Pink Himalayan salt is a type of salt that’s naturally pink in color and mined near the Himalayas in Pakistan. Many people claim that it’s loaded with minerals and provides incredible health benefits.
For these reasons, pink Himalayan salt is often thought to be much healthier than regular table salt. Moreover, little research on pink Himalayan salt exists, and other people insist that these extravagant health claims are nothing more than speculation.
This study looks at the key differences between pink Himalayan salt and regular salt and evaluates the evidence to decide which type of salt is healthier.
What is Pink Himalayan Salt?
Pink Himalayan salt is a pink-colored salt extricate from the Khewra Salt Mine, which appears near the Himalayas in Pakistan. The Khewra Salt Mine is one of the ancient and wide-reaching salt mines in the world. The pink Himalayan salt garnered from this mine is believed to have been formed millions of years ago from the evaporation of ancient bodies of water.
The salt is hand-extracted and minimally processed to yield an unpurified product that’s free of supplement and thought to be much more natural than table salt. Like table salt, pink salt is mostly composed of sodium chloride.
However, the natural harvesting process allows pink salt to possess many other minerals and trace essentials that are not found in regular table salt.
Pink Himalayan salt is harvested by hand from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan. It’s minimally processed to provide a natural alternative to regular table salt.
Pink Himalayan Salt Carries More Minerals
Both table salt and pink salt consist mostly of sodium chloride, but pink salt has up to 84 other minerals and trace elements.
These include common minerals like potassium and calcium, as well as lesser-known minerals like strontium and molybdenum. The amounts of these minerals in pink Himalayan salt are very, very small.
They are found in such small quantities that it would take 3.7 pounds (1.7 kg) of pink salt to obtain the recommended daily amount of potassium, for instance. Needless to say, that’s an unrealistic amount of salt to consume.
For the most part, the extra minerals in pink Himalayan salt are found in such small quantities that they are unlikely to provide you with any health benefits whatsoever.
