Got a Cough? Get Honey.

Published: 2/20/2008

Science has finally proven Grandma was right: honey does help soothe a nasty cough.

In a recent study 105 children with coughs from a cold were given a bedtime dose of about two teaspoons of either an over-the-counter cough medicine containing the most common medication for childhood cough (dextromethorphan, or DM) or dark buckwheat honey, or no treatment at all. Honey proved best at decreasing the frequency, severity, and “bothersome nature” of the children’s coughs. Researchers thought honey’s effects might have come from its soothing properties on the throat or from the many antioxidant compounds found in darker honeys like buckwheat.

What’s the take-home? Over-the-counter cough suppressants for kids don’t have much evidence of benefit, have significant side effects, and have cumulative cost. Honey is a better, cheaper, more natural, and generally safer alternative, with one caveat—never give honey to children under a year old because of the possibility of infantile botulism.

To me the exciting thing about this study is the fact that mainstream researchers have done a fair-minded study of a natural therapy for a common childhood illness. The recent re-labelling requirements for over-the-counter cough and cold remedies for children should inspire even more research in this area.

Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, December 2007