Do hot toddies work?

[JorisBonson]

Some of my colleagues have kindly come to work this week with the lovely cold lurgy that's doing the rounds. I feel sniffy and scratchy now. Will a hot toddy help?

I've never had one and I'm quite excited by the prospect.

Depends on what you mean by "help"? It won't have any impact on the duration or severity of the viral infection, but it being hot may soothe some of the symptoms. Paracetamol and a decongestant will relieve them more effectively, but probably won't give you as much satisfaction. . Hope you feel better soon.

Not from a medicinal perspective - the honey may soothe your throat a bit and the booze will knock you out

Give it a try!

Depends what sort of hot toddy you imbibe.

Ginger tea (made with root ginger) seems to have a miraculous effect on incipient sore throats - so maybe ask a wise and helpful person to make you some home made honey and ginger. (Actually better than lemon and ginger.)

Anything with alcohol while ill will only make you feel subversive, not better. And you’ll resent the double dose of weakness in the morning.

No you still have the cold but you feel happier because of the whiskey!

Mine do! First sign of a cold I have a couple before bed, good slug of whiskey, thick slice of lemon with half a dozen cloves pushed into the flesh, spoon of sugar and top up with hot water, yum Feels like I sweat the cold out overnight and I always wake up feeling better.

I only do it when I'm so sick and sniffy and coughing I can't sleep. I think it's just that taking the alcohol while I'm sick helps me zonk out.

@SurpriseSparDay alcohol always makes me feel subversive

Hot orange juice with honey, lemon and a good slosh of whisky. I don't know if it cures you but you certainly feel better.

I've had a hot toddy, a lemsip, a pizza and a glass of red and I feel great. I have discovered the secret of cold killing 😂

I've been feeling a bit under the weather this week. I've had a hot toddy every night and it has definitely soothed me and perked me up. It doesn't actually fight the virus off, but it has definitely made me feel better!

Joris

Definitely, yes. There's not much honey, lemon, ginger and a good glug of whisky won't fix.

Actually it's the only way I will drink whisky, so we only have in DH's expensive stuff. So I tend to sling it in covertly!

I love a whiskey hot toddy. There’s nothing better when you have a cold. I did probably overindulge on them a few weeks ago though and was quite pissed after about 5. My DP prepares them expertly.