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Sore Throat Remedies
There have been many different remedies using salt that people have created over the years to reduce pain and swelling and to prevent infection, and sore throat pain is no exception. People have long been turning to salt as a basis for sore throat remedies. However, few have any idea why this practice got started.
Salt is obtained from sea water and land deposits and is a compound of chloride and sodium ions - which are critical to all living beings. Many people know salt plays an important role in water regulation and fluid balance of the body and that salt is also used to preserve or spice food. However, salt has other beneficial properties. Salt has been used with water to clean wounds, prevent and treat throat infection and clear nasal passageways for hundreds of years. Salt is also used as a cleansing agent in many brands of shampoo, bath salts and other cosmetic products.
While many home sore throat cures have no benefit other than a placebo effect, the benefits of salt are based in science. Salt’s beneficial effect as a remedy is due to the fact that microorganisms cannot live in a highly salty environment. This is the key to salt’s effectiveness as a disinfectant, preservative, deodorizer and ultimately – as one of the most effective sore throat remedies around. Salt will draw the water out of nearly every type of bacterial organism by osmosis. Once they have been dehydrated, the organisms can’t survive. This is the reason salt is used as a natural preservative - it kills the bacteria that grow on meat and fish. It also kills bacteria that grow on wounds and inflammation of the human body, making it the ultimate in sore throat remedies.