Salt is considered the king of spices. It is a spice that is used in everything. Salt, rich in sodium and chloride, is part of everyone’s food plate. Many health benefits are hidden for health. Salt is not one but several types like – Table salt, Rock salt, Black salt, Sea salt, and Low sodium salt, etc. But today in this article, I will tell about the benefits of rock salt, which is also known as fasting salt, Epsom salt, or Sendha Namak.
What is Rock Salt (Sendha Namak)?
Rock salt is used by very few people in daily life. In India, it is used only for fasting days. This form of salt is very beneficial for our health. It is a very pure salt in which no chemical or other element is present. It naturally contains many mineral elements.
Rock salt is considered the best of all types of salt. According to Ayurveda, it is advised to use it daily. It differs significantly from common salt due to its properties, uses, and health benefits.
Rock salt is a naturally occurring salt. This salt is found as a mineral stone in the northern Indian subcontinent. Rock salt is another name for the mineral halite, its chemical name is sodium chloride. Rock salt is also called Sandhav salt which means that it came from the area of Sindh. It is mostly colorless or white, although its color may vary from light blue, dark blue, and purple to pink, red, orange, yellow or brown depending on the number of impurities present in it.
It is also called ‘Lahori salt’, as it is found in greater quantities in Pakistan. Sendha Namak is also known as Rati Uppu‘ in Telugu, ‘Intuppu‘ in Tamil, ‘Kallu Uppu‘ in Malayalam, ‘Shende Lon‘ in Marathi, ‘Sindhalun‘ in Gujarati, ‘Kalluppu‘ in Kannada, and ‘Saindhava Lavan‘ in Bengali.
Rock salt is a naturally occurring salt. This salt is found as a mineral stone in the northern Indian subcontinent. It is a highly crystalline salt made by evaporating seawater. Additionally, Sendha Namak usually occurs along with borates, halides, and sulfates.
Sodium chloride in Epsom salt is the most prominent component in Himalayan rock salt. In addition to sodium, it is found in high amounts of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, bromine, zirconium, iodine, and contains 84 of the 92 trace elements required by the body. This salt is cooling rather than heating and is much more balanced for Pitta. The presence of all these benefits your body and keeps you away from many diseases and troubles. It also maintaining skin health as well as hair health. Learn about the wonderful health benefits of rock salt.
Eating rock salt is beneficial, but if it is put in water and applied as a bath or spray, it can be more effective(1). This mineral magnesium, found in it, helps in curing various diseases of man.
Nutritional Profile Rock Salt
Rock salt is a type of salt that is extracted from the earth and is primarily composed of sodium chloride. It is often used as a seasoning for food and in various industrial applications. Here is a breakdown of the nutritional profile of rock salt per 100 grams:
- Calories: 0
- Total fat: 0g
- Saturated fat: 0g
- Trans fat: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 39,000mg
- Total Carbohydrates: 0g
- Dietary Fiber: 0g
- Sugars: 0g
- Protein: 0g
As you can see, rock salt contains no calories, fat, carbohydrates, or protein. It is high in sodium, however, with 39,000mg per 100 grams, which is significantly more than the recommended daily intake for most people. Consuming too much sodium can lead to health problems, such as high blood pressure, so it is important to use rock salt in moderation.
8 Amazing Health Benefits Of Rock Salt
Rock salt is unprocessed and raw, devoid of environmental pollutants and chemical components. It is more granular with large chunky crystals, it has a less salty taste. It can be used as a healthy alternative to mango salt (which we consume mostly) as it is rich in minerals and is free from environmental pollutants and chemical components. Some of the health benefits of rock salt are as follows.
- Promotes weight reduction – Reducing increased weight is a fierce research topic among men and women. Meanwhile, some people are following the keto diet and some yoga for weight loss. But today, let me tell you that rock salt is also beneficial in reducing weight. This salt reactivates insulin by reducing sugars, and this causes weight loss. It improves the metabolic rate as well as corrects the digestive system. The increased metabolic rate gradually removes the accumulated fat in the body. For this, drink rock salt in a glass of hot water every morning. And instead of table salt, you can sprinkle some rock salt on your fruits and vegetables.
