Now let’s talk about the bubbles. Carbonation can actually make your throat feel scratchier, like tiny glass beads having a rave in your esophagus. If your cough is from post-nasal drip, those fizzy bubbles might trigger a coughing fit that would make a cat laugh.
So while grandma’s ginger ale feels soothing, it’s often the cold temperature and the sugar coating that provides instant, temporary relief. It’s like putting a band-aid on a leaky pipe—it feels better for a second, but the pipe is still spraying water everywhere.
Does Ginger Ale Really Help With Nausea?
Surprising Fact: Your Great-Grandpa Was Wrong
Here’s a weird historical tidbit: ginger ale was originally marketed as a cure for everything, from indigestion to tuberculosis. Doctors in the 1800s were basically throwing ginger ale at problems like a drunken chef tossing salt. Spoiler: it didn’t cure tuberculosis. It just made you burp while coughing up blood.
Modern science says ginger can thin mucus slightly, which is why some people swear by it for a “productive” cough. But you need a lot of ginger—like a teaspoon of freshly grated root—not the wimpy dribble in a can of Canada Dry. You’re better off making a ginger tea that tastes like it could strip paint.