Honey should be your first line of treatment for a cough – but don’t just reach for it when you have the sniffles. Sourced everywhere from Zambian forests to Irish meadows and London rooftops, there is a flavour to suit everyone
Get stuck in: four healing honey recipes
Got a cough? Then before you pick up an over-the-counter medicine, or head to your GP, try a little honey. Who would have thought that in the 21st century, this folk remedy would become the first line of treatment? But it has. New proposed guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) and Public Health England (PHE) say that there is some limited evidence that honey can help improve cough symptoms.
This official thumbs-up for honey is a turn up for the books. These days, the mere mention of “traditional medicine” or “home remedies” provokes knee-jerk howls of “Quackery!”. Yet modern scientific research validating the age-old view that honey has medicinal properties is stacking up. There is data to show that honey helps relieve irritation in the mouth or throat by forming a protective film, and soothes coughs caused by upper respiratory tract infections and alleviates symptoms more than certain common over-the-counter medicines.
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