Study Finds Honey Excellent for Treating Colds

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If you ever find yourself reaching for hot lemon and honey whenever you feel a cold coming on, you may be on to something.
While honey has long been used as a home remedy for upper-respiratory infections, there hasn’t been a lot of research into how well it works – until now.
A new study conducted by Physicians from Oxford University’s Medical School and Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences found that honey may be better at treating colds and coughs than some over-the-counter medicines.

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Great article by Sky News yesterday. Ayurveda has been using honey for its warming and lekhana (scraping) effect on the tissues for thousands of years. Honey is traditionally used in colds, coughs and flu as an Anupana (vehicle) for other herbs to reduce Kapha and mucous, due to its scraping effect. It is also used to the same effect in weight loss, in example having a teaspoon of honey in water every morning. #ayurveda #ayurvedaeveryday #ayurvedicmedicine #ayurvedicherbalmedicine #honeyforhealth #honeyforwounds #honeyforweightloss #honeyforallergies #kaphareducing #kapha #kaphabalancing

A post shared by Ayurveda_APA UK (@ayurveda_apa) on Aug 20, 2020 at 1:17am PDT

According to CNN, the researchers found that honey was more effective in relieving the symptoms of colds and flu-like symptoms than some over-the-counter medicines and encouraged doctors to recommend it to patients instead of prescribing antibiotics.
“Honey was superior to usual care for the improvement of symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections,” the study revealed in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. “It provides a widely available and cheap alternative to antibiotics.”
“Honey could help efforts to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, but further high quality, placebo controlled trials are needed,” the study noted.