- Reduces Stress – There is so much work pressure on people that every second person is struggling with stress. If you also have stress and the difficulty of falling asleep due to this, in this case, stress can be reduced to a great extent by taking a bath with rock saltwater or taking the therapy of Floatation-REST. Rock salt maintains levels of serotonin and melatonin hormones in the body. Both these hormones are necessary to reduce the stress level.
- Relieve Digestion – Rock salt is very effective in the treatment of poor digestion. It acts like medicine that improves digestion. Rock salt has laxative or stomach cleansing properties which help to increase digestion. It also relieves your hunger and gas.
- Rich mineral content Some sources say that rock salt contains 84 of the 92 different trace minerals required by the body. Apart from this, it contains a high amount of sodium chloride also.
- Iodine and Sodium Intake Before taking any type of salt, it is important to monitor what is the amount of sodium and iodine in it. Sodium and iodized salt should always be consumed. Pay attention to its quantity. Iodine is an important mineral that the body needs to maintain proper thyroid function and cell metabolism. Second, sodium is limited, which is necessary for the preservation of life. Even people in good health should monitor sodium intake, too much can negatively impact health.
- No Refining Rock salt is unprocessed and raw, devoid of environmental pollutants and chemical components. It is more granular with large chunky crystals. No purification process is done with this salt. Whereas white salt loses natural mineral content during the refining process.
- Blood Pressure This salt is effective in reducing high blood pressure. Yes, it is very true. The intake of rock salt removes the deficiency of electrolytes (Lack of electrolytes). And maintains the pH level of the body. If you also have this problem, then eat rock salt instead of normal salt. This will control your BP.
- Reduces the Yellowing of the Nails Rock salt has beneficial properties to take care of your nails. This salt can easily reduce the yellowness under your nails and make them shine beautifully. For this, scrubbing of rock salt on the nail will remove yellowing.
Benefits of Rock Salt Hair
This particular salt is laced with nutrients and minerals, which offers a cooling effect.
Many hair products found in the market use chemical and riding serum, the best hair loses its shine and makes the scalp dry. Rock salt removes dirt from your hair without stripping it of its natural healthy oils and is used as an ingredient in hair treatment. All you have to do is add rock salt to your shampoo. Take as much shampoo as you need and mix it with salt. And massage your hair with it for some time and then wash it.
Himalayan Rock Salt benefits hair include stimulating hair growth as well as provide hair with a healthy shine.
Benefits of Rock Salt Skin
Rock salt enriched with minerals is also used in making soap, shampoo, wash, body scrub, spa, etc. It removes toxins and dead skin cells from the body and causes an improvement in the appearance of your skin by increasing circulation.
Massage your skin with a scrub of rose water mixed with salt and refine your skin.
It can be utilized for different skin types. Moreover, it is quite good at balancing out various salt, which makes it beneficial for acne-prone and oily skin. It also promotes blow flow as well as assists in livening up the skin.
Rock Salt VS SEA SALT: you should know
Rock salt and sea salt are both types of salt, but they have some differences in terms of their source, composition, and potential health benefits. Here are some of the key differences between rock salt and sea salt:
- Source: Rock salt is extracted from underground salt mines, while sea salt is harvested from evaporated seawater.
- Composition: Rock salt is primarily composed of sodium chloride, while sea salt also contains trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium, which give it a slightly different flavor and appearance.
- Processing: Rock salt is often processed and refined to remove impurities, while sea salt is typically less processed and may contain more natural minerals.
- Potential health benefits: Sea salt is often touted as a healthier alternative to table salt because it contains more natural minerals and may help regulate fluid balance and improve heart health. However, the evidence for these health benefits is limited and the amounts of these minerals in sea salt are generally small.
Overall, both rock salt and sea salt can be used in cooking and as a seasoning, but it is important to use them in moderation and as part of a balanced diet. Neither type of salt is inherently healthier than the other, but sea salt may offer some additional minerals that are not present in rock salt.
Conclusions
Minerals found in rock salt work to protect us from many diseases. This salt produces digestive juices. Rock salt is used in many medicines of Ayurveda. This salt is prepared without refining.
Rock salt has a long history of being used as an effective medicinal herb for various issues such as stomach problems, sinuses, colds, and even muscle pain.
