Lotus97
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I've been making my own saline nasal spray with Xylitol and grapefruit seed extract and it seems to work just as good as the ones you buy. The best bottles to use are Xclear xylitol nasal spray, Nutribiotic GSE spray, or Source Naturals Colloidal Silver nasal spray. Xclear and Source Naturals also have spray bottles for the mouth so make sure not to buy that by accident.
Before I share the recipe there is a warning for anyone using a neti pot or making your own nasal spray. You MUST use distilled water or boil the water before using it. If you're adding grapefruit seed extract to your nasal spray then probably don't need to take this precaution, but I'm not sure.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/rare-infection-prompts-neti-pot-warning/
The recipe I found at this site. Make sure to read the instructions included below the recipe.
http://www.quanta-gaia.org/health/coldsAndFlu.html
Water 1 cup (8 fl. oz.) 237 ml
Salt ¼ – ½ level teaspoon † 1.25 – 2.5 ml †
Xylitol 1 level tablespoon (3 tsp.) 15 ml
GSE 4 drops NutriBiotic®
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Baking soda A pinch or two (optional)
Instructions: First, wash your hands with soap and water. Mix ingredients using warm (not hot) water. This helps to dissolve ingredients and, when used as a wash, is comforting. Stir mixture occasionally until the ingredients dissolve completely. Water should be non-chlorinated, filtered or distilled.
Salt is both soothing and therapeutic (in the proper concentration). Too little or too much salt will cause the water to “burn” or irritate your nasal passages and sinuses. Pickling salt, which is usually pure salt, is preferable to regular table salt. Table salt usually has undesirable additives (e.g. iodine and flow enhancers). And additives make it more dilute (per volume) thus throwing off the saline concentration of the formula. Do not use a salt substitute! You want real salt (i.e. sodium chloride, NaCl). Be sure your pickling salt is pure salt and does not contain “alum” or aluminum! Morton Canning & Pickling Salt is pure salt.
†: For a 0.9% isotonic saline solution, the amount normally found in bodily fluids, use 1/3 teaspoon (approx. ¼ heaping teaspoon, or 1.85 ml) of salt. Anything less than this is hypotonic, anything greater is hypertonic. Some research suggests a hypertonic solution may be best when combating a runny nose (as it would have a drying effect), so you might want to go to the higher end of the salt range. You may also want to add a pinch or two of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to help buffer the solution. A hypotonic solution, however, would tend to be moisturizing (i.e. the lower end of the salt range), and may be what you want in a nasal spray for general prophylactic use. Any amount of salt within the range indicated shouldn’t be irritating to the nasal passages/sinuses of most people.
Note: “Neti pot salt” (or “aromatic salt”) is just a marketing gimmick to sell salt at a higher price. It usually has some essential oils added, which might have some therapeutic value, or which some people may find pleasing. However it should be viewed as a luxury at a premium price, with relatively little practical value. Use it if you wish, but pickling salt is usually just as pure and free of additives, is widely available, and generally inexpensive.
Xylitol. While the xylitol is optional, it helps to wash away germs and pollutants in your sinuses, and makes it difficult for germs to colonize or re-establish themselves.
GSE. The GSE is useful to attack germs and acts as a preservative. Without GSE, use formula within a few days or discard. If mixing for immediate use in a neti pot, the GSE may be omitted without much consequence; its primary purpose is as a preservative for a nasal spray. If you have liquid NutriBiotic GSE, add 4 drops. Other brands may have different sized drops or potencies, so adjust as needed. NutriBiotic has fairly small drops and is 33% Citricidal. Some GSE brands are triple strength, or 100% Citricidal. Too much GSE will “burn” or irritate your nasal passages and sinuses.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Baking soda is optional. It may be useful as a buffering agent when using a hypertonic saline solution.
Before I share the recipe there is a warning for anyone using a neti pot or making your own nasal spray. You MUST use distilled water or boil the water before using it. If you're adding grapefruit seed extract to your nasal spray then probably don't need to take this precaution, but I'm not sure.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/rare-infection-prompts-neti-pot-warning/
But now, after two cases of a deadly brain infection were linked to neti pots, government health officials have issued new warnings about using them safely.
