9Honey Genuinely Does Suppress Coughs
Adding honey and lemon to your tea when you've got the cough from hell is now officially a scientific bonus, not just what your grandmother once advised. A study showed that children with upper respiratory infections weremore likely to get better if given spoonfuls of honey than they were if dosed with a common cough-and-cold medication.
The reason? Honey is a demulcent, meaning that it forms a mucous membrane that soothes the irritation in an infected area. Honey is also antibacterial; it was used in ancient history to heal wounds and reduce infection. A spoonful of sugar? So outmoded.