system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is gargling salt water known to help with sore throats, but eating chips doesn't?

If the salt in salt water can aide the sore throat, why wouldn't the salt in chips, french fries, or any other salty food also be a suggestion to help?
gpt
There's a phenomenon called 'osmosis' which plays its role here.
When two different liquids with different concentrations are separated by a semipermeable membrane (the one that allows one-way flow only), the liquids would flow in such a way that they attain a state of equilibrium, i.e. now the concentration of both the liquids is same.
The bacteria which cause the sore throat also have their skin similar to a semipermeable membrane. When you gargle with salty water, the inner 'fluid' of bacteria (which makes them live, in a literal sense) oozes out (in order to equalize the concentrations of these fluids-salt water and bacterial body fluid). This kills the bacteria and their 'active fluid' is washed away when you gulf-out the liquid. Thus they loose their dominance on the sore throat and you feel relaxed.