One of the world’s most potent and powerful “superfood” nowadays is the pink Himalayan salt. It is pulled from the world’s most beautiful (and highest) mountain range and has been prized for its healing and restorative powers ever since the ancient times.
In fact, it was so prized that people used it effectively as a currency system.
Actually, its price was higher than its weight in gold thousands of years ago. Nowadays, we are just starting to rediscover the truly transformative power of Himalayan salt, revealing the health benefits for the human body the ancients long understood.
Hopefully, you’ll be able to use the information below to decide as to whether or not you should consume this excellent product of nature in the future.
BENEFITS YOU WILL FIND IN THIS POST
#1. HELPS WITH WEIGHT LOSS
#2. RICH IN MINERALS & OTHER COMPOUNDS
#3. HELPS WITH DETOX
#4. HELPS TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
#5. BOOSTS YOUR ENERGY LEVELS
#6. BANISHES SINUS & RESPIRATORY ISSUES
#7. IMPROVES QUALITY OF YOUR SLEEP
#8. BALANCING OUT YOUR BODY´S ACIDITY & ALKALINE LEVELS
#9. PROMOTES HEALTH OF YOUR ARTERIES
WHAT IS HIMALAYAN SALT ANYWAYS?
This salt is a natural and ridiculously pure mineral substance that is pink in color (thanks to iron oxide) and gathered from a giant mine in the Pakistani part of Himalayan Mountains. People used it for thousands and thousands of years as a natural medicine and therapeutic cure.
The ancients understood just how powerful and potent this mineral truly was!
There is a real reason why words about its power have spread for thousands of years. There are almost too many significant health benefits that your body will enjoy when you start to use the pink salt on a regular basis.
This article should provide you with a “foundational education” as to why it is so prized, sought after, and valuable as a natural remedy!
HELPS WITH WEIGHT LOSS
(BENEFIT #1)
Although it may sound surprising, you can actually lose weight by switching your regular table salt for its pink, unrefined version. Firstly, this salt contains a lot more minerals than regular table salt and less amount of sodium (Na).
Sodium in regular table salt is responsible for binding water in your tissues, leading to water retention and cellulite. Once you replace refined salt for a Himalayan version, your body will be able to release extra liquids and lose some water weight.
There are claims that taking a teaspoon of sole (pronounced so-lay), water saturated with Himalayan rock salt, in a glass of water on an empty stomach in the morning can help you curb those frequent cravings for salty junk food.
It can even improve your digestion as stated by Dr. Mark Sircus:
“Daily use of sole is believed to stimulate the peristalsis of the digestive organs, balance the stomach acid, support the production of digestive fluids in the liver and pancreas, regulate the metabolism and harmonize the acid-alkaline balance.”
Some people also use pink salt sole as a way to flush their intestines from a waste that can’t normally pass out of your body. However, you need to pay attention when doing this and ideally, you should consult your medical professional first.
RECIPE TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOLE
The sole (pronounced “solay”) is a mixture of water with salt that is fully saturated so salt crystals do not dissolve in it anymore and they drop to the bottom. Luckily, preparing your own sole at home is really simple. There are several recipes available on the internet but I will provide you with one from Dr. Mark Sricus.
All you have to do is to follow these steps:
- Place several Himalayan Crystal Salt stones or granules in a glass container
- Cover the salt with two to three inches of pure, spring water
- Let it dissolve for 24 hours
- If every piece of salt dissolves, add more crystals and let it stay for another 24 hours
- Repeat until the water can no longer dissolve the salt
- The salt crystals will then drop to the bottom of the container
The best part? Your sole is a natural conservant so it will never go bad. Just keep it covered to avoid dust particles getting in there and water from evaporating.
Did you know that a single teaspoon of the sole should contain around 480 mg of sodium or 20% of the Daily Reference Value of 2400 mg based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet?
RECIPE TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOLE
The sole (pronounced “solay”) is a mixture of water with salt that is fully saturated so salt crystals do not dissolve in it anymore and they drop to the bottom. Luckily, preparing your own sole at home is really simple. There are several recipes available on the internet but I will provide you with one from Dr. Mark Sricus.
All you have to do is to follow these steps:
- Place several Himalayan Crystal Salt stones or granules in a glass container
- Cover the salt with two to three inches of pure, spring water
- Let it dissolve for 24 hours
- If every piece of salt dissolves, add more crystals and let it stay for another 24 hours
- Repeat until the water can no longer dissolve the salt
- The salt crystals will then drop to the bottom of the container
The best part? Your sole is a natural conservant so it will never go bad. Just keep it covered to avoid dust particles getting in there and water from evaporating.
