Chocolate is an effective and delicious remedy for a sore throat

What do you do when you get a sore throat? We’re guessing you’re probably sucking on cough drops all day or taking shots of grossly sweet cough syrup. You can leave those things in the medicine cabinet from now on, though, because there’s a much more effective remedy for a sore throat: chocolate! Yes, you read that right. We’ll explain how and why…

We couldn’t believe our ears – this is amazing news!

Solid

Professor Alyn Morice, head of cardiovascular and respiratory studies at the University of Hull, did research into the health benefits of chocolate. He says he knows that it sounds unbelievable but that “as an independent clinician who has spent years researching the mechanism of cough” the evidence is completely solid.

Big European study

The biggest European study into cough remedies ever shows that new medicines that include cocoa work better than standard cough syrups. Patients who received the chocolate-based medicines noticed improvement within two days already.

Sticky

According to professor Morice, this has to do with the structure of chocolate. It is stickier than standard cough syrups, which causes a kind of coating to form in our throat that protects the nerve endings located there. That way, you’ll be triggered to cough much less frequently.

Combination

Professor Morice believes the chocolate has “some sort of inhibitory effect on the nerve endings themselves.” That’s the reason why cocoa will even work better than honey. “Slowly sucking on a piece of chocolate may provide some relief, but I think it is the way chocolate compounds work with other ingredients … that makes it so effective.” He thinks drinking hot cocoa won’t be as effective since the cocoa isn’t in contact with the throat for long enough to do its thing.