Pink Himalayan salt is a rock salt mined in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal and Tibet. Its name was derived from the popular Himalayan pink salt dish on the television program "The Great Salt Lake". The dish featured a dish called Nan Hob, which literally means "nameless salt". In the dish, the salt was being prepared by straining it with water and then adding herbs and spices that were boiled into the water. The combination of the ingredients gave the dish its signature pink colour.
Pink Himalayan salt comes in different forms. Most common are crystal granules and crystal smooth flat disks. It can be used as an alternative to table salt because it contains no added salt or other additives. It may contain trace minerals, though. The Himalayan Pink Salt has been shown to have trace elements like sodium and potassium, as well as calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium.
Today, Himalayan pink salt mines are still being mined in Nepal and Pakistan. Large deposits have already been extracted from areas in Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim. Demand for the product continues to grow, even in the face of decreasing supply. Some governments and companies have begun to mine for gold, silver, and copper in response to the rising need for these elements. The availability of this mineral-rich salt may provide new supplies for these industries and may help to balance out the current natural resources problems.
One of the largest salt mines in the world is the Khewra Salt Mine in Uttaranchal State. It took scientists more than a century to fully mine this mine and bring it to market. This mine is the world's second-largest natural salt resource. It takes one full year just to produce enough salt for use by the residents of India. Although it takes centuries to produce a ton of salt sufficient for consumption, it's still important to consider how natural and minimally processed it is.
Many Himalayan pink salt manufacturers to make health claims about their products. While the Himalayan brand isn't known for making health claims, some of its competitors are. For example, Kewra Salt is a direct competitor, and both brands include sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is known to be harmful if taken in high doses, so most manufacturers choose to list it as an ingredient on their labels instead. It is not a commonly prescribed drug, and its use has been limited by the FDA.
Himalayan pink salt is mined in two places: The foothills of the Himalayan Mountains and the foothills of the Ganges. The latter is considered to be the purest salt in the world because it comes straight from nature. There are no factories or refining facilities necessary to extract the mineral content of Himalayan salt; rather it is harvested directly from beneath the surface of the earth. It's also shipped from mine to mine, so there are no artificial preservatives or additives added during the refining process. As a result, Himalayan salt has the natural mineral content that's unrivalled for its purity and flavour. In addition, Himalayan salt can help relieve:
In order to enjoy its mineral content in its most natural form, Himalayan salt should be kept at room temperature. You should never keep it near a freezer because this will decrease its freshness. Also, it's not advisable to dip it into seawater because the minerals won't remain as effective when mixed with seawater. Instead of sea salt or regular table salt, try investing in Himalayan pink salt because it contains all the best natural minerals known to man sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sulphur, silicon, manganese, and sodium chloride.
Himalayan salt comes in many types. Depending on the type of mineral content, each salt type can either benefit your body or harm it. It's important to know which type of Himalayan salt will work best for your needs because not all salts are created equally. For example, the salt mines in the Himalayan Mountains are the highest on the planet, so their salt is much higher in sodium and much lower in chloride than the salt in inland basins. This makes Himalayan salt more effective for salty foods and less so for foods with a higher concentration of chloride.