It is commonly used by athletes to treat muscles that are aching, and gardeners use it on plants to increase the size of their plant. This is Epsom salt, of course. Epsom salt has a long tradition of diversified use as well as benefits for beauty, health, household cleaning and outdoor gardening.
Epsom salt is a natural exfoliant and anti-inflammatory treatment that can be employed to treat muscle sores or dry skin and can also combat internal health problems. Simply add Epsom salts to the next foot soak or bath to give you a luxurious and rejuvenating spa at-home experience. As opposed to other salts touch with Epsom salt won’t cause dry skin. In fact, it leaves the skin feeling smooth and soft.
Another major benefit of this extraordinary salt is its magnesium content. According to a study, you could suffer from a magnesium deficiency the levels of magnesium in your blood are normal. In addition, it’s been observed that the majority of people require 300 milligrams of magnesium a day in order to lower their risk of developing numerous chronic diseases.
This is just one of the many reasons to include this salt in your routine.
What Is Epsom Salt?
Epsom salt takes its name from a bitter saline source situated at Epsom situated in Surrey, England, where the salt was first isolated from water. It’s distinct from other salts since it’s actually an organic compound made of magnesium and Sulfate. It was initially made from mineral water. However, today it’s mostly extracted through mining operations.
The chemical formula for magnesium sulfate can be described as MgSO4. This means that it can be broken into sulfate and magnesium that is a mixture of oxygen and sulfur. The salt is comprised of small crystals that are colorless and look like table salt. Table salt, however, is different from Epsom salt because it is made up in sodium chloride.
What is the process behind Epsom salt function? It is a source of magnesium, a mineral that is essential to the human body’s performance. Some of the most important functions of magnesium are keeping blood pressure in check, heart rhythm steady and bones strong. The other ingredient that is the most important sulfate is a crucial mineral to many biological processes. It assists in flushing out toxins. detoxify the liver and aid in the production of proteins in the joints and brain tissue.
Health Benefits
1. Enhances Magnesium Levels
The proper levels of magnesium are absolutely key to good health, but it is extremely common to have low levels of magnesium. Alcoholism, diarrhea that is severe, malnutrition or high amounts of calcium (hypercalcemia) can all contribute to hypomagnesemia or a lack of magnesium. Simply bathing your feet or the whole body in a bath with Epsom salts, you can boost magnesium levels naturally without taking magnesium supplements.
Magnesium regulates more than 300 enzymes within the body and plays a significant role in organizing many bodily activities. This is a crucial function that includes muscle control power production, energy production, electrical impulses, and elimination of harmful toxins.
Magnesium deficiencies can be linked to many chronic illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, along with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). By increasing your magnesium levels by taking external application or Epsom salt, you’ll be able to help prevent or treat several health problems that could be prevented.
2. Reduces Stress
Is soaking in Epsom salt good for you? We’ve all heard the recommendation to have an excellent soak in a warm bathtub after an exhausting day. Whether it’s rough physically, mentally or both, a hot (again but moderately warm) bath is such an excellent way to relax and relieve stress. If you’re looking for ways to boost the relaxation benefits of the long, relaxing soak make sure to add a teaspoon to two cups of Epsom salt in your bathwater. It’s not just that magnesium can assist in relaxing your muscles it can also relax your mind.
According to research by The University of North Carolina, hypomagnesemia increases stress reaction. Additional studies have revealed that magnesium exerts a powerful influence on the stress response and excitability. Magnesium salts, like Epsom salt, have the ability to lower stress and improve the neuropsychiatric conditions.
Magnesium plays a crucial role in the production of energy within cells. In the event that you take more magnesium it can help you feel rejuvenated and relaxed, without being agitated. It’s more calm and energy than how people feel revived by the consumption of caffeine.
3. Eliminates Toxins
The sulfates contained in Epsom salt aid in the body in flushing out contaminants. That provides a heavy metal removal from cells of the body. This will help reduce the accumulation in the body of harmful substances. Human skin is an extremely porous membrane. When you add minerals such as magnesium and sulfate to your bath water, it starts an process known as reverse osmosis. This process literally pulls salt out of your body and dangerous toxins along with it.
In a weight loss and detox program and detox plan, baths that include baking soda and magnesium sulfate are frequently suggested. However, this doesn’t mean Epsom salt loss in weight is actually “a matter of course,” but since the salt can help reduce the retention of water and help eliminate it (more on that in the next section), it’s not an ideal idea to include it to a holistic way of losing weight.
