This strep throat remedy sounds crazy, but the author actually used it to cure (diagnosed!) strep throat while pregnant and wanting to avoid antibiotics. It worked incredibly well!!
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I got strep throat.
It was awful. If you’ve ever had strep, you know the horrid knives-in-your-throat feeling I’m referring to. Ugh. I shudder just to think about it again.
I do my best to avoid antibiotics quite stringently. Being pregnant, that desire was especially strong. However, strep is a bacterial infection. Many people believe that bacterial infections will only respond to pharmaceutical antibiotics. From personal experience, I’m gonna have to disagree. Here’s how it went down…
It was a holiday weekend. In Tiny Town. The doctor saw me late Friday afternoon and took a swab to send to the lab for testing. He gave me a prescription just in case, though, because I wouldn’t be able to get the results until Tuesday, when they opened again.
I went home without filling the prescription. I told myself I would get it if I was feeling desperate, but I’d try googling for ideas first. I found tons of sore throat remedy ideas online. Most involved things like lemon and honey, etc.
One of the suggestions involved a crazy ingredient: cayenne pepper. I decided to make my own concoction, and give it a whirl. I developed this recipe that day, and have tweaked and perfected it in the couple of sore throats I’ve had since that time.
So, does it work?
Well, I gargled every 15 minutes for about 2 hours that evening. There was noticeable improvement after the first couple of times. I could swallow without tears coming to my eyes. Then, I felt about 75% healed by the next morning, and I felt no more pain at all 24 hours later. By the end of the weekend, I was back to normal, and just taking it a bit easy to allow my body to catch up.
The throat swab came back from the lab on Tuesday. It was a confirmed case of strep throat. And I healed it using the craziest cayenne pepper concoction ever! Natural remedies for the win!
(By the way, if you have a more minor sore throat – i.e. not strep – I’d advise trying gargling with good ol’ salt and water. Sometimes that does the trick just fine!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Strongly brewed lemon herbal tea Other types of herbal teas may work too
- 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar I use Bragg's raw apple cider
- 1 tablespoon Raw honey
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper Add more if you can - as much as you can stand
Instructions
- Brew tea, then mix everything else in. Stir well.
- Gargle with small sips of the tea. Get it as far back in your throat as you can and keep gargling as long as you can stand it. Spit it out, and repeat every 15-30 minutes for several hours. You should feel the burn of the cayenne (within reason!).
Nutrition
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional, and this post should not be taken as medical advice. Please do your own research. Material on this blog is provided for informational purposes only. It is general information that may not apply to you as an individual, and is not a substitute for your own doctor’s medical care or advice.
Maria
I soaked a q-tip in this mixture for a couple seconds and swabbed the white spots in the back of my throat every 15 min-1/2 hour and got GREAT results!
Kris
That’s a cool idea!
It’s like zinc lozenges being better than oral gels. Right on man!
Judy
That is great! I came across cayenne for sore throats/strep on earth clinic.com about 4 years ago. I never thought to mix it with anything, just straight up cayenne and water. It used to burn at first but now I am used to it. I have not had a sore throat last more than 5 min after gargling with the cayenne! Best remedy ever. Wish more people knew about it. I tell everyone but they usually think I am crazy, lol.
Rachel R.
Cayenne was one of traditional herbalists’ most fundamental “go-to” herbs. It increases circulation, which helps the body to clear stagnated lymph, etc. more effectively. Like any other herbal remedy, it doesn’t “cure”; it boosts the body so it can take care of illness more effectively itself.
Rachel
Thank you so much for posting this remedy! I was in a LOT of pain and was almost in tears due to my sore throat. It wasn’t strep, but it was very red and swollen. I sipped the tea every 15 minutes over a 3 hour span twice the first day (the second time I used a sleepy time tea) and also drank it slowly in between. At night I used a humidifier and wrapped a scarf around my throat and then next morning I woke up and was not in any pain! I was so happy that I almost cried except this time it was happy tears! I drank the concoction the next day also and I had no more throat pain. I am so grateful to have found this! All my life my sore throats were killer. This remedy also helped my sister. Thank you so much, Beth!
Rachel
Oops, I meant I gargled it every 15 minutes the first day, not sipped!
Susan
See… I sipped mine. I had a lemon-ginger tea bag, added ACV, honey, cayenne pepper and cloves and let it sit for a while before I sipped it.
