Something that helped me

I would heat a cup of water and add 1/4 teaspoon of HIGH-QUALITY Seasalt (like this one) into it, and "pretend" it was soup!

(Tasted pretty much like the broths you get out of those vending machines, anyway)

It helped a LOT. It's safe to do. AND, that type of salt has a lot of minerals in it, and is supposed to be pretty recognizable by the body's own type of saline. I found it at my health food store. (not my GNC, though)