Pink Himalayan Salt Benefits + 6 Ways to Use it

We’ve all heard it before, watch the salt! But for as much as salt gets villianized, the reality is, not all salt is created equal. If you haven’t tried the pretty pink stuff, you’re missing out. Once you discover the many pink himalayan salt benefits, plus the six ways to use it, it might just change the way you think about salt forever.

Pink Himalayan Salt Benefits + 6 Ways to Use it

The reality is modern day foods contain a huge deficit of minerals. Years of increasing population and mass production have eroded and depleted the soil of valuable trace minerals that would naturally come from deep within the earth, and our water supplies are filled with toxic chemicals instead.

Minerals are necessary to sustain many different functions within your body down to a cellular level, in fact you can have every other nutrient in your body, but if you don’t have minerals your body won’t function properly.

Simply put, you cannot live without salt. It’s an essential mineral for life. If it’s the right kind.

Himalayan Salt vs Table Salt

Table salt doesn’t exist in nature. Salts from nature, in their pure form, contain tons of naturally occurring minerals. Commercial table salt is chemically cleaned, bleached, and processed at such extreme heat that the entire chemical structure becomes altered and all but one mineral (sodium chloride) are stripped away.

Sodium chloride makes up 97.5 percent of table salt and chemical additives such as synthetic iodine and moisture absorbents to prevent caking make up the remaining 2.5 percent.

This kind of salt is extremely difficult for your body process, so instead it accumulates in organs and tissues causing burden on your elimination mechanisms. Your body is forced to use large amounts of water from cells to try and “wash” out the excess sodium chloride it can’t get rid of leading to excess fluid in body tissues.

Hence the term “water weight”, causing things like cellulite, puffiness, high blood pressure, gout, kidney and gall stones, and arthritis.

To make matters worse commercial salt is in virtually every packaged food on the market. The RDI of sodium chloride is no more than 1500 mg and the average person consumes 4,000-6,000 mg a day, with some using upwards of 10,000 mg a day.

Himalayan salt, on the other hand comes from crystallized sea beds deep within the Himalayan mountain range, once covered by lava rock hundreds of millions of years ago keeping it protected and unadulterated from pollutants and contaminants.

Containing over 80 minerals, evident by it’s many shades of pink, all the energy collected from the primal ocean and sunlight is locked into the salt beds creating a matrix of incredibly powerful, bio-available and even vibrational energy similar to the elements in your body.

The particles of himalayan salt are so small that they’re able to penetrate your cells easily and are readily absorbed instead of negatively accumulating in tissues and organs like table salt.

6 Ways to Use Natural Himalayan Crystal Salt

1. Seasoning

A super healthy and easy swap is to switch out commercial table salt in your kitchen for pink himalayan salt. This or celtic sea salt is the only salt I cook, bake, and ferment foods with. Unless using a recipe that calls for a specific amount you actually need less of it since the flavor is more concentrated. This is a great way to incorporate healthy trace minerals into your daily diet while ditching the processed salt.

Tip: For a delicious salty protein snack loaded with healthy fats and minerals soak raw almonds overnight in a bowl of purified water with himalayan salt. The next day strain the almonds, discard the water, remove the skins (they will rub off between your fingers), and enjoy! Your nuts are now easier to digest, and oh so satisfying.

If you plan to increase intake of salt, even unprocessed/unrefined, but have kidney disease it’s best to consult your health practitioner first.

2. Salt Sole

I look forward to starting my morning each day with salt sole (water saturated with himalayan salt). Immediately you’ve just set your body to alkalize mode and kick start the elimination of toxins. You’ve also started your body off in a state of electrolyte balance by saturating your cells with a nice dose of mineral hydration for increased energy.

Salt sole promotes healthy adrenals, thyroid, and balanced hormones in general which also contributes to restful sleep, and hydrates muscles reducing and eliminating cramps.

Tip: Replace your usual cup of morning coffee with sole. If you’re not ready or wanting to kick your coffee habit have your salt sole upon arising, on an empty stomach and about 30 minutes before your cup of joe. This simple little habit will add an alkalizing buffer to your stomach to help counteract the negative acidic effects of coffee.

How to make salt sole:

  1. Fill a glass jar (I use a small mason jar) 1/4 full with himalayan salt stones, or crystals. Fill almost to the top with purified water and cover with a plastic lid (avoid metal, as it corrodes from the moisture it can release other metals and chemicals into the salt) and leave on your counter top.
  2. Upon rising in the morning add 1/4-1 tsp of salt sole to 8 ounces purified room temperature water and drink immediately. The amount varies for each person, it will take some experimenting at first to get the right amount that your body requires, your water should taste pleasantly salty but not overwhelmingly salty.
  3. Leave the same water in your salt sole jar (it’s natural anti-bacterial ability makes it last forever) adding more water as needed and more stones or crystals, they should always be visible in your sole.

3. Detoxifying Bath

Add 1 cup salt stones or crystals to a hot bath. It’s a great way to draw out toxins, soften the skin, ease muscle cramps or just relax and soothe tired, sore muscles and feet.