Still waiting to see the results tomorrow.
toni
I have been using my own version of this concept for over 10 years.. and it works every time. I use it for all colds sore throat ear aches. I put a bunch of hot peppers from my garden;Habenero; jalapeño, cayenne, thai peppers into a jar and fill it half full with the peppers then fill the jar with Braggs apple cider vinegar. I put it in the blender for a minute then pour back in the jar. It’s ready instantly this way and gets hotter..I gargle with a small amount then spit it out and swallow a few fresh drops every few hours. For earache I apply in my ear with a q tip. It is amazing! It is super duper hot! You can also add a teaspoon or two to foods to spice them up! It also will last forever in the refrigerator. If you want once it’s hot enough you can strain it but it’s not necessary
Beth
Great tip about using the blender – thanks for sharing! 🙂
Joël
Wow, simply amazing no joking. Im so glad i stumbled upon this article, i was about to give up and get antibiotics which for me is a complete last resort. Immediately i felt the difference, it started killing the bad stuff right away 🙂
Beth
So glad to hear it!
Toni
I read about red pepper and used it on a sore throat before. I started having a sore throat and then chills, headache, and flush face. I noticed I had white puss on my right tonsil, and though, oh crap. Last night I was cold and then hot and very sweaty, I took Nyquill which helped me slep. This morning I took two Ibuprofen and that was all I have needed all day. However, last night I had remembered the ground red pepper idea and put it into my herbal tea. I cant seem to get gargling down, but I drink and then hold some in the back of my throat before swollowing. This morning some of the white stuff sloughed off and there is considerably less. Not sure if it was the red pepper, but I have definitely felt better today, all day. Not 100%, but better.
Beth
I’m glad it helped! Hopefully your body will be able to kick those germs to the curb. Please also be sure to read this post about avoiding antibiotics: https://redandhoney.com/avoiding-antibiotics-favour-natural-remedy-read-cautionary-tale-first/
data recovery
Helpful info. Fortunate me I found your website by chance, and I am shocked why this coincidence didn’t happened in advance!
I bookmarked it.
Caroline
Love this remedy! I had an unbearably painful sore throat and decided to try this recipe one night. I started doing it every 15 minutes for 2 hours before bed and continued the next day doing it every 30 minutes for several hours. I couldn’t believe it! My throat was almost completely healed less than 24 hours after I started! It doesn’t taste horrible and it isn’t too spicy, which was a nice surprise. Thank you for sharing, this is one of the only home remedies I’ve tried that actually works!
Sandy
I have to say how totally grateful I am to find this recipe! I will be keeping this in my natural remedy awesome cure list for sure! This past Sunday I had reached my threshold of discomfort that had plagued me all week, it felt like it could be strep but with no health care and no funds on hand there was no option to go to a clinic to find out. I understand the amazing healing abilities of our boides and actually prefer natural remedies as my go to, along with rest, water and meditation. I had searched out several remedies and was trying a few things to see what would support my body in it’s healing process but was receiving little relief and definitely not getting better. On Sunday I found your article and decided to give it a try, I had all of the ingredients (the herbal tea I used was different – peach ginger – which was perfect as I know ginger is also a great healer).
Mid-afternoon Sunday I began the 2 hour every 15 minute gargling process as I researched the benefits of the different ingredients online. I also read much of the concerns about simply treating the throat symptoms and not treating the underlying strep that could attack major organs in the body. I was already familiar with the benefits of the raw honey and ACV but hadn’t researcned much about Cayenne which I was quite impressed with. Several hours later I was already feeling a huge amount of releif! The place in my throat that had been on fire all week was feeling so much better, however I could feel that there was a strong sensation much lower in my throat, deeper, far beyond any place that I could really gargle for relief. The best way to describe it would be as if the little bugs were runnig for cover, running deeper into my throat to get away from this remedy that was stopping them in their tracks.
I decided that there was absolutely nothing in this concoction that would be bad for me in fact it was FULL of great things for my body so I decided to make another full cup and drink it while it was still quite warm and went off to bed. I felt that since I was just drinking it directly it could reach these unreachable places and would have the strength to take out the bacteria in its path AND fill my body with these great ingredients with so many healing properties.
I awoke the next morning already feeling so much better it made me smile! I still could feel a lingering of the symptoms so decided to complete another complete course of gargling followed by drinking a full cup of the recipe. By Monday night I was able to Host an event and sing back up with no problems and after another good night sleep was off having coffee with friends Tuesday mornijng feeling completely well and fabulous!!!!!
I am so grateful for you sharing this recipe AND that I was able to find it.
If I feel any twinge in my body I am confident that this remedy will be there to help.
Thank you!
Beth
Wow, what an amazing testimonial! I’m so glad that it worked so well for you. Great insight about drinking it. I think some people might get upset stomachs from drinking too much cayenne or ACV, but taking small amounts slowly is probably fine for most people.
Cindee mayfield
Tryed this it help the pain but did not cure me. However the temporary relief was nice
Mojca
And it wont let me rate the recipe with less than five?
Beth
There must be a glitch with the plugin. Thanks for letting me know! I’ll look into it!
Mojca
I have tried this. Yestreday I had gargled about three cups – today when I woke up I feel like it’s worse. Swallowing causes me even more pain.
