Sore Throat? Try This!

It's that time of year again. Seems every where you turn around someone is either coughing or sneezing your way. It's pretty much inevitable that sometime this winter your throat is going to hurt. Don't just tolerate it -- try some of these remedies that were in the November 28, 2007 issue of Woman's Worldfor quick relief!

• Candy that stops swelling! Thayer's Slippery Elm Throat Lozenges are made with one of the few herbs approved by the FDA for sore throat relief. "Slippery elm is not only soothing, but healing because it reduces the swelling that tightens throat muscles," says herbalist Elizabeth Lipski, Ph.D.
• The plant that hastens healing! Although new to the United States, Umcka ColdCare -- derived from a South African geranium-like plant -- is wildly popular in Europe for good reason: Research shows it heals sore throats twice as fast as a placebo.
• Numbing spray that reduces redness! You may know it as a cold buster, but echinacea also numbs throat pain and reduces redness, and is especially fast-acting when combined in a spray with bee propolis and osha root, say naturopathic physician Evan Fleischman, N.D.
• Sweet tea that leaves you pain-free! According to a report in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, drinking Throat Coat, a unique blend of herbs, can relieve sore throat pain in five minutes!

• Have a cup of soup! It's not just a myth: Hot chicken-vegetable soup significantly reduced throat inflammation in a recent University of Nebraska study. Thanks go to the antiviral and anti-inflammatory action of the vegetables, especially onions, as well as cysteine, an amino acid found in chicken.
• Your salt shaker can help too! Gargling with a solution of 1 tsp of salt dissolved in 1 cup of warm water reduces swelling by drawing out moisture from swollen membranes!