Did you know that a single teaspoon of this sole contains around 480 mg of sodium or 20% of the Daily Reference Value of 2400 mg based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet?
RICH IN MINERALS AND OTHER COMPOUNDS
(BENEFIT #2)
As mentioned above, this product of nature is widely regarded as the cleanest, purest, and most “mineral-dense” salt available on the planet. Surprisingly, there are over 80 much-needed trace minerals, electrolytes, and other elements.
Here is a list of the five most concentrated elements (see the whole list on website TheMeadow.com):
- Chloride (Cl) – 590.93g / kg
- Sodium (Na) – 382.61g / kg
- Sulfur (S) – 12.4g / kg
- Calcium (Ca) – 4.05 g / kg
- Potassium (K) – 3.5 g / kg
Just keep in mind that the Himalayan salt includes even trace amounts of minerals that are toxic to your body in large quantities, such as radioactive uranium, radium, plutonium, and polonium.
What is more, it also includes unsafe elements like arsenic, mercury, thallium, and lead as well as two unstable isotopes, promethium, and technetium which can decay at any time.
HELPS WITH DETOX
(BENEFIT #3)
Salt and water have always played a vital role in our bodies, and they continue to play it on a daily basis for each and every one of us. Although water is of the utmost importance for proper detox of the human body, it is the salt that is the “vehicle”.
It allows your body to transfer toxins from healthy cells to your bloodstream. From there, you can push them out of your systems much more easily.
Not only that, there are claims that it can improve your digestive system as it improves the peristaltic movements and chloride from salt is necessary to produce stomach acid. That is why experts recommend taking sole in the morning on an empty stomach (recipe to make yours is in the section “BENEFIT #1” of this article).
Just pay attention not to overdo it as a teaspoon of sole contains 480 mg of sodium or 20% of the Daily Reference Value of 2400 mg based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.
RELATED EXPERT STATEMENT:
“We need adequate amounts of chloride to produce hydrochloric acid. The best source of chloride is salt. There is very little available from any other foods (just a trace in celery and coconut.) People who are on salt-restricted diets end up with hypochlorhydria and compromised digestion.”
– Caldwell, N. (2010). “The Truth About Salt and Your Digestion”.
HELPS TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
(BENEFIT #4)
This statement may sound like a mistake because Himalayan salt contains sodium (Na) that is responsible for fluid retention and rising of one´s blood pressure. However, it contains smaller amounts of this substance than regular table salt.
In addition, the pink version includes small amounts of potassium (K) that human body can use for lowering blood pressure.
Because Himalayan salt is absorbed into your bloodstream much more efficiently than regular table salt, it can be used in small doses to help modulate your blood pressure much more efficiently.
If you replace your regular table salt for its pink version, you should see a slow, gradual decrease in your blood pressure. Obviously, you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and stay within the recommended maximum daily intake of 2400mg of sodium (ideally you should stay within 1500mg limit).
RELATED RESEARCH STUDY:
“In this study, the association of estimated intake of sodium and potassium, as determined from measurements of excretion of these cations, with blood pressure was nonlinear and was most pronounced in persons consuming high-sodium diets, persons with hypertension, and older persons. (Funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and others.)”
– Mente, A., et al. (2014). “Association of Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion with Blood Pressure”, in The New England Journal of Medicine. Vol. 371. Pp. 601-611
BOOSTS YOUR ENERGY LEVELS & RELAXES YOUR BODY
(BENEFIT #5)
If you have started to feel a little bit foggy or fatigued, the odds are stacked against you that you are dealing with a loss of electrolytes and salt in your body. Luckily, you can restore and replenish your organism in a hurry with the pink Himalayan minerals.
Thanks to its unique composition and ability to be absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly than traditional table salt, you can reap these benefits immediately .
All you have to do is drink a glass of water with a teaspoon of sole you can easily prepare at home (see instructions in the section “BENEFIT #1” of this article). Also, your lack of energy may be caused by excess stress. You can try taking a relaxing salty bath according to instructions below.
RECIPE FOR RELAXING BATH
If you are looking to relax and gain some energy, all you have to do is to take a relaxing salty bath before you go to bed. Although right after your bath you will feel tired, in the morning, you should feel much more energized.
