If you're into cooking, you may have noticed that newer recipes are calling for
Pink Himalayan Salt (PHS) to replace table salt. With its delicate rose-like color, pink Himalayan sea salt is easy to distinguish from the salt that most are used to. And its use is not limited to cooking. This versatile salt is marketed for culinary, therapeutic, and cosmetic uses.
Himalayan salt is harvested at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains, which stretch 1,500 miles across Asia. The salt comes from a rock salt mine located in Pakistan - specifically the
Khewra Salt Mine, the second largest mine in the world. The mine stretches 748 ft deep and has 11 separate stories. Tunnels run nearly half a mile into the mountain, under which the salt deposits are found. To keep the space from collapsing, only 50% of the salt found is mined.
www.trekearth.com
Pink Himalayan sea salt contains an amazing
84 natural elements and minerals that are vital to our health, including magnesium, potassium, calcium, chloride, phosphorus, and iron. These minerals give the salt its distinctive pink color and make it one of the most popular rock salts in the world. It's completely natural, boasting no chemicals or additives, and its health benefits are worth the switch from table salt.
Here is what will happen if you make the switch to Pink Himalayan Salt for 30 days:
1. Keeps You Hydrated
What? Yes!
Salt is crucial to proper hydration. In fact, water follows salt within your body. Too much salt causes water retention (you probably knew that one!), but at the same time, too little salt causes dehydration because you body doesn't hold onto water. Many sports drinks boast certain electrolytes to improve performance. Pink Himalayan Salt naturally contains all those electrolytes and more (without the added sugar) in a
form easily assimilated by the cells.
2. Regulates Blood Pressure
Normal blood pressure relies on healthy blood flowing through pliable blood vessels, and with a balance of electrolytes,
Pink Himalayan Salt contributes to healthy blood pressure. Both table salt and PHS contain mostly sodium chloride (NaCl). So what makes PHS better?
Himalayan sea salt contains a wide range of trace minerals. Two trace minerals, when found in the right balance,
contribute to cardiovascular health. These are zinc and copper, found naturally packaged in Pink Himalayan Salt.
Refined
table salt has all trace minerals removed during processing. Ironically, these minerals can be sold to companies that repackage them as mineral supplements! When the minerals are gone, manufacturers add chemicals into table salt, including anti-caking agents. Anti-caking agents repel moisture to keep the salt dry. This may help salt pour easily, but anti-caking agents cause table salt to repel water inside your body, too. We already know that the right balance of water allows for healthy blood flow. Table salt makes for more viscous blood, and sludge blood can increase blood pressure.
It's a delicate balance of water and electrolytes. Change that delicate balance, and you may be looking at high blood pressure.
3. Detoxifies The Body
If you've ever had any processed food from a box, can, or package, you've eaten industrial table salt. This is the fast food of salt! It's a highly processed and toxic form of something that is essential to our bodies. The first way to detox the body is to swap table salt for pink Himalayan salt.
Table salt adds toxins, while Himalayan salt adds minerals and electrolytes that encourage a natural movement of water into and out of our cells. You may want to consider a
salt water flush, which can improve digestion and relieve constipation, all while pushing toxins through various elimination pathways. I think you get the idea: in one way, out the other with toxins in tow.
4. Gives You An Energy Boost
Fatigue or a foggy mind can often be attributed to a loss of electrolytes in your body. Pink Himalayan sea salt can be
absorbed more quickly into the bloodstream than table salt, allowing the body to restore the electrolyte balance and give the brain a relaxing boost. PHS aids the body's communication system: we are electrical beings, and
electrical impulses rely on salt to transmit information throughout the nervous system. For example, when the brain tells you to move your legs to walk, salt not only helps with the electrical impulse that sends the message, but it also participates in the muscle contractions that make your legs move!
The sodium and trace minerals aren't the only important players in Pink Himalayan Salt. Chloride in PHS is easily metabolized by the body and used in hydrochloric acid (HCl) -- stomach acid. Without strong stomach acid, your body cannot properly digest all those awesome foods you're eating. You need to break down foods and digest them properly to use all the nutrients, and your energy levels depend on getting the nutrients you need to have more energy and think more clearly.
Try this: thoroughly mix a pinch of PHS in a tall glass of pure water, and drink that first thing in the morning for the next 30 days. Or fill up a pitcher (a liter) of water and thoroughly mix in 6-8 tablespoons of PHS, and let the pitcher sit out for several days or weeks to activate the rock salt; use a little of this "activated solé" each day by adding it to all water you drink or use for cooking. See if your body wakes up to a new-found energy!
5. Balances The Body's pH
Maintaining a balanced pH in the body is key to staying healthy. Pink Himalayan sea salt
promotes balance between the acid and alkaline levels in the body. When we eat acidic foods like meats and grains, our bodies pull alkalizing minerals to counteract the acidity. Pink Himalayan Salt contributes the alkalizing minerals sodium, calcium, and magnesium (for potassium, check out
these foods).
Need another reason to throw out the table salt and replace it with pink salt?
Pink Himalayan Salt has other uses for the body, too. It can be used as a sleep aid, purify the air, and provide allergy relief. Mixing a little Himalayan salt into some hot water can
clear up sinus issues and improve respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Even a crystal salt rock lamp can help:
Himalayan Pink Salt lamps collect moisture from the air, trapping impurities (bacteria, mold, toxins) and releasing the moisture back into the room. They also emit negative ions which helps to purify and clean the air and give you a better night's sleep.
Add Pink Himalayan Salt or living sea salt to your day, and ditch the processed table salt. In fact, just
inhaling the salt will make a difference in your life. You'll see amazing changes in your body!
Sources:
Khewra Salt Mines
Livestrong.com
Sea Salt Health
Himalayan Living Salt
Watercures.org
Albion Minerals
Healthwyze.org
Dr. Josh Axe
Collective Evolution
The Salt Mystery
Energy Fanatics
Prevention Magazine
Mercola.com
Natural Living Ideas
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