Despite the preventive measures, the cold season did not bypass the editorial board Medbe. We have to choose the best medicine for our sore throat.

As usual, we will consider non-traditional medicines from the height of scientific medicine.

Today on the table a copywriter of a jar of honey, a couple of slices of lemon, ginger and ... an alternative remedy.

The choice seems non-standard?.

But according to recent studies, even cold and hot drinks relieve sore throat. Against this background, lemon, honey, wine and spices fit perfectly into the home medicine cabinet. Let's plunge into the world of evidence-based medicine!.

Lemon with honey - a panacea or fiction?.

Interestingly, 2 out of 3 Americans use lemon with honey for colds. It seems that our people even more strongly believe in the antimicrobial properties of honey and the healing power of ascorbic acid. But let's turn to the facts.

Lemon, as a source of vitamin C, has been popular since the 1940s. It was then that the medical interest in this drug was born, and even the first clinical trials.

Although some authors report the effectiveness of vitamin C in vitro, evidence-based medicine does not recognize a lemon for colds and concomitant catarrhal events.

Large-scale observations show that lovers of lemon suffer as a whole as often and for a long time as the rest. Citrus fruits remain a valuable food product, and no more.

Honey, viruses and sore throat.

Honey is widely known for antibacterial and antiviral properties.

A US study using manuka honey showed that Maori's favorite product disrupts the reproductive cycle of the influenza virus. True, in vitro. As for the pain in the throat, honey was usually studied in the context of tonsillectomy - removal of palatine tonsils. And almost always the product proved to be effective.

This is luck?.

Other scientists considered honey in various combinations with dry cough and catarrhal symptoms in cold children and adults. Several studies have confirmed: honey really facilitates dry night cough and normalizes the quality of sleep in young children.

Therefore, honey will remain on our table as a proven remedy for a sore throat.

Alcoholic beverages - a favorite for the common cold?.

The third most popular among American users is alcohol.

To a surprising objection, you will hear a typical philistine explanation: "Alcohol disinfects the throat, kills germs". Finally, "alcohol anesthetizes". Although ethyl alcohol in certain concentrations is really used for the disinfection of hands, working surfaces and tools, everything is not so simple and harmless.

As for the throat anesthesia, this is more fiction. Alcohol, like other anesthetics, really depresses the nervous system and dulls the pain. But it is with systemic (internal) application in significant doses.

On the other hand, alcohol is a vasodilator. Thanks to the vasodilating effect, wine returns a pink blush and "warms" from the inside with chills and shatter.

Spices against viruses.

The last category of our funds from the throat is ginger and spices.

In one study, scientists identified the antiviral properties of ginger by computer simulation. According to their model, the active substances of the ginger root must kill the virus type H1N1 (swine flu) and a number of other dangerous pathogens.

Finally, cinnamon. If you believe the data of Japanese researchers, cinnamon essential oil really inhibits the reproduction of influenza A viruses, in vitro and in vivo.

Both products can be taken note during the cold.

medbe. en.