All you have to do is to follow these simple steps:
- Fill your bathtub with hot water (beware not to burn your skin)
- Put and dissolve around 1 and a 1/2 pounds of this salt into it
- Optionally, you can add around 2 cups of Epsom (magnesium rich) salt as well
- Submerge as much of your body as possible and soak for at least 20-30 minutes
- While taking this bath, sip slowly one glass of water to promote sweating and detox
This should do the trick. The ancients used this approach to relax and detoxify themselves on an almost weekly basis, and now you can too.
RECIPE FOR RELAXING BATH
If you are looking to relax and gain some energy, all you have to do is to take a relaxing salty bath before you go to bed. Although right after the bath you will feel tired, in the morning, you should feel much more energized.
All you have to do is to follow these simple steps:
- Fill your bathtub with hot water (beware not to burn your skin)
- Put and dissolve around 1 and a 1/2 pounds of this salt into it
- Optionally, you can add around 2 cups of Epsom (magnesium rich) salt as well
- Submerge as much of your body as possible and soak for at least 20-30 minutes
- While taking this bath, sip slowly one glass of water to promote sweating and detox
This should do the trick. The ancients used this approach to relax and detoxify themselves on an almost weekly basis, and now you can too.
RELATED RESEARCH STUDY:
“Upon analysis and diagnoses of Group 3, (drinking FIJI Water combined in a solution with the natural, Original Himalayan Crystal Salt), as a teaspoon-per-day of Sole treatment, the beginning average-measured-group-index of 32.33% [deviance from normal state of 0.00%], decreased during the study to the incredibly low average index of 8.57% by the end of the treatments.”
– Dr. Hendel, B., Ferreira, P. (2003). “Water & Salt – The Essence of Life”. Natural Resources.
BANISH SINUS & RESPIRATORY ISSUES
(BENEFIT #6)
The positive effect of salt on our respiratory system is known to human beings for some time already. Especially salt caves in Eastern Europe with strong saline microclimates have long been considered therapeutic for numerous ailments.
In the past, people created chambers in old salt mines.
Today, these conditions are replicated in “therapeutic rooms” where the temperature is usually set at between 68-75 degrees Fahrenheit (20-24 degrees Celsius) and humidity between 40-70%. All you have to do is to sit in the room for around forty-five minutes and relax.
What is more, there is a study that indicates halotherapy (inhalation of micronized dry salt within a chamber that mimics a salt cave environment) may be beneficial for people suffering from a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Luckily, there is an option you can try at home as when mixed with hot water and dissolved, the pink Himalayan salt can clear up sinus issues and improve any respiratory condition you may be dealing with (including asthma). Just try the recipe below.
STEAMY RECIPE FOR SINUS ISSUES
There is a simple remedy for sinus issues you can try at home. All you have to do is to:
- Bring 1 gallon of water to boil in a pot
- Remove your pot from a stove and place it on a pot holder on your table
- Dissolve 1/2 cup of Himalayan salt in it through stirring
- Lean your face over the pot but keep the distance of around 12 inches to avoid burning your face with steam
- Cover your head with a towel to form a tent that will trap hot steam with salt particles in it
- Breathe as you would normally (for 5 to 10 minutes) and breath slowly and deeply in and out once every minute
Because these pink crystals emit negative ions, you’ll be able to attack your sinus issues with a full force without ever compromising your respiratory (or any other) system.
STEAMY RECIPE FOR SINUS ISSUES
There is a simple remedy for sinus issues you can try at home. All you have to do is to:
- Bring 1 gallon of water to boil in a pot
- Remove your pot from a stove and place it on a pot holder on your table
- Dissolve 1/2 cup of Himalayan salt in it through stirring
- Lean your face over the pot but keep the distance of around 12 inches to avoid burning your face with steam
- Cover your head with a towel to form a tent that will trap hot steam with salt particles in it
- Breathe as you would normally (for 5 to 10 minutes) and breath slowly and deeply in and out once every minute
Because these pink crystals emit negative ions, you’ll be able to attack your sinus issues with a full force without ever compromising your respiratory (or any other) system.
RELATED RESEARCH STUDY:
“Halotherapy [inhalation of micronized dry salt within a chamber] proved to be a highly effective method in a complex sanatorium treatment of patients with chronic bronchitis. Its use promotes more rapid liquidation of clinical manifestations of disease, improves indices of vent function of lungs, especially those values that characterize bronchial conduction (volume of forced exhalations per second, index Tiffno), increases tolerance to physical load, normalizes indices of reduced immunity and leads to increasing the effectiveness of patient treatment in sanatorium.”
