As you may know if you've read enough of my blogs, my mother is very keen on a tonic she's been drinking for years. I freely admit I drink it too.

I've always put it down to one of her old wives' tales. She did actually spin me the line about bread crusts and curls, afterall. And she tried to make us take a spoonful of malt everyday as kids.

But I discover on my way home tonight, there may be some scientific fact behind Old Man's Tonic. The recipe goes like this:
1 tspn cider or white wine vinegr
2 tspn of honey, local if possible
Boiling water.

Mix vinegar and honey in a cup. Top up with boiling water. Sip.

Now, the Guardian's science correspondent reveals, honey is more effective at soothing sore throats than some chemical concoction found in children's cough medicine. It has stuff (technical term) in it that kills microbes and acts as an antioxidant.

Curiously someone wrote a letter last month to say they gargle with cider vinegar to keep off throat infections.

Mum says she got it from an old man who used to come into Lloyds Bank in Banbury where she worked nearly fifty years ago. Why his words should have had such an effect on her I don't know but the BBC website seems to have 101 uses for vinegar which suggests it's useful stuff for a good deal more than chips.

PS Mum says the honey should be local, if possible, because it's made from pollen from the same plants you are surrounded by so helps support your immune system. I'm saying nothing.