Abbadackerygirl (Alabama, US) on 02/05/2015

This is a true account on my part: I had been battling a particularly bad case of strep throat with antibiotics and motrin 'round the clock. I had read that cayenne can help strep, but I was skeptical so I didn't even try it.
After a week of continuing to feel miserable, I forced myself out of bed to go with my family out to eat at a restaurant, and for some reason, the vegetable soup sounded like the only thing I wanted. I had never eaten at this restaurant before, so little did I know that the soup was SPICY! I usually don't eat spicy things, but I forced myself to eat the soup...then something magical happened. With each painful bite, I could actually feel my strength returning. As I continued to eat the warm broth, my aches and pains subsided, and I felt better and better...way better than I had in a week! Why was this soup making me feel so good, I wondered? Then I remembered the suggestion to use cayenne pepper...and I wondered if the chef used it to spice up the soup. He insisted that he didn't, instead he used a hot sauce...a lot of it, lol. I asked if I could read what was on the bottle, so he ran to the back and grabbed it for me to read. When I looked at it, low and behold, the first ingredient was...cayenne pepper.
I was sold. This wasn't a case of the placebo effect, as all I wanted to do was eat. I didn't think that this soup would cure me when I ordered it, but in the end, it helped so much that I ended up naming it, the Magic Feel-Better Soup. Ha ha...I wonder if they changed the name after I called it that, but I haven't been back to check.

Penny (USA) on 02/01/2006

Whole cloves cure and numb sore throats. I carry cloves everywhere I go. At first sign of a sore throat, I place one or two between my cheek and teeth after crunching them just a little bit. This numbs the throat and kills the germs that cause the problem. If I awaken at night, even one clove can save me from a sore throat coming on, if I place it in my mouth in this manner. I had to tell my family, 'No, it does not stain my teeth. No, I never choke on it, and yes, I do sleep on my back, etc.'
Back to Sore Throat Page