Whiskey Can Actually Help
Fight a Cold

Turns out, good ol' whiskey makes a pretty mean cold and flu fighter. Of course, it's long been considered a cure for pain. Take this 1941 article from Time magazine in which whiskey is referred to as "one of the cheapest and best painkillers known to man." And plenty of people have heard it referred to as "Grandpa's cold medicine," but there's actually something to this anecdotal evidence.

According to Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, "The alcohol dilates blood vessels a little bit, and that makes it easier for your mucus membranes to deal with the infection." When you mix your whiskey with some honey and lemon, you get a health-boosting trifecta: A fresh shot of Vitamin C, soothing honey to calm nighttime coughs and sore throats, plus a stiff shot of booze to help you rest. And The Kitchn has a proven recipe, dubbed the "Bourbon Cough Syrup for Grownups", that we're looking forward to mixing up at the first sign of any sniffles. Just remember, alcohol is a diuretic, which means it pulls fluid from the body. So if you're self-medicating, make sure to drink extra amounts of other, non-alcoholic beverages, like water, to replenish your fluids.

According to Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, "The alcohol dilates blood vessels a little bit, and that makes it easier for your mucus membranes to deal with the infection." When you mix your whiskey with some honey and lemon, you get a health-boosting trifecta: A fresh shot of Vitamin C, soothing honey to calm nighttime coughs and sore throats, plus a stiff shot of booze to help you rest. And The Kitchn has a proven recipe, dubbed the "Bourbon Cough Syrup for Grownups", that we're looking forward to mixing up at the first sign of any sniffles. Just remember, alcohol is a diuretic, which means it pulls fluid from the body. So if you're self-medicating, make sure to drink extra amounts of other, non-alcoholic beverages, like water, to replenish your fluids.