7 Things You Don't Know About Colds

Orange juice, echinacea, hot toddies...there are no reliable studies that prove they actually fight colds or help you recover from them (alcohol can even make you feel worse by messing with the sleep you so badly need). Research does support the healing properties of one old-fashioned cure, though: honey. A study published in 2012 in the journal Pediatrics shows that honey can help relieve nighttime cough symptoms in children over 1 year old, and another in 2008 found that buckwheat honey helped sick children sleep better. "It's like putting a soothing moisturizer on the dry, irritated lining of your throat," Collins says. While the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends against giving honey to infants under 12 months of age (it can contain a bacterium that causes infant botulism), this treatment can bring sweet relief to toddlers, school-aged kids and adults, too.