Maybe I added to much of cayenne? I really have no idea.
And very sad, really believed in this :/
Beth
Sorry this didn’t work out for you! It’s certainly not a guarantee. Perhaps your infection was too strong for it to be effective. I do hope you are feeling better by now!
Mojca
Well I found out that I have mononucleosis so that may be the reason!
But I will be tryin recipe next time I have strep! 🙂
al
Hey I tried your recipe I already see it being more effective than those nasty antobiotics, my question is after you wait the 15-30 minutes do you heat the left over up, take it cold or just make a brand new batch again?
Shiloh
I am also curious about this question?!
Isaac
THANK YOU for this blog post!!
Tuesday the doc said I had strep throat. My throat was very sore and by evening I had miserable pain, loss of voice, fever and chills, the whole nine. By Friday evening it was no better- horrible pain, steroids and prescribed antibiotics giving no noticeable aid or relief.
I followed your given recipe, adding cider and cayenne pepper til it was as strong a mix as I could tolerate. Gargled and drank it every 15 minutes for 4 hours. Washed it down with water all the while.
It’s Saturday morning and I feel INCREDIBLE. Pain is GONE, people. You can actually feel it cleaning out your system, I haven’t breathed or felt like this in a long time. I’m stunned, and completely won over. Can’t believe I never heard of this before.
(Why didn’t the doctor mention this treatment??)
Thank you thank you thank you!
tiffany
hi
I had a severe sore throat, most likely strep, and I was desperate to find relief.
I found this post and tried this gargle immediately.
after 24 hours of gargling quite a bit, more the first few hours, I have NO sore throat.
I am amazed and so very thankful.
tiffany
Jeneva
You codnul’t pay me to ignore these posts!
Maribeth
This does look prsmioing. I’ll keep coming back for more.
Sierra Burris
I’m really disheartened by the naysayers commenting! I’m a freshman in college and have been known to get severe strep throat (which also causes double ear infections for me). Home for Thanksgiving break, lo and behold, I had strep so bad I could see the sacks of puss in my throat (sorry for the mental image). The doctors bill was not worth the antibiotics that take forever and do not consistently help. My mom found this recipe and the very next day, I felt so much better. I continued gargling every couple of hours for two days and my strep was completely gone. This stuff is so effective, it loosened up the puss to where I was able to spit it out with the remedy and wasn’t swallowed back into my system.
Thema
This is a common Jamaican remedy for being sick! So if anyone still thinks this is crazy, I would think twice and try it.
Bianca
Do i have to drink this or can i just gurgle? The apple cider vinegar not sure i can handdle it..
Alba
Hello, I find that even just gurgling it 3-6 times a day on the onset of any symptoms will virtually get rid of 80% by the next morning. I feel like it’s basically gone! I then continue for 3 times a day till all symptoms disappear. It’s as simple as that! I have stopped making mountains out of mole hills. Strep does no longer freak me out thanks to ACV and I never need antacids EVER! again ACV took care of that permanently! Hope this helps. (:
Lizz
Hello Beth!
I just wanted to pop in and say thank you for helping me. I didn’t realize until tonight that I had strep (not a doctor-confirmed case, but all of the telltale signs are present) and I was freaking out a bit. I do not have medical insurance, so I am unable to visit a doctor. I was very worried that I would not be able to cure it without receiving a ridiculous hospital bill. That is, until I found your article. I will be picking up all of your listed ingredients in the morning, but until then, I have made do with warm water, honey, ginger and cinnamon. It obviously isn’t curing anything, but sipping and gargling this concoction is already greatly helping to reduce the pain and discomfort. After a bit of supplementary research, I have no doubt that your mixture will do the trick. I have pretty bad anxiety problems, and reading this and a few other articles have greatly calmed me down. Thank you for posting this for everyone to see. You are truly too kind. <3
Kate
Echinacea Tincture sprayed directly on the back of the throat also eases sore throats of all kinds and especially known to help heal strep throat. Stephen Harrod Buhner specifically mentions is in his Natural remedies for Resistent Viruses. Besides being a known immune booster it also actively fights specific virus strains one of which is strep throat. I highly recommend his two books on resistant bacteria and resistant virus as it well researched and documented. I also found the honey, lemon and ginger are great for general sore throats. Slippery elm lozenges (although bland tasting and takes a little getting use to) also are terrific for general sore throats
Heather
Just curious, did you have a follow-up with a doctor to confirm that all the strep infection had cleared or did you just feel better?
Red & Honey
I followed the exact same protocol as I would have if I had been on antibiotics. Wait and see how I feel, and how my body responds. Am I feeling better or worse? If I get better with no re-occurrence and no further symptoms, I think it is pretty safe to say that the strep is gone. This was four years ago, so I’d say I’m in the clear 😉
Suzanna
Why go to a doctor when this works!?!