Himalayan salt

Salt from Khewra Salt Mine near Khewra, Punjab, Pakistan

Himalayan salt is rock salt or halite from the Punjab region of Pakistan. Numerous health claims have been made concerning himalayan salt, but there is no scientific evidence that it is healthier than common table salt; such claims are considered pseudoscience.[1][2][3][4]

History

Although its salt is sometimes marketed as "Jurassic Sea Salt", this salt deposit comes from a seabed of the Permian and Cretaceous eras 100 to 200 million years ago.[5] This sea became landlocked and evaporated, leaving a dense salt deposit, colored by a common pink microorganism that had lived in it. Salt was probably mined there from that time, but the first records of mining are from the Janjua people in the 1200s.[6]

Himalayan salt is mostly mined at the Khewra Salt Mine in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab, which is situated in the foothills of the Salt Range hill system in the Punjab province of the Pakistan Indo-Gangetic Plain.[7]

Mineral composition

Himalayan salt is chemically similar to table salt. Some salts mined in the Himalayas are not suitable for use as food or industrial use without purification due to impurities.[8] Some salt crystals from this region have an off-white to transparent color, while impurities in some veins of salt give it a pink, reddish, or beet-red color.[9][10]

Uses

Himalayan salt is used to flavor food. There is no evidence that it is healthier than common table salt.[4][11] In the United States, where the salts are manufactured as dietary supplement capsules bearing false claims of health benefits, the Food and Drug Administration warned one manufacturer about inadequate manufacturing practices and illegal advertising.[12]

Blocks of salt are also used as serving dishes, baking stones, and griddles.[13] Himalayan salt is also manufactured into trendy glowing salt lamps, which are hollowed then lit with electric lighting. Numerous health claims have been made concerning salt lamps, but no scientific evidence supports these claims.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Julianna LeMieux (24 January 2018). "Pseudoscience Is Everywhere - Even The Gift Shop Of The American Museum Of Natural History". The American Council on Science and Health. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Sipokazi Fokazi (30 October 2017). "Himalayan salt: Benefits of staying in the pink". Independent Media, South Africa. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Do Salt Lamps Provide Multiple Health Benefits?". Snopes.com. April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  4. 1 2 "David Avocado's Himalayan Salt Debunked". Bad Science Debunked. January 18, 2016. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ Harriet Hall (31 January 2017). "Pink Himalayan Sea Salt: An Update". Science-based Medicine. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Maurer, Hermann (2016). "Khewra Salt Mines". Global Geography. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Weller, J. Marvyn. "The Cenozoic History of the Northwest Punjab, in The Journal of Geology, Vol. 36, No. 4 (May–June 1928), pp. 362–375". JSTOR. Chicago Journals. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Qazi Muhammad Sharif; Mumtaz Hussain; Muhammad Tahir Hussain (December 2007). Viqar Uddin Ahmad; Muhammad Raza Shah, eds. "Chemical Evaluation of Major Salt Deposits of Pakistan" (PDF). Journal of the Chemical Society of Pakistan. Chemical Society of Pakistan. 29 (26): 570–571. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Salt Mines". Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  10. ↑ Freeman, Shanna. "How Salt Works". HowStuffWorks. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  11. ↑ Hall, Harriet (19 August 2014). "Pass the Salt (But Not That Pink Himalayan Stuff)". Science-Based Medicine. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement, and Criminal Investigations - Herbs of Light, Inc. 6/18/13". Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  13. ↑ Bitterman, Mark (January 30, 2008). "Safe Heating and Washing Tips for Your Himalayan Salt Block". Salt News. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017.
  • "Video: Himalayan Salt Cutting process". Folk Market via YouTube. 25 February 2015.
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