Green Tea with Rock Sugar Alleviates Sore Throat
Recently, a report from Taiwan's "TTV News" website stated that "green tea with rock sugar" can effectively relieve discomfort caused by sore throat. What is the medical basis for this combination?
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), sore throat primarily results from lung and kidney yin deficiency, yin deficiency with internal heat, rising false fire, or external invasion of wind-heat and heat-toxin scorching the throat. Green tea has a cool nature and functions to generate body fluids, quench thirst, clear heat, and detoxify. Rock sugar has a neutral to slightly cool nature and benefits the middle energizer, tonifies qi, nourishes yin, moistens the lungs, stops coughing, and resolves phlegm. Additionally, rock sugar is often added to herbal decoctions to enhance the efficacy of the herbs. When consumed together, green tea's ability to clear heat and detoxify is fully utilized, alleviating throat pain while also promoting yin nourishment, lung moistening, and fluid generation—thus improving local dryness and discomfort in the throat. Moreover, among all types of sugar, rock sugar has the strongest tonic effect; its restorative properties can boost human immunity and fundamentally strengthen resistance against sore throat. Therefore, patients with acute or chronic sore throat may consider adding rock sugar to their green tea. However, to avoid raising blood glucose levels, diabetic patients should avoid it.
In addition to regularly drinking rock sugar green tea, sore throat patients should pay attention to the following dietary points in daily life:
First, consume mainly cooling and neutral foods, and limit or avoid spicy items such as garlic, chili peppers, and white liquor. These foods easily trigger or worsen mucosal congestion, which is like pouring oil on fire for the throat.
Second, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits with clearing heat and generating body fluids effects, such as pears, sugarcane, watermelon, radish, loofah, figs, lotus root, lotus rhizome, winter melon, bananas, and lilies.
Third, moderately increase protein intake to enhance immunity. The level of human immunity directly relates to the recurrence of sore throat, so patients should appropriately increase intake of high-quality proteins such as fish, shrimp, meat, and dairy products. When supplementing protein, be cautious about consuming overly warming foods like lamb and dog meat, as they may exacerbate throat discomfort.