Shop Canadian Products 
If you work around kids, have kids, or commute daily via public transit, you’re probably exposed to a lot of different viruses.
Common cold, flu, and respiratory viruses can be the direct cause of a sore throat. Very few cases are bacterial in origin, meaning most of the time, you’ll just need to let things run their course; bombarding your gut with antibiotics or prescription medication won’t do much to help.
Top 5 Natural Remedies for a Sore Throat
While a sore throat caused by a virus will likely resolve on its own within a week, it can be a frustrating and truly painful experience.
Thankfully, there are plenty of natural herbal remedies — with research to support them — that can help speed up recovery time and soothe painful inflammation.
Let’s take a look at the top five most popular options, not only trendy across social media as hippy-dippy natural alternatives but also backed up by scientific evidence.
1. Ginger Root
While ginger capsules are often taken for digestive complaints (everything from indigestion and GERD, to bloating and H. pylori) — ginger root tea is a great natural remedy to quell an inflamed throat.
Ginger has long been prized for its medicinal properties in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and Ayurvedic Medicine. Ginger contains many ‘active’ phenolic compounds, namely, ‘gingerols.’ These compounds have been studied for their antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
Ginger is pretty impressive — it was even found to “inhibit the growth of multidrug-resistant [strains]” of biofilm. The main culprit behind gingivitis and plaque build-up on your teeth, Streptococcus mutans, is particularly sensitive to ginger.
That’s great news for people with sore throats since it appears that ginger can inhibit viruses and bacteria! So, as much as we love coffee, opting for ginger tea (with an optional hint of manuka honey and lemon) could be much more effective during a cold.
2. Elderberry
A popular cold & flu remedy, elderberry is a plant that has been used (both leaves and berries) across South America for hundreds of years. Usually, you see the berry made into a ‘syrup’ or liquid formulation as a natural alternative to traditional cough syrup.
If it’s known to ease cough and cold symptoms, might it help a sore throat?
First, let’s address one concern that was brought up about elderberries in the past: that they “overstimulate” the immune system.
No, elderberries won’t induce a “cytokine storm.” Studies reaffirm that there isn’t any evidence of this happening, including in patients with respiratory illness.
While elderberry won’t prevent you from getting sick in the first place, it does appear to reduce the severity and duration of symptoms once you are sick — including with a sore throat.
A review of five randomized trials (assessing over 1,187 records!) found that elderberry extract had a beneficial effect on respiratory health. It reduced the severity, duration, and symptomology of cold and flu — including sore throat. It has recently gained a lot of popularity in the last few years for its antiviral and antibacterial properties.
3. Manuka Honey
It’s commonly paired with tea and honey for a reason! While any raw honey will ‘work,’ manuka honey has a longer history of antibacterial and antiviral use.
So, what does the research tell us?
First, it appears that manuka honey is naturally protective. Typically, it’s used to heal burn injuries. But it can also help soothe an inflamed throat and protect against pathogens.
Honey has been used as a medicinal product since the time of the Ancient Egyptians.
How might it soothe a sore throat? Honey has a dual effect on inflammatory responses. First, honey prevents prolonged inflammation by suppressing the production and propagation of inflammatory cells! Second, it helps to stimulate the healing process; in the case of wounds — the proliferation of fibroblasts and epithelial cells.
Manuka honey also contains many antimicrobial and antiviral compounds. However, the ‘potency’ depends on the MGO content of the manuka honey itself (often classified using a UMF rating).
The honey with the highest antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity was that which was derived from manuka.
4. Chamomile
Herbal tea is a great choice for soothing a sore, inflamed throat — whether you opt for peppermint, spearmint, ginger, chamomile, or licorice root. That being said, chamomile tea is particularly interesting because of its antiviral and analgesic (pain-relieving) properties.
There are a couple of special flavonoids and antioxidants that give chamomile its extra oomph, namely luteolin, apigenin, and quercetin. You might have seen some of these (especially quercetin) sold as isolated supplements.
Luteolin and apigenin have been under a lot of study within the last ~5 years because of their purported usefulness in preventing cold & flu viruses.
Traditional texts would say this isn’t anything new — chamomile has been reported in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) since the Han Dynasty, and it has also been used medicinally for thousands of years in Greece, Egypt, Rome, France, Turkey, and Spain.
We recommend chamomile before bedtime since it can help speed up recovery, soothe inflammation, act as a pain reliever, and function as a mild sedative.
5. Marshmallow Root
Marshmallow root is often sold as a herbal supplement (powder, tea, extract, capsule, or tincture) for the treatment of indigestion, stomach pain, GERD, and acid reflux. However, marshmallow root has one major beneficial property that can specifically help to target a sore throat — high mucilage content.
Basically, it forms a gel-like substance that acts as a protective and healing coating. This is especially beneficial for those with digestive complaints (think those with a damaged gut lining that are working to heal leaky gut) but also for those with cold & flu symptoms.
Marshmallow root extract is often added to natural cough remedies for this reason. It helps act as a cough suppressant, and helps to loosen up mucus. It soothes.
