Natural Health: What can I take to ease a sore throat?

Plus: what to do when your teenage son can't (or won't?) stop belching

Sun, 24 Aug, 2025 - 07:35

Megan Sheppard

I often get a painful sore throat — it tends to happen when I’m over-tired or stressed. I find gargling with salted water helps. Is there anything else I can do?

Gargling with salt water is a great place to start. It works by reducing inflammation and swelling, loosening mucus, and creating a hypertonic environment that makes it harder for some bacteria to thrive.

It is interesting that you have identified stress and fatigue as factors in developing a sore throat, as both these situations are known to impact immune function, leaving us more vulnerable to illness. Acknowledging stress and over-tiredness as potential underlying causes means it is worth taking steps to ensure that you develop good sleep hygiene and include daily stress-busting measures in your routine – even if it is a simple five-to-10-minute conscious breathwork session.

Since the salt water is helping somewhat but not eliminating your sore throat issue, you might also like to consider slippery elm (Ulmus fulva), used for centuries to soothe and heal sore throats. The mucilaginous inner bark forms a soothing gel-like paste when mixed with water, which coats the throat. Slippery elm is also known as a COX-2 inhibitor. COX-2 stands for Cyclo-oxygenase-2, an enzyme that triggers inflammation. Because of the soothing and demulcent properties of slippery elm, it works to inhibit the production of this enzyme and reduce inflammation. That’s why this simple herbal remedy is used for so many conditions affecting the throat, the lungs, and the digestive system.

Slippery elm is easy to use — mix a couple of teaspoons of the powdered inner bark with warm water to make a paste and add as much or as little water as you like to achieve your desired consistency. Some people like it very thin, like a hot broth, while others prefer a thick porridge-like paste. You can add spices and honey to improve the taste if you wish.

Herbal teas such as chamomile, peppermint, or ginger can provide relief from throat inflammation as well as support your nervous system. You might also like to include herbs like marshmallow root and liquorice root, which contain compounds to help reduce irritation and soothe the throat.

My teenage son has started belching loudly every time he eats — it doesn’t seem to matter what’s on his plate. What natural remedy would you suggest?

For this type of symptom, I would recommend seeing a medical practitioner for a thorough consultation and further testing, since there are so many potential reasons for unexpected belching.

One of the first tests that your GP will likely do is to check for the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).

One of the common precursors to gastric acid deficiency is H. pylori overgrowth, because this bacterium surrounds itself with ammonia and burrows through the mucous membrane to attach itself to the epithelial cells. This creates a thinning of the mucosa along with inflammation, indigestion, and ulcers.

H. pylori is often found to be the root cause of reflux, stomach ulcers, and gut dysbiosis.

Mastic gum is the resin of the Pistacia lentiscus tree and can help eliminate H. pylori, reduce gut inflammation, and restore digestive function.

Another widespread cause of belching is a deficiency of gastric acid secretion, also known as hypochlorhydria. Other common symptoms of this condition include indigestion, bloating, nausea, flatulence, diarrhoea, constipation, a burning sensation in the digestive tract, a feeling of overfullness, undigested food particles in the stools, and unbalanced intestinal flora.

Mastika is a supplement containing 500mg of mastic gum and can be purchased from health stores, where 30 capsules cost €26.95. Take as directed.