Tip: Detoxification peaks during a New Moon and absorption peaks during a Full Moon. Get the most out of your salt baths during these phases.

4. Salt Cave or Salt Inhaler Therapy

Common in Europe, and becoming more so in the U.S. are places offering an alternative treatment in a salt room which replicates the microclimate found in salt caves. A typical 45 minute session is said to treat things like bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, and skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

A salt inhaler can be used to achieve the same benefits at home. It’s a quick and convenient thing to do while watching your favorite TV show, or listening to some music, to clear your respiratory system. It’s a porcelain jar with a spout that you fill with himalayan salt, place your mouth over the spout, inhale through your mouth and exhale through your nose for at least 10-15 minutes a day.

5. Neti Pot Therapy


A neti pot is great for people who suffer with allergies, to clear nasal congestion from a sinus infection, or any other sinus congestion. They come in ceramic which I prefer and plastic (nice for traveling).

They are great for intermittent use when needed to get rid of infection or bad microbes but I wouldn’t suggest using them on a daily basis since you don’t want to kill all the good bacteria inside your nasal passages.

Follow the instructions for use and make sure to use distilled water and not tap water.

6. Salt Lamps

I love the soft beautiful glow of salt lamps, they look great in any room, provide a soothing bedroom environment, and make great nightlights. That’s just the cosmetic side of these lamps.

The real importance lies in their ability to clean the air and reduce toxic EMFs (read more about the little known dangers of EMFs here). This makes them great to have in offices near computer equipment and electronics.

They also help to purify the air by producing negative ions that attract allergens like dust, dander, and pollen, all positive ions suspended in the air. Once they land on the surface of the lamp the negative ions neutralize them and prevent them from being airborne any longer. A case where “opposites attract” is just what you want. You can also get salt candle holders which are very pretty.

What are your favorite ways to use himalayan salt? Share in the comments below!

12 Comments

  1. George

    Hi Jess,

    I love coming to your site. There is always exciting new information on the simplest of things.

    I mean who knew you can use pink Himalayan salt to creat lamps for cosmetic purposes but also clean the air and reduce toxic EMFs! Pure genius!

    I am definitely going to bookmark your post for future reference.

    1. Jess

      Thanks so much George! Yeah the salt lamps are pretty amazing…I have a few in various rooms of my home. I like to keep one close to my computer since I’m on it quite a lot (keeping up this website :) and love them in our bedroom. They really do help. I hope you will try them out :) Thanks for reading!

  2. Dominic

    Hi Jess, I must say I have never heard of pink himalayan salts until I read your post here. But I have to say, after reading your post here, I feel like getting one for myself too. Out of the 6 ways on how to benefit the salts, the no. 6 which is using it as a salt lamp intrigued me the most. I mean using a pink himalayan salt as a lamp? How cool is that hehe. Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing the benefits of this wonderful unique salt from Himalaya :-)

    1. Jess

      Hey Dominic! Glad you enjoyed the post. The lamps are the coolest…I have a few :) I highly recommend them, especially if you spend a considerable amount of time on a computer. Let me know how you like them :)

      1. Dominic

        Hi Jess, what spends a considerable amount of time on a computer got to do with having a pink Himalayan salt lamp? Just curious hehe..

  3. Jovo

    Hi Jess, great to read your text about Himalayan pink salt. I have it on the table in front of me while I am reading your text, we keep it all the time there, the same color as the one you show in the pictures. I realized that in spite of having it at home, I did not know much about it. I have heard about slat lamps but this is first time I see them here in your text. So, thank you, I learned quite a lot from your text.

    1. Jess

      Thanks for stopping by Jovo! I’m happy you enjoyed the post and hope you keep enjoying your himalayan salt. You should give the salt lamps a try, they’re really great, I love mine :)

  4. shelby

    Hi Jess
    We have been using pink himalayan salt for about a year now, but I had no idea it had other great benefits! I cant wait to try out the detoxifying bath and I am also really interested in the lamps. I have terrible allergies and am willing to try just about anything… Where is the best place to get one?

    1. Jess

      Great! I’m glad I could shed some light on the benefits for you. Enjoy your baths, and you should definitely check out the salt lamps, I love mine. On the “shop” page of this site you’ll find “clean air for home”. I would recommend checking it out, probably most helpful for allergies is the HEPA air cleaner, it has made such a huge difference in the air quality of our home that I won’t ever be without one again. This, with the addition of the himalayan salt lamps has been awesome. Hope this helps :)

  5. Jeff

    I really enjoyed reading your page. I had no idea Himalayan salt had so many benefits. Your page is very thorough and informative. I recently purchased a Himalayan salt lamp for my bedroom which I absolutely love. It does look great and I even use one as a night light for my son’s bedroom. It has a very soothing and calming quality to it.

    1. Jess

      Thanks! Well, now you know you that the lamps you chose are not only soothing but offer lots of other benefits – so, great choice! I agree – they make wonderful night lights – great idea for kids rooms! We use ours every night in the bedroom and elsewhere in the house :)

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