood from our parents or grandparents, is in fact a mixture that not only provides us with a huge amount of valuable substances but also warms us up, relieves a sore throat and strengthens immunity.
  
  When preparing it, it is enough to add a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of honey (preferably one of the ones mentioned above: lime, honeydew, or buckwheat) to a glass of milk (preferably full-fat). Optionally, we can also support the effectiveness of our infusion by adding a clove or two of garlic, pressed through a press.

• Gargle - as intriguing as it sounds, we don't actually even have to consume honey – we can, after previously diluting it appropriately, gargle with it.
  
  To perform such a gargle, it is recommended to dissolve a teaspoon of honey (12-13 g) in a 250 ml glass of water, which should preferably be slightly warmer than body temperature, but at the same time not exceed 43 degrees, because this is the temperature at which honey loses some of its health-promoting properties. The solution should be used 3-4 times a day.

• Throat spray - another interesting and less common application is to pour the solution made as described above into a clean spray container (available at pharmacies or some drugstores) and use it as a kind of gentle mist/throat spray.

Therefore, as you can see for yourselves, dear readers, consuming honey, and specifically several particular species that we have just listed, can be both a great solution as part of health-promoting prevention in our daily diet, but also a great and sometimes less invasive, yet equally (or even more) effective way to fight the symptoms of infection or the problem so often unfortunately affecting many of us, which is a sore throat. 

It is worth remembering, then, that each of us should have at least one jar of this, as it turns out, not only tasty and healthy but also medicinal bee product in our kitchen or pantry!

Sources/ Bibliography:

• Honey a better cough remedy than over-the-counter-medicines, News Medical
• www.zdrowie.tvn.pl/a/miod-naturalne-lekarstwo-na-chore-gardlo
• www.stronazdrowia.pl/miod-na-bol-gardla-kaszel-i-katar-lepszy-niz-syrop-z-apteki-tak-wynika-z-badan-wlasciwosci-miodu-dawkowanie-plukanka-na-gardlo/ar/c14-15138976