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I've heard lots of people claim that whisky or rum or "hot toddies" help with symptoms of a sore throat or a cold.

Does it really or is it just people feeling more relaxed because they had a drink?

Some variants also state that it actually helps reduce the healing time, but that seems far-fetched.

Alex Florescu
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  • depends on the reason for the sore throat I suspect. Some times the best medicine is to sleep and let your body devote the resources to fight the cold. Alcohol can help with that for some – Chad Nov 11 '12 at 02:45
  • Can you provide a credible source making this claim? – jdstankosky Nov 12 '12 at 17:23
  • @jdstankosky Here's an article on [lifehacker](http://lifehacker.com/5890813/gargle-whiskey-to-soothe-a-sore-throat) making a very similar claim (and one from [wikihow](http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Alcohol-to-Treat-a-Cold)). I don't think the *claim* needs to come from a credible source (that's for the references provided in answers), or am I wrong? – Daniel B Nov 14 '12 at 12:41
  • @DanielB It doesn't have to necessarily be a credible claim, but it should be a [notable one](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/864/faq-must-all-questions-be-notable). This is just to avoid the, "Oh, my buddy told me this ... is it true?" isolated claims. If it's a notable claim (ie. many people saying it, a credible source claiming it, isolated and seperate claims to something similar), then it's worth digging into. I was just curious if there was any credible claim to this, being a non-alcohol drinker. – jdstankosky Nov 14 '12 at 22:03
  • @jdstankosky Thanks for the clarification. I think in that case, the links above make it fit in with the notable definition. – Daniel B Nov 15 '12 at 06:22

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