Salt is the world’s most essential mineral and is critical to human survival – we need salt in our diet (we just don’t need too much of it). The average adult should consume a teaspoon of salt a day to function.
Salt often gets a bad rap when it comes to our health, bit in fact, it's crucial for our survival and is an important dietary element. But it doesn't stop there, salt is also highly beneficial for our skin, and can be used around the house in a number of ways.
For Your Health
Sodium is vital for maintaining fluid balance and cardiovascular function, and it also plays an important role in nerve transmission, digestion of food and the destruction of food-borne pathogens in the stomach. Clinical studies have also found there is a correlation between salt and mood – an unresolved sodium appetite can induce behaviour characteristics that are similar to psychological depression.
So, salt is a big deal for humans. If a true sodium deficiency occurs, the effects may include brain-swelling, coma and heart failure. Although extremely unlikely that this would happen, it is pretty important not to ignore salt.
At The Salt Box, we get a little bit grumpy that salt has consistently been blamed for a variety of serious health conditions plaguing our country, such as heart disease, stroke and hypertension. And it is true that people who have diets with lots of processed food do consume well above the standard recommendations for sodium. However, the root cause of this is not salt – it is the way people are using salt.
For Your Body
There are many ways that natural salts can be implemented into your health and beauty regime. Whether it’s soaking in a warm, aromatic Himalayan pink salt bath, wrapping an Epsom salt infused washcloth around sprain, strain or sore muscle, or adding Dead Sea salts to your favourite face oil or balm for a refreshing and cleansing face scrub, the restorative qualities of natural salt are truly magnificent.
Read more here.
Around The House
Natural salts can be used around the house in a number of ways. Epsom salts in particular are extraordinarily useful for a range of indoor and outdoor applications, for example:
• Mix Epsom salt with floor detergent for an effective tile cleaner
• Use it to remove gunk build-up in your washing machine
• Keep slugs out of your house by placing salts near any entry points
• Fertilise your plants, flowers and vegetables (magnesium and sulfate are great for producing the primary nutrients needed for plants to survive)
• Scatter on your lawn to keep it green (magnesium is a key element in the chlorophyll molecule in plants)
• Use it as a natural insecticide to get rid of pests