Does honey help eliminate coughs, according to science?

There is a common scene from everyday life that has surely been repeated at some point in each of us’s homes: someone coughs repeatedly and reports that his throat is bothering him; That said, another person recommends “have some warm milk with honey”.

The famous hot milk with Honey It has the indisputable support given by the wisdom, tradition and popular knowledge of the grandmother. Thus she is indisputably transmitted from house to house and from generation to generation. No clear proof of its effectiveness but no doubts either.

The yYM6IK9JiL It is within a yYM6IK9JiL selected for the respiratory system which includes citrus fruits that provide vitamin C, onion, propolis, ginger, lungwort, thyme, echinacea and plantain leaves.

But, focusing specifically on HoneyDoit is supported by science? Be it milk with honey; honey with onion; tea with honey; lemon honey; honey with warm salt water; honey on its own or honey in any of its formats, there is concrete evidence for this restorative and medicinal effects about throat viruses? We see.

Does honey help eliminate coughs, according to science?

First it is worth clarifying that having a occasional cough That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Although usually annoying, an isolated cough is natural and even healthy, as it is the body’s mechanism for responding when something causes irritation in the throat or airways.

But honey comes into play when the cough becomes strong and prolonged, irritating the lungs, causing tiredness, difficulty sleeping, headaches and other symptoms that may require treatment. Medical consultation. These are the cases where the Natural medicine for antiseptic, antitussive and expectorant purposes.

It is true that honey has a number of good properties for the body: It has antioxidants, reduces bad cholesterol, aids digestion and, when used as a sugar substitute, reduces triglycerides. But what good is science regarding its effectiveness? cure cough.

In this regard, the prestigious Mayo Clinic publishes: “In one study, children aged 1 to 5 years with upper respiratory tract infections were given up to 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of honey at bedtime. THE honey seemed to reduce nighttime coughingand improve sleep. In fact, in the study, honey appeared to be as effective as dextromethorphan, a common cough-relieving ingredient, in typical over-the-counter doses. Since honey is inexpensive and easy to obtain, it might be a good idea to try it.”

However, in an article in El Español, from the Infanta Sofía University Hospital in Madrid, they argue that: “A saline infusion (warm salt water) can ease excess fluid in the inflamed tissues. However, adding honey to this mixture is not necessary, since it is not the honey that has the calming effect, it would simply make the mixture more pleasant due to the sweetness.

In this sense, in another article from the same newspaper, the pharmacist and communicator specializing in food safety, Gemma del Caño, states: “We give honey the reputation of being healthy because it is obtained naturally, but the reality is that it is composed of “same sugars as the rest of the sugars we can consume”.

That is to say: 100 grams of honey contain 79 grams of sugars. Following this line, from the Sinazucar.org website, they publish that a simple spoonful of honey (30 grams) contains approximately 24 grams of sugar, approximately 6 sugar cubes.

For its part, the review of studies carried out by the journal The Cochrane database of system reviews in 2018 concludes that: “No evidence has been found for or against the use of honey to relieve coughs in children”.

As in many other areas of life, everyone must draw their own conclusions. But what all the media consulted agree on is the real risk botulism for children, an unusual but serious form of food poisoning. Here because, Honey should never be given to children under one year of age..