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In contrast, medical science does not have much to offer those who suffer a sore throat. Almost everyone who visits a doctor with a sore throat complaint would be prescribed antibiotics - which are usually useless, since most cases of sore throats are caused by viral infections - such as the flu - that cannot be cured with antibiotics.
The next best thing from the medical world might be lozenges - sweets that are supposed to soothe sore throats. My personal experience is that the provide, at best, slight and short-term relief. I would need to suck a lot of lozenges every hour or two if I want to keep a sore throat at bay. And i don't like to take all that sugar, or worse still artificial sweeteners like aspartame, that comes with lozenges.
Much better to try natural sore throat remedies...
Grated daikon with malt / honey
Of all natural sore throat remedies, this is by far the most effective that I have ever tried. It is not pleasant to take. But if you have a really bad, painful sore throat - one that makes you lose your voice almost completely - it is worth the few minutes of unpleasantness. The relief is almost instant and complete.
| Mix together one tablespoon of grated daikon or white radish and one tablespoon of malt syrup or honey. Take it slowly, leaving it at the throat area for as long as you can. |
Despite half the mixture consisting of malt syrup or honey, the mixture is extremely pungent and stingy. I don't know why. I have taken grated daikon or white radish, either on its own or with some soy sauce, many times before in Japanese restaurants, where it is often served with tempura (deep fried foods) or even grilled food. And it tasted ok.
But in this form as a sore throat remedy, it was somewhat hard to swallow. Because of this, I seldom use this remedy except when the sore throat is extremely painful. And I am happy to say that has not happened very often since I started taking better care of my health.
The above sore throat remedy was taught to me a macrobiotic teacher and I believe it was adapted from a Russian sore throat remedy as follows:
| Mix together one tablespoon of grated horseradish with one tablespoon of honey and one teaspoon ground cloves. Mix with a glass of warm water and drink slowly. |
So I guess you can lessen the sting of the above remedy by also mixing it with warn water and drinking slowly, again keeping it at the throat for a while before you swallow.
Honey / lemon drinks - and variations
A warm drink of lemon and honey is probably one of the best known natural sore throat remedies. It works pretty well too. Many years ago, my ex-wife and I joined a church choir for Christmas carolling and, not surprisingly, we developed sore throats after a few rounds or carolling. The drink kept us going.
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Mix together one tablespoon of honey with one tablespoon of lemon or lime juice in a glass of warm water. Drink slowly.
Alternatively: The usual recommendation is to use apple cider vinegar. But from my studies of macrobiotics, I prefer a grain-based vinegar made from brown rice or barley. |
Hot drinks
Hot drinks, in general, can soothe a sore throat. One health writer says "coating the tissue in your throat with warm liquid provides a benefit similar to applying hot packs to infected skin." It may not be totally effective as a sore throat cure, so don't expect miracles just from taking hot drinks. Instead, treat this as part of your daily routine when you have a sore throat.
I don't think a hot coffee would be very helpful, though. And hot milk is definitely out. Milk is associated with too many health problems and I would not recommend it for anything. See my article, The harm of milk.
Try, instead, various types of teas and herbal teas, such as bancha or twig tea (from macrobiotic and health foods stores), chrysanthenum flower tea (from Chinese dried foods stores). Among the many types of teas in Western cultures, those commonly used as sore throat remedies include licorice, sage, marshmallow and slippery elm.
A note about regular tea: Make sure you buy good quality tea. In Singapore and Malaysia (and I am sure in some other countries as well) some coffee shops serve cheap tea made from the lowest grade tea dust, with artificial food coloring. See my article, Artificial colouring in tea.
Salt water gargles
Garling with salt water is usually my first resort when I have a sore throat. I may not have lemon, honey, white radish or other ingredients on hand to make some of the sore throat remedies listed here. But I will always have salt and water at home. Who doesn't?
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Make your salt water gargle fairly concentrated, using at least 1/2 teaspoon of salt to one 8 oz glass of water. Use more salt is your sore throat is severe. I usually use at least 1 teaspoon of salt.
Since you are only gargling, it is probably okay to use regular common salt, which is refined salt containing almost pure sodium chloride. However, I would still recommend using natural sea salt because some of it inevitably gets deposited in your mouth and throat and the additional minerals in natural sea salt might well be helpful. There are variations to this gargle, such as salt water with lemon juice, bancha tea etc. But plain salt water is good enough. |
Gargling with salt water works as a sore throat cure in a few ways:
Avoid 'heaty' foods
Apart from taking various sore throat remedies, it is also important to avoid what the Chinese call "heaty foods" when you have a sore throat and when you have flu symptoms in general. These are foods that make you feel hot inside the body and they include:
Click here for more general flu remedies, which include sore throat remedies.