Michael Horowitz wrote:
> GOOGLING, I see homemade cough remedies made of honey, lemon and
> whiskey.
>
> I can see that drinking enough will make me not care about the cough,
> but will this actually calm a cough? - Mike <cough, cough>


What an interesting question. I remember that many years ago some
researchers got around to testing chicken soup against other hot liquids
(tomato soup) and concluded that chicken soup actually worked as an
expectorant though no one knows why.


But hot lemonade sweetened with honey? I've always used it for a cold
remedy, but come to think of it, I'm not sure it makes a difference.
The doctors will tell you to rest, stay warm and drink plenty of
liquids, but plain water qualifies as a liquid when it comes to
preventing someone from drying out due to fever, and anything hot feels
soothing to the throat. Maybe hot lemonade is suggested since coffee
and tea can have a drying effect? I don't know.


As for the whiskey, be careful it doesn't clash with commercial cold
medications. I know that alcohol and antihistamines don't mix, and
there are probably others that they tell you not to mix with alcohol.
I'd guess that the whiskey harkens back to the day when no one ever
drank except medicinally, and there wasn't a lot of effective medicine
around. In that case, a little whiskey would help the patient sleep.
(I mean, harkens back to the day when no one on that one, quaint,
country farm, where no one ever drank. I don't mean to suggest that
there haven't been problem drinkers throughout history.)


--Lia