Warm broths, honey, frozen treats, and certain herbal teas can all reduce sore throat pain through different mechanisms: coating inflamed tissue, numbing nerve endings, or calming the inflammatory response itself. The best approach combines several of these foods throughout the day to keep your throat comfortable while your body fights off the underlying infection.
Honey: As Effective as Cough Suppressants
Honey is one of the most well-supported sore throat remedies. Its thick, viscous texture coats irritated throat tissue, creating a protective barrier that reduces the urge to cough and eases the raw feeling when you swallow. A systematic review published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found that honey performed just as well as dextromethorphan (the active ingredient in most over-the-counter cough syrups) for reducing cough frequency and severity.
You can eat honey straight off the spoon, stir it into warm water or tea, or mix it with lemon juice. The key is letting it linger in your throat rather than washing it down immediately. One to two tablespoons at a time is a reasonable amount. Raw honey and processed honey both coat the throat effectively, so use whichever you prefer. Honey should not be given to children under one year old due to the risk of infant botulism.
Chicken Soup and Warm Broths
Chicken soup’s reputation as a cold remedy has real science behind it. A study published in the journal CHEST found that chicken soup significantly inhibited the migration of white blood cells called neutrophils in a concentration-dependent manner. Neutrophils drive much of the inflammation responsible for sore throat pain, so slowing their movement to the throat lining produces a mild anti-inflammatory effect. Interestingly, the researchers found that both the chicken and every vegetable in the soup individually showed this inhibitory activity.
Beyond the anti-inflammatory effect, warm liquids increase blood flow to the throat, help thin mucus, and keep you hydrated. Any warm broth works: chicken, beef, vegetable, or miso. Adding soft vegetables, small pasta, or rice gives you calories and nutrients without requiring you to chew and swallow anything rough or scratchy. Sipping broth throughout the day also prevents the dehydration that makes throat pain feel worse.
Cold Foods That Numb the Pain
Cold temperatures temporarily numb nerve endings in the throat, which is why ice cream, popsicles, frozen yogurt, and smoothies feel so good when you’re sick. The cold acts like a mild anesthetic, dulling the sharp or burning sensations that come with swallowing.
If dairy seems to thicken your mucus or make your throat feel more congested, non-dairy alternatives work just as well for the numbing effect. Ice creams made with coconut milk or almond milk, fruit-based popsicles, and frozen smoothies all deliver that soothing cold without dairy. Blending frozen bananas with a splash of milk or juice creates a soft, cold treat that’s gentle on your throat and easy to get down when you don’t feel like eating much.
Herbal Teas With Throat-Soothing Properties
Several herbal teas go beyond simple warmth and hydration by delivering compounds that actively reduce pain and inflammation in the throat.
Chamomile tea contains a compound called apigenin that has pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s also mildly sedating, which makes it a good option before bed when sore throat pain tends to feel worse. Green tea offers similar anti-inflammatory benefits from its high antioxidant content. Turmeric tea contains compounds that may relieve pain partly by numbing the throat itself, so steeping fresh or powdered turmeric in hot water with a bit of honey combines two soothing effects at once.
Marshmallow root tea deserves special mention. Marshmallow root is rich in mucilage, a gel-like substance that coats and protects inflamed tissue when it comes in contact with moisture. You can find marshmallow root tea bags at most health food stores. Slippery elm works through the same coating mechanism and is available as lozenges or tea. Both create a physical barrier over irritated tissue, similar to what honey does but longer-lasting when sipped slowly.
Saltwater Gargles
Gargling with warm salt water draws excess fluid out of swollen throat tissue through osmosis, temporarily reducing the puffiness that makes swallowing painful. Queensland Health recommends dissolving half a teaspoon of table salt in a glass of lukewarm water. Gargle for 15 to 30 seconds, spit it out, and repeat a few times. You can do this several times a day. It won’t cure anything, but it reliably takes the edge off, especially first thing in the morning when overnight mouth breathing has dried out your throat.
Zinc Lozenges
Zinc lozenges can shorten the duration of cold symptoms, including sore throat. A clinical trial using lozenges containing 12.8 mg of zinc acetate, taken every two to three hours while awake, found they reduced both the duration and severity of cold symptoms. The zinc needs to dissolve slowly in your mouth so it comes into direct contact with throat tissue, which is why lozenges work better than zinc pills you swallow whole. Look for zinc acetate or zinc gluconate lozenges at any pharmacy.
Soft, Bland Foods for When You Need to Eat
When your throat hurts enough that eating feels like a chore, the goal is calories and nutrition with minimal friction. Oatmeal, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, yogurt, applesauce, and ripe bananas are all soft enough to swallow without aggravating inflamed tissue. Cooking vegetables until they’re very soft and mashing them, or blending them into a soup, makes them easier to get down. Adding a drizzle of honey or a pat of butter to oatmeal or mashed foods gives you extra calories when your appetite is low.
Smoothies are particularly useful because you can pack in fruit, protein powder, yogurt, and even spinach without needing to chew anything. Keeping them at a cold or room temperature adds the numbing benefit on top of the nutrition.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Some foods make a sore throat noticeably worse. Anything with sharp edges or a rough texture, like crackers, chips, toast, and raw vegetables, can scrape against swollen tissue and increase pain. Acidic foods are just as problematic: citrus fruits, tomatoes, tomato-based sauces, and citrus juices all irritate already-inflamed mucous membranes.
Spicy foods contain capsaicin, which irritates the esophagus and throat lining. While capsaicin has pain-relieving properties in some contexts, applying it directly to raw, inflamed tissue typically makes things worse before it helps. Alcohol and carbonated drinks can also aggravate throat pain. Coffee, both caffeinated and decaf, may promote acid reflux, which sends stomach acid up into the throat and compounds the soreness.
If your sore throat is accompanied by acid reflux, high-fat and fried foods are worth avoiding too, since they relax the valve between your stomach and esophagus and delay stomach emptying, making reflux more likely.