According to the organic food resource Mountain Rose Herbs, Himalayan pink salt comes from natural deposits in the Himalayan Mountains. These deposits, which Nepalese villagers harvest each spring, formed some 250 million years ago. The culinary and scientific communities praise Himalayan salt for its health and taste benefits, and some people even use it exclusively as a healthier alternative to traditional table salt. You can find Himalayan pink salt on the shelves of most specialty and health food stores.
Unrefined
Traditional table salt undergoes multiple refining processes before reaching store shelves. According to Jeena's Kitchen, workers treat the salt with chemicals to rid it of minerals---classified as impurities---to obtain 100 percent pure sodium chloride. Workers then heat and dry the salt, reducing it to tiny, sand-like grains, which do not clump together like natural, moisture-laden salts, such as Himalayan pink salt. According to the Global Healing Center, because workers do not refine Himalayan pink salt, consuming it---as opposed to table salt---is less likely to cause or contribute to issues such as arthritis, gout and rheumatism, as well as gall balder stone and kidney stone formation.
Minerals
Due to its natural, unrefined nature, Himalayan pink salt retains many traces of minerals that are responsible for giving the salt its distinctive pink color. According to Jeena's Kitchen, Himalayan salts can contain up to 84 minerals, in addition to sodium chloride, and trace elements including potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium. The minerals, many of which are well known nutrients, help strengthen and relax muscle tissues, expel toxins from the body, regulate pH levels and optimize blood circulation.
Taste
The extra minerals in Himalayan pink salt give it a flavor that is distinct from traditional, 100 percent sodium chloride salt. As Jeena's Kitchen notes, some people prefer the taste of the pink salt. They argue that because of its intense flavor, they use less salt than they would when seasoning with table salt.
In addition, because it is unrefined, pink salt comes in flakes of various sizes and shapes that clump together. These qualities give the salt a distinctively crunchy and textural feeling on the tongue and in the mouth, which is different from the tiny, granular particles of traditional table salt.
Therapeutic
You can use Himalayan pink salts in a variety of therapeutic applications. Some people bathe in a hot bath of water and pink salt to improve skin quality. Some fill a nasal irrigation device with a mixture of water and pink salt to clear out their sinuses. Breathing in the air around Himalayan pink salt can also help clear up the bronchial tubes and ease respiratory symptoms.
Warning
The FDA does not approve or recommend Himalayan pink salt as a medication, so never use it as a replacement for actual medical treatment.
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