4. Relieves Constipation
Can you drink Epsom salts? Epsom salt is an FDA-approved laxative that is commonly employed to help relieve constipation naturally. If taken internally, it functions as natural laxative by expanding the amount of water that the intestines absorb and removing your colon from waste. A compilation of studies that were which were reported in Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology states that there is solid evidence that Epsom salt “has powerful laxative effects in vitro by releasing Neurotransmitters as well as digestive hormones.”
Internal use of magnesium Sulfate may provide some relief from constipation for a short period, but like any laxative, Epsom salt for constipation is not intended to serve as a long-term solution or a substitute for a nutritious diet rich in fiber.
If a laxative is essential, you should try to stay clear of many of the toxic laxatives that are available currently. Why? They’re often made up of artificial colors, flavors and dangerous chemicals. To consume magnesium sulfate in a drink one of the most common suggestions is to dissolve one dose into eight ounces of water. Mix this up and drink all of it immediately. You can add a tiny portion of the juice of a lemon in order to enhance the taste.
Drink plenty of water while eating or taking an Epsom salt laxative to avoid dehydration. Magnesium sulfate taken orally should induce bowel movements in thirty minutes to six hours.
5. Reduces Inflammation and Pain
A warm bath containing Epsom salt is known to reduce pain and ease inflammation. This makes it a beneficial natural remedy for sore muscles migraines (including migraines) and arthritis pain.
Warm water bathing is among the oldest methods of alternative therapy for arthritis. If you include Epsom salt the bath is much more relaxing. According to the Arthritis Foundation:
The data gathered from scientists at National Academy of Sciences show most Americans don’t have adequate magnesium. This mineral that’s vital for heart and bone health. One method to remedy this issue is by bathing in … Epsom salts. They’re fairly inexpensive and can be found at grocery or drug stores and could improve magnesium levels by as much up to 35 percent according research at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
Do you have a painful and annoying stick stuck in your hand? Put the area affected in warm water and Epsom salt. The fragment should come off of the skin quickly! Repetitiveness after childbirth? Epsom salt can help with it, too. In general, healthy levels of magnesium from Epsom salt consumption can reduce general body inflammation as magnesium deficiency has been associated with higher C-reactive protein, which is a sign of inflammation within the body.
6. Improves Blood Sugar Levels
Type 2 diabetes is usually caused by extracellular as well as intracellular magnesium deficiencies. In addition, high levels of magnesium have been linked to a lower likelihood to develop diabetes. As you’ve learned, Epsom salt is a great mineral source.
A regular intake of Epsom salts, either orally or transdermally, may help regulate blood sugar which can reduce the risk of developing diabetes and boosting energy levels. Always consult with your doctor prior to using any new diabetes remedies.
7. Volumizes Hair
The addition of Epsom salts to your hair products will help reduce excess oil. Oil excess can leave hair looking dull and heavy. A simple method to make your own volume-enhancing conditioner is at home to mix equal amounts of conditioner and salt (example: two tablespoons conditioner plus 2 tablespoons Epsom salts).
After shampooing as usual After shampooing, apply the volumizing mix to hair, coating that from your scalp down to the ends. Leave the mix in for 1o to 20 minutes prior to washing. This is a fantastic routine hair treatment.
8. May Boost Plant Health
Epsom salt usage in gardens is popular and has a good reason — it works as an organic fertilizer. Epsom salt is thought to increase the vibrancy of plants. It may also assist to make them grow stronger and even larger, although some experts remain skeptical. Still, many gardeners love using Epsom salt to treat tomato plants, roses and peppers Some people even believe it boosts yields of plants.
A few suggested methods to use Epsom salt for plants include:
When planting vegetables or roses Sprinkle a tablespoon of Epsom salts in the planting hole.
Combine one teaspoon of salt for each gallon of water to use as a foliar spray, and spray it on when flowers begin to bloom and again when young fruit is seen.
9. Helps Breathing Problems
Magnesium sulfate has also shown success as a natural treatment for bronchial asthma. A study published in 2012 points out that magnesium sulfate “has been viewed as an adjunct therapy to severe and life-threatening asthma exacerbations.”
The first use of magnesium in the treatment of asthma was actually reported back in 1936. Studies have demonstrated that magnesium relaxes bronchial smooth muscles in a dose-dependent manner. Today, the use of magnesium sulfate intravenously is an alternative therapy to standard treatment for severe and acute asthma exacerbations.
10. Helps Prevent Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia can be a risky pregnancy-related complication that is marked in elevated blood pressure. Magnesium sulfate is one of the strategies that some medical professionals and mothers apply to improve or help to reduce the risk of preeclampsia. It has been proven to have in vivo and in vitro vasodilator qualities.