– Maev, E.Z., Vinogradov, N.V. (1999). “Halotherapy in the combined treatment of chronic bronchitis patients, in Voenno-Meditsinskii Zhurnal. Vol. 320(6). Pp. 34-37, 96
IMPROVES QUALITY OF YOUR SLEEP
(BENEFIT #7)
A lot of people are fighting insomnia these days. Often they have issues with falling asleep, and even when they do, they wake up tired and fatigued. There are many factors affecting the quality of your sleep.
From high caffeine consumption, psychological and physiological stress, unhealthy food, level of light exposure, to alcohol and hormonal imbalance, all these may make falling asleep a “nightmare”.
Luckily, there is a pink salt that can help you.
A hot salty bath will definitely make you relax and unwind both your body and your mind. When your mind is at ease, and your muscles are relaxed, your sleep is going to become healthier, more rejuvenating, and regular.
It is also a good idea to light a lamp made out of a chunk of this salt half an hour before bedtime. Such lamp produces a dimmed warm light that does not suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that highly affects your sleep patterns.
As already mentioned, the Himalayan salt is rich in many minerals and substances essential for your overall well-being. By switching to it, you will improve the condition of both your body and your mind thanks to various trace minerals such as potassium and magnesium.
RECIPE FOR BEDTIME PASTE
There are many home remedies you can find on the internet for falling asleep. You can try this paste made out of honey and pink salt.
All you have to do is to follow these steps:
- Prepare a glass jar
- Add five teaspoons of raw organic honey and one teaspoon of pink salt
- Mix it well to make a consistent paste
- Dissolve one teaspoon of this mixture under your tongue before going to bed
This way you will give your body every substance it will need to replenish and restore your energy levels overnight during your sleep. Just keep in mind to brush your teeth after it as honey (although healthy in general) can rot your teeth.
RECIPE FOR BEDTIME PASTE
There are many home remedies you can find on the internet for falling asleep. You can try this paste made out of honey and pink salt.
All you have to do is to follow these steps:
- Prepare a glass jar
- Add five teaspoons of raw organic honey and one teaspoon of pink salt
- Mix it well to make a consistent paste
- Dissolve one teaspoon of this mixture under your tongue before going to bed
This way you will give your body every substance it will need to replenish and restore your energy levels overnight during your sleep. Just keep in mind to brush your teeth after it as honey (although healthy in general) can rot your teeth.
RELATED RESEARCH STUDY:
“The low sodium diet [less than 500mg a day] was also associated with disturbed sleep patterns: decreased rapid eye movement and slow wave sleep and increased wakefulness.”
– Vitiello, M.V., et al. (1983). “Sodium-restricted diet increases nighttime plasma norepinephrine and impairs sleep patterns in man”, in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Vol. 56(3). Pp. 553-556
BALANCING OUT YOUR BODY´S ACIDITY & ALKALINE LEVELS
(BENEFIT #8)
The normal pH (potential of hydrogen) level for healthy blood is between pH 7.35 – 7.4 (slightly alkaline) and our bodies try their best to keep it as close to this level as possible. Any deviation from this affects our overall health and a pH level above 7.7 or below 7.0 is incompatible with life.
It is unsurprising that our bodies have a set of complex mechanisms to regulate the concentration of hydrogen ions in bodily fluids.
Although there is a never-ending debate about whether you can directly affect the acidity of your body through the food you eat, salt is a different case.
As Dr. Axe points out on his great website:
“Pink Himalayan sea salt’s rich mineral content can help balance your body’s pH levels. You may think this is no big deal, but when your pH has a healthy acid-to-alkaline ratio, it makes a huge difference in your overall health. A proper pH helps foster your immunity and encourage good digestion. Since pink Himalayan salt contains sodium as well as other electrolytes, it has a direct effect on the pH of your blood.”
There are indications that the acid/alkaline balance is affected by many factors in your life, including exposure to chemicals in your environment, sunlight, sleep quality, stress, physical exercise, the food you eat as well as the water you drink.
Sadly, people follow lifestyles that result in the cumulation of acidic waste in their bodies, the perfect environment in which cancer cells, disease-causing bacteria, fungus, viruses and parasites thrive.
