Salt-water gargle

“Gárgaras de agua con sal: a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water, gargle and spit. Salt water in the nose for a blocked nose too, only with boiled-and-cooled or sterile water, never straight from the tap.”

“Zout water gorgelen. A teaspoon of salt in lukewarm water, gargle and spit. Zout water in de neus for a blocked nose, only with boiled-and-cooled or sterile water.”

“Salt gargle, chamomile, a spoon of honey (over one): Baba's comforts for a raw throat.”

“The books. Charaka (Sutra 5/78): "Oil-gargling imparts strength to the jaws, strength to the voice." Sesame oil is the classical oil. The books describe holding the mouth full of oil (gandusha) and swishing a smaller amount (kavala).”

“Gargles. A beetroot gargle, a sage and calendula gargle for a sore throat, remembered from many Russian childhoods.”

“The line. Honey never for a baby under one. Garad as a gargle is something people in Sudan use, she tells it as custom only.”

“Garad (Acacia nilotica pods). In Sudan the pods are used for high blood pressure, diabetes and cough, and as a gargle for sore tonsils. Two lovely stories from the same pods: they are added to ponds to kill the snails that carry bilharzia without harming the fish, and they are used to tan leather a pinkish-white. "A pod that tans leather, kills snails and spares the fish. My grandmother would call that a good worker." No clinical trials of the pods for diabetes or blood pressure exist. With medicines for either, the GP or pharmacist first.”