In the kitchen with Kelley: Warm honey lemonade

I don’t know why I am so lucky, but when I get a cough, it hangs around. For years I’d go the doctor over and over again until I realized that the prescription meds helped very little, if at all, and usually left me feeling rather drugged. I went through all the over-the-counter remedies as well, and was left just as unsatisfied.

That’s when I decided to try drinking a folk remedy my mom had given me as a child: warm honey lemonade.

Mixing honey and lemon with water is as old a remedy as mixing honey and lemon with tea, but without the caffeine. Honey, which has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, helps coat the throat. And lemon, which provides a vitamin C boost, aids in the reduction of mucus.

After I noticed an improvement with my nighttime coughing the last time I was a littler under the weather, I did a little research to see if my lemony-sweet elixir really worked or if I was experiencing a placebo effect. I stumbled upon an article on the Mayo Clinic website that boosted my confidence in my homemade remedy…

According to what I found, “In one study, children age 2 and older with upper respiratory tract infections were given up to 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) of honey at bedtime. The honey seemed to reduce nighttime coughing and improve sleep.

In fact, in the study, honey appeared to be as effective as a common cough suppressant ingredient, dextromethorphan, in typical over-the-counter doses.”

However, it’s not such a good idea to give honey to children under 2 years of age, because of the risk for infant botulism.

Needless to say, I was convinced. Here’s my recipe if you’d like to give it a try.