3 science-backed home remedies to ease the common cold

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In addition to rest, healthy food and hydration, there are a few at-home remedies that many doctors recommend to help treat the common cold.

Here are three science-backed ways to soothe your throat, calm your cough and help you recover sooner.

Honey coats the throat and “can reduce your cough fairly significantly,” said Geeta Sood, an assistant professor and epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University. Also, because it calms coughs, it can indirectly help sore throats. Not to mention, it has antibacterial properties.

Studies have shown that honey can reduce cough frequency and severity. Many studies have focused on children, but it’s important to note that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend giving any kind of honey to babies younger than 1 year of age because it can contain bacterial spores that can lead to potentially life-threatening infant botulism. (In adults and older children, the spores can’t grow into toxin-producing bacteria.)

A review of randomized controlled trials in children showed that honey may have similar benefits as the over-the-counter cough medicine dextromethorphan and may be better than diphenhydramine, an antihistamine, at reducing the frequency of coughs. (Over-the-counter cough medications are not recommended for children younger than 4.)

And a small 2023 study found that gargling with one tablespoon of honey mixed in about one teaspoon of water helped ease pain from a tonsillectomy, a surgery to remove the tonsils.

To try it at home: You can take a teaspoon of honey a few times per day to help with your cough and sore throat. Alternatively, you can add it to hot tea or a few ounces of hot water, but it may be less effective the more you dilute it, said Sharon Bergquist, an internal medicine physician and associate professor at the Emory University School of Medicine.

Bergquist noted that taking a dose before bed to help ease your symptoms may help you sleep. “Typically, by the end of the day, people cough more as talking tends to irritate the throat and trigger more coughing,” she said.

Nasal rinses – using a saline solution to clear out your nasal passages – is an at-home remedy that may help temporarily clear congestion and sooth irritated sinuses, and it comes recommended by the American Academy of Otolaryngology.

Bergquist said saline rinses can help reduce the thickness of nasal secretions, which also can help sore throats and can alleviate some of the dryness that comes with blowing your nose. “It’s not necessarily going to make nasal congestion significantly better, but I do think that it’s very soothing, especially in children where the options are probably a little bit more limited,” she said.

Small studies have shown that they may help treat nasal irritation and inflammation. One review found that nasal saline irrigation may help relieve nasal symptoms associated with upper respiratory infections.

To try it at home: Nasal rinsing can be done with a nasal irrigation device, such as a neti pot, or an over-the-counter nasal saline spray. If you choose to go with a device, you can make a homemade saline solution for it by mixing 3 teaspoons of non-iodinated salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, then taking 1 teaspoon of that mixture and dissolving it in 1 cup of sterile, distilled or boiled (and cooled down) tap water. (Never use tap water unless it’s boiled; tap water can contain germs such as the “brain-eating amoeba” Naegleria fowleri .)

The ready-made saline sprays take the guesswork out of it. To use, tilt your head to the side, insert the nozzle into one of your nostrils and spray the mist. Then repeat on the other side.

Zinc is important for a healthy immune system and metabolism. Adult women should get eight milligrams of zinc from their diets each day and men 11 mg, according to federal health authorities. Because your body doesn’t produce zinc, you have to get it from zinc-rich foods including meat, fish and seafood.

You may have also noticed zinc supplements, sold as over-the-counter lozenges or quick-dissolve tablets, at the drugstore. A 2024 review showed that while zinc is unlikely to prevent a cold, it may help shorten the duration of your symptoms by about two days.

Nasal sprays, however, are not recommended. After the Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory in 2009 about the link between some zinc nasal products and long-lasting or permanent loss of smell, many manufacturers removed zinc from their nasal sprays.

To try it at home: As with any medication or supplement, before taking zinc, consult your health care provider, as zinc can interact with some medications. Bergquist recommends starting zinc within the first 24 hours after you notice cold symptoms. A common daily dose used in studies is about 80 milligrams, which may be split up into multiple lozenges per day. But there are possible side effects, especially with higher doses, including an upset stomach.

In addition to these home remedies, “the motherly advice of staying well hydrated and getting good rest are going to help with recovery just as much as any over-the-counter remedy,” Bergquist said.

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