According to HimalayanLivingSalt.com salt plays a crucial role in restoring this balance:
“[W]hether your body is too acid or too alkaline, the salt will help to bring it to normal pH. Because the salt helps remove acidic toxins from the body, the result is that the body will become more normal, slightly alkaline.”
Not only that, they point out the role of sole in increased excretion of animals proteins that are contributing to acidosis:
“A further study showed some interesting allopathic results. All subjects in this study drank one-teaspoon of sole daily. After four weeks, the protein emission in the urine significantly increased for eighty percent of the one-hundred-twenty-three subjects. This shows that the energy pattern of the sole with its innate, natural antagonism towards the proteins, helps and supports the excretion of animal proteins that are difficult to break down.”
If you are looking to promote a true balance between your acid and alkaline levels in your body then preparing a sole from pink Himalayan salt may help you a lot (recipe to make yours is in the section “BENEFIT #1” of this article).
RELATED RESEARCH STUDY:
“This analysis has revealed three independent variables that regulate pH in blood plasma. These variables are carbon dioxide, relative electrolyte concentrations, and total weak acid concentrations. All changes in blood pH, in health and in disease, occur through changes in these three variables.”
– Kellum, J.A. (2000). “Determinants of blood pH in health and disease”, in Critical Care. Vol. 4(1). Pp. 6–14
PROMOTES HEALTH OF YOUR ARTERIES
(BENEFIT #9)
Did you know that you can even boost the health of your arteries thanks to Himalayan salt? There are people who state that pink Himalayan salt can improve your blood circulation overall.
Not only that, Patrick J. Skerrett (Former Executive Editor, Harvard Health) points out one study that undermines the widespread assumption of salt being bad for your heart:
“In this study of 3,681 men and women […] whose health was followed for eight years, participants with the lowest sodium excretion (which is a good measure of sodium intake) were 56% more likely to have died from cardiovascular disease than those with the highest sodium excretion. Among the nearly 2,100 participants with normal blood pressure at the study’s start, sodium excretion (sodium intake) had no effect on the development of high blood pressure.”
As already mentioned, Himalayan salt contains a lot of trace minerals that are necessary for our overall health. It includes calcium and magnesium, both beneficial for preventing a high blood pressure.
This, in the end, could help your body eliminate the damage done to your arteries that could potentially lead to the creation of varicose or “spider” veins.
RELATED RESEARCH STUDY:
“These scientific findings have shown that the significant, positive health benefits of FIJI Water were enhanced in combination with the positive benefits of using a natural crystalline salt solution as a treatment to normalize the self-regulatory system of the human body. The best results were achieved within this group and the individual diagnosed parameters of human organism functions, which also resulted in significant positive changes of the respiratory system, the blood circulation system, the elimination system, the spleen and liver system, the skin system, the metabolic system of all organs including the vessel system as well as the gall bladder, the urinary bladder and the kidney system.”
– Dr. Hendel, B., & Ferreira, P. (2003). “Water & Salt – The Essence of Life”. Natural Resources.
3RD-PARTY FEEDBACK ON PINK SALT
#1. COMMENT FROM DIANA
“I just used the salt mix with warm water and lemon to clear peritonsillar abscess (puss build up in my tonsils). I’ve been dealing with this for the past 4 days. Doctors gave me antibiotics and told me they have to drain the abscess through a procedure but have to wait for a few days to see if the antibiotics make it go away.”
“I couldn’t eat or talk, it was really painful. I was told to do a home remedy since the antibiotics were not helping and the swollen tonsil was getting bigger and painful. I gargled almost a whole cup of warm water, Himalayan pink salt, and lemon. I couldn’t believe how fast this was working. All this yucky green stuff started coming out of my throat.”
“The mixture had some way somehow made a puncture right where the abscess was and the swollen tonsil drained on its own, well with the help of the mixture I gargled. I noticed the soreness was going away, I’m able to talk clearly and my ear pressure disappeared. Coincidence? Idk, but it worked like magic. Just my experience.”
FINAL VERDICT: A SALT YOU SHOULD HAVE AT HOME
There is a tremendous amount of people that could benefit from replacing their daily supply of refined table salt by its much better pink version. Because of its unique composition, it’s able to provide you with some significant health advantages.
Those who are smart and savvy about all-natural remedies rant and rave about Himalayan pink salt (and for good reason). It’s relatively inexpensive today, and getting yours will be one of the best decisions you end up making.
WATER & SALT: THE ESSENCE OF LIFE
(RECOMMENDED BOOK)
