Take a Therapeutic Dip with Bath Salt

Sea salt is acquired through the process of evaporating the seawater. It finds a wide use in cooking and making cosmetic products. It differs in taste than the table salt, which is pure sodium chloride obtained by refining mined rock salt or sea salt. This salt is produced by many costal areas of the world and is costlier than table salt. However, as evaporation is the prime process for producing such salt, in warm and dry regions this is done by using solar energy. But in colder zones or in other climates fuel is required to carry out the process. Therefore the industry of producing salt from seawater by and large exists in nations that enjoy the Mediterranean or warm and dry climates.

The history of sea salt production dates back to Iron Age. It contains Chloride (55.03%), Sodium (30.59%), Sulfate (7.68%), Magnesium (3.68%), Calcium (1.18%), Potassium (1.11%), Bicarbonate (0.41%), Bromide (0.19%), Borate (0.08%), Strontium (0.04%) and others by 0.01%.

Salt that is produced by evaporating the sea water that brings a different taste in food, although as low in iodine content it does not make a healthy substitute for table salt. Besides finding a culinary usage, it is also used for making bath salt. In fact, the salts from the Dead Sea Israel is said to be endowed with immense therapeutic effect. The renowned cosmetic manufacturers use salt of the Dead Sea to make salt used in bath.

Bath salt is a water soluble and inorganic product that is added in a bath to have an effective cleaning and medical improvement. They are said to be providing the therapeutic results of natural mineral baths or hot springs. The composition of such salt includes magnesium sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium sesquicarbonate and borax. Besides these, substances like soap, foaming agents, effervescent agents, oil, sodium citrate, fragrances and colors are often added to it. Its existence dates back to ancient China and Greece. There were instances where patients were immersed in the sea water to heal various aliments.

Bath salt has a large range of therapeutic effect. They have some positive upshot on the muscles and nervous system. Such salt when mixed with water changes the osmotic balance, thus bringing down the amount of water that is usually absorbed by our skin. This lessens the chances of wrinkling of the skin due to prolonged exposure to water. Magnesium sulfate which is an ingredient of this bathing agent has an anti-inflammatory effect. There are salts used in bath that acts like detergent, thereby softening dead skin and helps in skin regeneration. There are salts, which when dissolved in water can soften hard water. Hard water does not lather well with soap therefore doesn�t give a perfect cleaning experience. Presence of these salts enhances the specific gravity of the water thereby increasing buoyancy that makes your body feel lighter in the bath. High concentrations of such salts are mixed in water to carry out flotation therapy.

Vyacheslav Kolomeisky is author of this article on Dead Sea Salt. Find more information about Dead Sea Products here.