Considering that cold and flu season is almost upon us I'm pretty interested to read that gargling with salt water can reduce chance of infection and ease symptoms.
In a randomized study published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2005, researchers recruited almost 400 healthy volunteers and followed them for 60 days during cold and flu season. Some of the subjects were told to gargle three times a day. At the end of the study period, the group that regularly gargled had a nearly 40 percent decrease in upper respiratory tract infections compared with the control group, and when they did get sick, “gargling tended to attenuate bronchial symptoms,” the researchers wrote.
40% is huge! I'll have to add this to my new flossing regimen. I wonder if the gargling would add anything over my periodic use of my neti-pot?