The Food and Drug Administration last month reported on two cases in Louisiana in which patients contracted infections after using neti pots filled with tap water. The culprit was an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri, which is commonly found in lakes, rivers and hot springs.
This kind of infection is exceedingly rare, but it usually occurs when people get water up the nose after swimming or diving in lakes or rivers; Naegleria fowleri can travel from the nose into the brain, where it causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a disease that destroys brain tissue and is almost always fatal. In 123 known cases from 1962 to 2011 in the United States, only one person has survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last year, Louisiana state health officials reported on two unrelated deaths — of a 20-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman who were believed to have been infected by tap water later found to be contaminated with Naegleria fowleri. Both had used tap water in a neti pot. (Because stomach acid kills the amoeba, drinking contaminated water does not lead to infection.)
As a result, the F.D.A. has issued new warnings reminding consumers to use distilled or filtered water in a neti pot. They can use bottled water, or they can boil water and let it cool before using.
The recipe I found at this site. Make sure to read the instructions included below the recipe.
http://www.quanta-gaia.org/health/coldsAndFlu.html
Water 1 cup (8 fl. oz.) 237 ml
Salt ¼ – ½ level teaspoon † 1.25 – 2.5 ml †
Xylitol 1 level tablespoon (3 tsp.) 15 ml
GSE 4 drops NutriBiotic®
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Baking soda A pinch or two (optional)
Instructions: First, wash your hands with soap and water. Mix ingredients using warm (not hot) water. This helps to dissolve ingredients and, when used as a wash, is comforting. Stir mixture occasionally until the ingredients dissolve completely. Water should be non-chlorinated, filtered or distilled.
Salt is both soothing and therapeutic (in the proper concentration). Too little or too much salt will cause the water to “burn” or irritate your nasal passages and sinuses. Pickling salt, which is usually pure salt, is preferable to regular table salt. Table salt usually has undesirable additives (e.g. iodine and flow enhancers). And additives make it more dilute (per volume) thus throwing off the saline concentration of the formula. Do not use a salt substitute! You want real salt (i.e. sodium chloride, NaCl). Be sure your pickling salt is pure salt and does not contain “alum” or aluminum! Morton Canning & Pickling Salt is pure salt.
†: For a 0.9% isotonic saline solution, the amount normally found in bodily fluids, use 1/3 teaspoon (approx. ¼ heaping teaspoon, or 1.85 ml) of salt. Anything less than this is hypotonic, anything greater is hypertonic. Some research suggests a hypertonic solution may be best when combating a runny nose (as it would have a drying effect), so you might want to go to the higher end of the salt range. You may also want to add a pinch or two of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to help buffer the solution. A hypotonic solution, however, would tend to be moisturizing (i.e. the lower end of the salt range), and may be what you want in a nasal spray for general prophylactic use. Any amount of salt within the range indicated shouldn’t be irritating to the nasal passages/sinuses of most people.
Note: “Neti pot salt” (or “aromatic salt”) is just a marketing gimmick to sell salt at a higher price. It usually has some essential oils added, which might have some therapeutic value, or which some people may find pleasing. However it should be viewed as a luxury at a premium price, with relatively little practical value. Use it if you wish, but pickling salt is usually just as pure and free of additives, is widely available, and generally inexpensive.
Xylitol. While the xylitol is optional, it helps to wash away germs and pollutants in your sinuses, and makes it difficult for germs to colonize or re-establish themselves.
GSE. The GSE is useful to attack germs and acts as a preservative. Without GSE, use formula within a few days or discard. If mixing for immediate use in a neti pot, the GSE may be omitted without much consequence; its primary purpose is as a preservative for a nasal spray. If you have liquid NutriBiotic GSE, add 4 drops. Other brands may have different sized drops or potencies, so adjust as needed. NutriBiotic has fairly small drops and is 33% Citricidal. Some GSE brands are triple strength, or 100% Citricidal. Too much GSE will “burn” or irritate your nasal passages and sinuses.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Baking soda is optional. It may be useful as a buffering agent when using a hypertonic saline solution.