Health Benefits of Gargling with Plain Tap Water
You know that gargling with salt water or antiseptic mouthwash helps kill germs that cause a sore throat. A sore throat is a common precursor to a cold. There's no cure for the common cold, a virus that causes an estimated billion colds in the United States every year. However, research shows that taking a cheap, simple step can help you avoid getting colds in the first place. The preventative? Gargling with plain old tap water.
Japanese Health and the Study
The Japanese believe that washing your hands often, and gargling first thing every day are just two keys to being healthy. They are obviously onto something. In 2005, a study was conducted in Japan with 400 healthy volunteers during the cold and flu season. They ranged in age from 18 to 65 years old. The volunteers were split-up into three groups. The first group gargled three times a day with tap water. The second group gargled with a diluted iodine mouthwash. The third group were allowed to follow their normal routines.
After 60 days had passed, the researchers collected the results of the study. The two groups who gargled got fewer colds than the the group of volunteers who didn't gargle. Amazingly, the group who used plain tap water got "36 percent fewer respiratory infections" than the group who used the diluted iodine mouthwash. The results of the study also showed that, if you get a cold, gargling helps improve your symptoms.
How does gargling with plain, old tap water help combat the common cold? The researchers thought maybe the chlorine in the water did the trick. They also thought that maybe the gargling cleared viruses from the throat.
Conclusion
For whatever reason gargling three times a day with tap water helped keep a study group from getting as many colds, it may help you as well. That, and washing your hands often.
If you do get a cold afterall, dissolve a 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water and gargle with that to help relieve the symptoms.
Resources
http://cold.emedtv.com/common-cold/common-cold.html
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-10-2010/gargling_does_help.html
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/518141
http://www.japan-i.jp/2011_07_life_expectancy.html
Published by Kassidy Emmerson
Kassidy Emmerson has studied Journalism, Creative and Non-Fiction Writing and Computer Programming. She has worked as a professional freelance writer for over a decade. Emmerson has 6,000+ articles published... View profile
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