Honey is not only delicious but it’s also widely used to treat coughs. You can treat upper respiratory diseases with honey.
Numerous people use honey as a natural treatment for a cold because it possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities. In fact, according to a modern study, honey appears to be well satisfied with symptom relief and is more potent than antibiotics in the event of a cold.
According to researchers from the internationally renowned University of Oxford, honey can be far more effective than antibiotics in treating a common cold. There is an uncomplicated reason for this: Most colds are caused by viruses that antibiotics won’t help against, but honey works here. The study was printed in the English journal “BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.”
Dangers of using Antibiotics
The specialists at the University of Oxford stress that colds and coughs in humans are usually not caused by bacteria. In many of those cases, viruses are the triggering factor, and antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. The use of antibiotics also has another disadvantage that should be underestimated by no means: it can drive the bacteria to become resistant to the active ingredients.
These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can later infect other people, which adds to the spread further. In current years, the increasing resistance of bacteria to multiple antibiotics has become a significant threat to human health and warns the World Health Organization. Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are also hazardous for people with an immune deficiency.
Fight viruses better with Honey
For the current meta-study, 14 different studies were evaluated, which had around 1,400 participants. The researchers found that honey decreases the austerity of diseases of the upper respiratory expanse. Honey can also support alleviating the symptoms of viruses and thus shortening the disease’s course, the researchers summarise.
The honey generates mucus and secretions in the upper respiratory tract to be diluted. The urge to cough is diminished, and existing mucus can be coughed up more promptly, revealing the research team. The researchers also associate the alleviation of the desire to cough because the nerve fibres that trigger a cough and nerve fibres involved in tasting sweetness are very close to one another. Honey could start interaction between the nerve fibres, leading to the cough to get suppressed.
Alternatives to Honey?
The researchers speculate that sweet substances could usually have a calming influence on cough receptors. In this instance, it would also be conceivable that other sweet desserts or eatables such as maple syrup or syrup produced from dates could also be beneficial in treating coughs.
Don’t give babies Honey
The experts also show that children below one year of age should not be provided with honey. Because it can carry bacteria that profess a danger to babies, warn the researchers. This is because the intestinal flora of the infants is not yet adequately developed. Spore-forming bacteria from it could live in your intestines and, in the worst circumstance, lead to so-called infant botulism. Even life-threatening paralysis of the breathing and swallowing muscles may likely happen in such events.
Dilemmas with Honey from the Supermarket
When consuming honey, it should also be regarded that honey from the supermarket has often been processed, refined and treated with heat, which signifies that it continues liquid and the pathogens it contains are killed. However, this can mean that the beneficial properties of honey are also reduced. Besides, according to the researchers, the various studies’ analysis has shown quite different results in some cases, and some of the reviews were only based on estimates.
In summary, however, it can be said that honey was superior to antibiotics in the treatment of diseases of the upper respiratory tract and frequently brought about the relief of symptoms. It, thus offers a widely available and inexpensive alternative to the treatment of colds and, according to experts, could also help to slow down the spread of microbial resistance. For this, however, further high-quality, placebo-controlled studies are required.