I first heard this last night and forgot about it until I logged onto cnn.com this morning and saw this article about honey being good for coughs. I almost couldn’t believe what I was reading. Honey is good for coughs? Apparently so. At least according to this article about “The Effect of Honey on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality for Children and Their Parents”. Unfortunately that website requires a membership to see the entire article, but it gives you something to look at.

Problem is that this isn’t new information. People have used honey to soothe sore throats and tame cough for years. Usually in conjunction with tea and/or lemon. Either way it got me to thinking about the different “discoveries” that medical research comes up with and how often they are nothing more than old folk remedies that we’ve long forgotten. Here are a few examples.

Cough and Cold

There are a number of cough and cold remedies for cough and cold. It should be noted that a cold has to run its course and is never truly “cured” the symptoms are simply masked.

Ginger root tea

Peel and shred a few piece of ginger root, seep in hot water for about 5-8 minutes, and then pour through a coffee filter into a mug. Add a teaspoon of honey (or stevia) for taste and drink while hot.

Gargle with cayanee peppers

Yes, you read that right gargle with cayanee peppers and it will relieve your sore throat. Do it as soon as you feel your throat get scratchy and keep doing it every 15-30 minutes. It might take a day or two depending on how bad your throat is, but once it works it works.

Chicken soup

Mom was right! Chicken soup does help relieve cough and cold symptoms. I don’t suspect I need to tell you how to dose yourself with chicken soup?

Upset stomach

These remedies are for upset stomach NOT for flus or other “bugs”.

Smelling a lemon

Depending on your personal physiology this may or may not help. It can also make your symptoms worse, but I figured it was worth a mention.

Ginger root

Eating it, drinking it… whatever ginger root is a great calmer for upset stomachs. Mix in a little cinnamon in a tea and it works wonders. I’ve even heard of it calming morning sickness!

Seasickness bands

Not a medicinal remedy but in most drugstores/pharmacys you can get a pair of seasickness bands called Sea Bands which employee accupressure points to relieve upset stomachs. Pregnant women who can’t tolerate other cures and medicines are often told to use these and they work very well in most instances.

Baking soda

Long before baking soda was relegated to the unenviable position of refridgerator air freshner it actually had a few purposes in life. Aside from its use a whitening agent for your teeth and using it to clean battery terminals it can also be used to alleviate an upset stomach.

I wonder how long it’ll be before some wizard in a lab suddenly discovers that ginger can calm an upset stomach or that chicken soup is actually good for fighting a cold? Oh wait they already did…