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Aside from flavoring our food, salt is supposed to have 14,000 other uses. My favourite is halotherapy, or the practice of maximizing the beneficial effects that salt can bring to our body. Halotherapy has nothing to do with consuming salt in its everyday form, but concentrates on the inhalation of minute particles of natural salt.
On a recent trip to Prague, this spaholic discovered that salt benefits are not just skin deep. The Namakdan Relaxation Center in the Czech capital is a spaholic's haven with its stress-busting and rejuvenating treatments.
In addition to yoga and meditation, the centre is home to a manmade salt cave. Visitors who wish to experience this one-of-a-kind treatment are ushered to the salt-filled cavern and are made to relax in cozy seats.
A session in the salt cave allows the noninvasive and entirely natural supplementation of micro-elements such as iron, which reduces susceptibility to infection; copper, which has antifungal properties; selenium, which fights viral infections and, in combination with vitamin E, blocks free radicals to slow down the skin's aging process; and bromine, which lowers blood pressure and regulates the nervous system.
It has been proven scientifically that a short period in a cave is good for respiratory diseases, asthma, inflammation of the throat, chronic colds, flu, tonsillitis and diseases of the digestive tract. And one need not visit the cave every day. It is believed that the benefits of one salt cave session can last for up to three months.
Salt lamps
But even without the luxury of spending a few minutes inside a natural or manmade salt cave, let alone the resources to find one, the same benefits can also be enjoyed in the comforts of your home. Himalayan Salt Lamps replicate the positive aura you imbibe inside a salt cave.
The heated crystal salt lamp attracts humidity causing the surface of the salt crystal to become moist. It then creates a buildup of ions and removes moisture from your air to reduce allergens and irritants. Now, that's a soothing way to neutralize the negative ions hanging in the air, while adding a striking decorative piece to your home.
In the spa world, salt-derived treatments are in abundance, such as the centuries-old Thalassotherapy which is often used as a detox to treat various medical complaints including psoriasis and arthritis. A soak in a tub sprinkled with bath salts is highly effective in treating back pains, and the highly popular Salt Glow Treatment, a body scrub with salt as the main exfoliant, rejuvenates the skin and makes it smooth and supple.
Now don't take this with a grain of salt. Why not try it to believe it?