What exactly is vasodilators? It’s a drug that helps to widen blood vessels and improve blood flow. Magnesium sulfate is particularly well-known for its use in the treatment of severe cases of preeclampsia to prevent the progression to eclampsia. Eclampsia is when seizures begin to occur in women suffering from preeclampsia.
Uses
1. Epsom Salt Bath Recipe
It is no doubt that One of the most common Epsom salt uses is inclusion in baths. The combination of Epsom salt with baking soda and lavender oil results in an easy bath recipe that helps you calm down, relieve the tension in your muscles and recover all-around both mentally and physically. Explore the Homemade Healing Bath Salts recipe.
Recommendations of how much Epsom salt you need for bathing are subject to change. To make the perfect Epsom Salts Detox Bath, include at least 2 cups Epsom salt to bathwater and soak for 40 minutes total. The first 20 minutes allow your body time to flush out toxic substances from your system while the final 20 minutes allow you to take in the minerals that are in the water and help you get out of the bath feeling rejuvenated. Be sure to drink plenty of water prior to, during and after the bath to protect yourself from dehydration as well as increase your detoxification.
Epsom salt is a crucial ingredient in many recipes for detoxifying baths. It can be used as a standalone salt for soaking, or blend it with dried plants and essential oils for the ultimate bathing experience.
2. Epsom Salt Foot Soak
If you’ve never attempted a DIY foot bath or detox foot bath, you’re overdue to see the benefits Epsom salt can provide for your feet. Incorporating Epsom salts to a bath for your feet can help boost magnesium and provide relief for tiredand sore feet.
In addition, Epsom salt can help infections. Infusing an infected foot or another part of the body in magnesium sulfate can help draw out toxins and promote healing of the infected tissue.
3. Bone and Joint Pain Relief
In a bath or compress, Epsom salt may offer some relief from the pain you are feeling. Consider soaking in a soothing bath with Epsom salt it is a well-known home remedy for joint and bone pain.
4. Heel Spur Aid
As magnesium is a key component of healthy bones Epsom salt may be the ideal holistic cure for a heel spur. A displacement of calcium on the bone can cause the formation of a heel spur on the lower part of your heel. Heel spurs can range from mild to severely painful. One method of healing the heel spur is to soak your feet in a warm (but but not overly hot) bath with Epsom salt, which helps alleviate pain and inflammation.
Risks and Side Effects
Do not use a greater amount of Epsom salt than the package label recommends or as your doctor directs. Magnesium sulfate taken orally can make it difficult for your body to absorb other drugs that you consume by mouth particularly antibiotics. Be sure to avoid taking any other medication within 2 hours prior to or after you take magnesium sulfate as a laxative.
If you experience rectal bleeding or you don’t get bowel movements after taking magnesium sulfate as a laxative, stop using the medication and call your doctor immediately. These are signs of a more serious condition.
Magnesium in all forms and forms, including Epsom salt, must be used with caution in patients with renal failure, since its processing is done by kidneys and may reach toxic levels easily in those patients. Magnesium sulfate is often employed to treat eclampsia and preeclampsia in pregnant women. However, women who are nursing or pregnant should generally exercise caution and consult their physicians prior to taking the medication.
Common side effects of excessive intake are mild stomach upsets, including nausea, abdominal cramping , or diarrhea. A serious adverse effect of magnesium sulfate excessive consumption include allergic reactions (rash, hives, itching, breathing difficulties tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, face, lips or tongue) dizziness, flushing as well as the feeling of faintness, irregular heartbeats and muscle paralysis, or weakness, severe drowsiness and sweating. Tell your physician immediately if experiencing any of these symptoms after using Epsom salt. Severe side effects caused by Epsom salt are uncommon when used at the recommended doses.
As always, if you have any questions, pregnant, nursing, being diagnosed with a medical condition or are currently taking medication consult your physician prior to any use, either external or internal.
Final Thoughts
Epsom salt also known as magnesium sulfate, has a long history of use as a holistic cure for a variety of health concerns.
The benefits include an increase in magnesium, stress reduction, toxin elimination the pain and sugar improvement.
Salt is also a natural treatment by arthritis experts to alleviate joint pain and inflammation.
It’s also utilized to treat breathing problems like asthma, and also help women treat or prevent preeclampsia or eclampsia.
It is usually taken internally for constipation relief. While it’s an excellent alternative to many conventional laxatives however, it isn’t intended to be a long-term solution.
Epsom salts can be used as a house or garden plants as an organic fertilizer that can boost the health of plants and increase their growth.
Try a salt bath (bath or feet) after a long day, and don’t be surprised if you feel a lot more relaxed when you’re done.