I have been laid up sick for the better part of a week and I think I've heard every kind of advice possible for how to feel better. I've guzzled chicken soup, I've put my head over steaming water, I've fed the fever and I've starved the cold.
I'm still sick.
I know I'll get over it eventually, but I just heard some news that makes me feel hopeful. Actually more than that, excited.
A doctor from the University of Hull says that chocolate can soothe your cough better than most over the counter medicine.
"Chocolate can calm coughs. I know that might sound like something out of Mary Poppins, but as an independent clinician who has spent years researching the mechanism of cough, I can assure you the evidence is actually as solid a bar of Fruit and Nut." Dr. Alyn Morice told Heart.
He is the head of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Studies at the University so he knows what he's talking about.
That doesn't mean you'll be able to take a chocolate pill though. It's actually the chocolate's stickiness that provides its soothing power.
Coughing is often times triggered by nerves as a reflex. Chocolate coats the nerve endings, suppressing the urge.
"I'm sure it has a pharmacological activity, some sort of inhibitory effect on the nerve endings themselves," he said.
A trial he conducted tested 163 people with cocoa-infused medicine and most saw an almost immediate improvement.
I can tell you from experience that mine cough is still alive and well 5 days later.