We hear so much about salt, you must reduce salt intake, protect your heart from salt, too much salt can affect blood pressure. So its great news that there is positive news about salt. There are different types of salt - sea salt - this is dried straight from the ocean and used on food. Table salt which is mined but has been stripped of most of its goodness. Most common table salt is composed of 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals like iodine and absorbents. Processing Salt turns it into sodium chloride, an unnatural salt the human body actually sees as a toxic invader. The body cannot dispose of it in a natural, healthy way which can lead to inflammation of the tissues, water retention and high blood pressure. Common salts are dried at more than 1,200° Fahrenheit, a process which zaps many of the natural chemical structures. Common table and cooking salt found in most homes, restaurants, and processed foods is void of any nutritional value, lacking beneficial trace minerals. So avoid it! We have Salt mines here in the UK but these were sold to the Americans and now used for mineral removal and storage facilities. We the UK no longer own our own mines.
However there are great salts out there. A large mine is in Poland and most of us have heard of Himalayan Salt with its distinct pick colour. Its actually mined in Pakistan at the Khewra Salt Mine which is a fair distance from the actual Himalayas.
However its health properties are not in question. Its teeming full of minerals and when a salt lamp is heated it creates a ‘Salt Halo' which is used as a therapy to aid breathing. Its a bit like walking by the sea and breathing in the salty air. Its full of negative ions and is highly beneficial. Himalayan Crystal Mineral Salt is over 250 million years old, pure and untouched by today’s pollutants and is basically solid sea water from millions of years ago.
We now know how great a salt lamp is when used in the house or office. When the bulb inside the lamp heats the Salt crystals, the Himalayan Salt releases negative ions – counteracting the positive ‘pollutant’ ions in the air. However we can also add this healthy salt into our lives in a different way. That's by holding it. Salt Crystals - either heated up or chilled in the fridge - are a great way of receiving some of the many minerals within the crystals as well as making you feel relaxed and people say adding calmness into their lives.
I now have a number of salt lamps in my treatment room, one for your feet so you can sit with your feet on this while we talk, plus several salt crystals which you can hold - hot or cold - to make you feel even more relaxed.
Himalayan Salt as like all crystals, minerals and precious gemstones, is made up of minerals. So if there is iron present, it alters the colour to a pink red or orange colour. Selenite (white) with iron is a bright orange.
In Britain, any place with "-wich" in the place name usually means it was once a source of salt, and in Roman Britain soldiers were often paid in salt as it was highly prized. This became the word 'Salary' over time.
So salt can be very good for you - but chose wisely and sprinkle that pink stuff onto your food, in your bath and hold it!!