No, putting a potato in your sock will not cure a cold
The question: Can putting a slice of raw potato in your sock cure a cold?
The science: Under-the-weather TikTokers are slicing raw potatoes and placing them in their — and their children’s — socks before bed. The theory is that pressing a cut potato against the skin can draw out toxins and help with recovery. Some people seem to think that the blackening of the potatoes afterward is a sign that it worked.
But there is no scientific evidence that this folk remedy can draw out bacteria, viruses or other impurities from the body, experts said.
“That would mean the virus or bacteria would need to be drawn out of the blood, through the skin and tissue and into the potato. That’s a long road for a disease or toxin to travel,” said Joanna Parga-Belinkie, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
As for the color change, potatoes are rich in iron and starch, and when exposed to oxygen for a period of time, a chemical reaction occurs that darkens the vegetable — which happens even without the sock, said Rebecca Andrews, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and chair of the board of regents for the American College of Physicians.
When people say they or their children felt better after the remedy, it may be because of the placebo effect, a phenomenon in which any kind of treatment — even a sugar pill or sham remedy — causes a person to have an improvement in symptoms.
Placebos are powerful treatments in their own right, which is why controlled trials and studies include placebo-treated patients to make sure that medications are beneficial over and above this effect. Andrews said placebos demonstrate “how powerful our brain-body connection is. It’s why doing things like meditation to reduce stress can help with sleep and chronic disease and overall health.”
The beneficial effects some people say they experience could be partly a timing issue as well. Symptoms from viruses that cause a cold or flu, for instance, last about five days, with the first couple days of being milder before people start feeling worse on the third or fourth day, Andrews said. At that point, “a parent might want to do something to alleviate those symptoms for a child because now the child is feeling miserable,” she said.
But regardless, by the fifth day, most people start to turn the corner, which could be misattributed to the sock spuds, Andrews said.
While not effective, the practice is not likely to cause serious harm, though in rare cases, potatoes can cause allergic reactions such as dermatitis — a red, itchy rash, said Parga-Belinkie, who is also a neonatologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Not to mention that leaving a cut potato in a dark, wet spot can make it “a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus, which would have the opposite effect than people would be hoping for in using it,” she said.
The real risk is that people may rely on some so-called remedy when they should be seeking appropriate medical care, Parga-Belinkie said.
As an alternative to potatoes, some people advocate for putting cut onions in their socks instead. Since ancient Egypt and Greece, people have touted the onion as having medicinal or healing properties. In the early 1900s, some people believed that cut or whole onions could help stop the spread of the flu, for instance, by absorbing it from the air and stopping the spread, Parga-Belinkie said.
“Today, there are people who still believe some component of an onion can help stop the spread of disease by somehow taking it out of circulation. This does not happen. Though this remedy is rooted in a lot of history, and so it has cultural significance for people, it distracts from things that really could help prevent the spread of the flu,” she said.
What else you should know
There are many prescription and over-the-counter medications that are shown to be effective for treating cold or flu symptoms, including headache medicine and fever reducers.
When people prefer natural remedies, and symptoms can be managed at home, experts recommend trying these:
• Build a robust immune system. To help prevent illness, you should eat a diet that is well balanced in healthy proteins, fats and carbohydrates, with a wide range of fruits and vegetables, said Ruth MacDonald, chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University.
• Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water is important to prevent dehydration, particularly with vomiting and diarrhea. Also, make sure you are consuming enough electrolytes such as potassium and sodium, which are often added to pediatric beverages and sports drinks.
• Rest. Proper sleep has long been held as a key to recovery. In 2015, researchers looked at 164 healthy adults who volunteered to receive nasal drops containing rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, and then sleep. Over the next seven days, those who slept six hours per night or less were four times more likely to develop a cold compared with those who slept more than seven hours per night.
• Use honey for a cough or sore throat. Adults and children older than 1 year can add honey to warm tea or water to soothe sore throats and calm coughs, Parga-Belinkie said.
• Up your vitamin intake. Your immune system needs vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc to work the best it can.
• Consume warm foods and beverages. Chicken broth (or bone broth), soups and teas help with hydration and nutrients but also provide warmth, which can be comforting for people with fever and chills. The steam can also help open up congested airways. That said, “there are no magic foods to cure a cold or flu. The ‘magic’ comes from having a healthy immune system that can attack the virus or bacteria and clear it from the body,” MacDonald said.