A Teaspoon Of Honey Helps The Cough Slow Down

A few weeks ago, my 5-year-old had pneumonia. It wasn't a terrible case, but her recurring, middle-of-the-night coughing fits prevented her from sleep and caused her parents much anxiety. Once, she threw up from coughing so hard and twice, I almost drove her to the ER worried that she couldn't breathe.

In the end, the only thing that eased her cough — every night for five nights straight — was hot herbal tea with a big spoonful of honey.

And here's The New York Times with research on the honey remedy to back me up:

In one double-blind study published in The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, researchers recruited 105 children and teenagers who had coughs from upper-respiratory infections. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups: one that received no treatment, another that received one or two teaspoons of buckwheat honey, and a third that received a dose of honey-flavored dextromethorphan. Ultimately, the honey produced the greatest improvements when it came to better sleep and reduced cough frequency and severity.