Did you know Dead Sea salt benefits were understood well over 2,000 years ago?

That’s right – not only are you about to get a small history lesson, but you’ll also get a science lesson (as well as a health lesson rolled in, too)!

Here come the flashbacks from high school!  But this time, the teacher is a doctor.

I digress…the reason I wanted to discuss Dead Sea salt benefits is because, in an attempt to return to ancient practices of healing, the physicians here at Health As It Ought To Be have discovered these ancient salts are actually quite beneficial for your health.

This was something locals in the area of the Dead Sea have known quite well for years.

We believe you deserve to know what they know.

The History of Dead Sea Salt

If you’re not quite sure where you’d find the Dead Sea on a map, it rides the border of Israel and Jordan. It’s completely landlocked, similar to a lake, with the Jordan River feeding it and flowing out of it.

Truth is, you’ve likely heard of the Dead Sea before – it’s one of the few places in the world where you’ll float in the water. It’s nearly impossible to sink.

The historian Flavius Josephus, who was involved in helping to prove Jesus’s existence, wrote about the reported healing benefits of the Dead Sea.

Of course, he didn’t have modern scientific instruments like we have to help confirm what he had heard. But in this day and age, we can actually back those claims with evidence collected over the years. 

What we’ve discovered is the Dead Sea is rather unique when it comes to salt water. Unlike the ocean, which is only 3% salt water, the Dead Sea is 27% salt water. So for every gallon of water you’d scoop out of the Dead Sea, you could get a quart of Dead Sea salt.

It’s the salt which truly makes the Dead Sea unique.

Most of the salt found in the ocean is 80% sodium; that’s pretty much table salt. On the other hand, the ratio of sodium in Dead Sea salt is much, much lower. Instead of the salt being made mainly of sodium, it’s actually a much more even balance of minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc, sulfur calcium chloride, and bromide.

It’s this chemical composition that gives Dead Sea salt its amazing healing properties. Sorry, table salt just won’t cut it!

If you’re questioning whether or not sea salt from an exotic location can really do anything for your health, then I invite you to take a look at the following benefits.

They’re quite remarkable!

Five Dead Sea Salt Benefits You Never Knew Were Possible

#1 – It can help treat psoriasis:

Psoriasis is a condition affecting millions. Not only is it painful, but it’s also a cause of embarrassment for many.  Well, it turns out using Dead Sea salts can help banish the condition.

One such study was conducted by Dr. I. Machtey1 on 103 patients suffering from osteoarthritis and tendonitis. Patients were either treated with baths of 7.5%, 2%, or 0.5% Dead Sea salt concentration. Improvement was found after as little as one week of treatment for those treated with 7.5% or 2% salt baths. By the study’s end, 80% of the patients reported less pain, 70% experienced improved mobility, and 60% were able to decrease their use of analgesics.

#2 – It can help you sleep better:

If you haven’t noticed, I write about sleep with some amount of frequency. That’s because it’s of obvious importance for health, and many Americans fail to get either the right amount of sleep or the quality of sleep they need.

Well, using Dead Sea salts can help promote better sleep. This is achieved by soaking in it and allowing one of the principle minerals seep into your skin. This mineral is magnesium, and many people are deficient in this essential nutrient.

Magnesium plays a key role in sleep cycles; thus, a warm bath with Dead Sea salts mixed in can help you sleep better, due to your skin’s absorption of magnesium.

#3 – It can help treat achy joints:

This is one of the more remarkable benefits associated with Dead Sea salts.

As mentioned in the point above, soaking in a Dead Sea salt bath will facilitate the body’s absorption of the minerals in the sea salt. These minerals all have nutritive properties which will nourish tired and damaged portions of the body.

Some of the areas of the body that benefit most are the joints and the accompanying ligaments and tendons surrounding them. Research has shown baths that contained dissolved Dead Sea salt anywhere from 2% to 7.5% salt by volume helped improve patients’ conditions with ease.

In recent research about Dead Sea Salt and its effect on patients suffering from psoriasis, Dr. J. Arndt made a study on fifty patients aged between 14 and 77 years old who were treated with Dead Sea Salts.

The baths were controlled and skin of the patients was thoroughly rinsed with running water. Patients were treated with 3-4 Dead Sea Salt baths per week, for 3 weeks. Results showed that the majority of patients’ symptoms were significantly diminished within the first week of treatment, with steady improvements observed in the following weeks.

The most important noted relief was from the itching associated with psoriasis. More than half (54%) of the patients were totally healed, while 22 cases marked impressive improvements.

#4 – It can help treat eczema:

Another topical skin condition many people battle with daily is eczema.

Many people are confused by the difference between psoriasis and eczema, and though the differences are profound, the good news is Dead Sea salt can effectively help treat both.

In 2005, German researchers were studying what Dead Sea salts could do to help relieve the symptoms of eczema. They discovered when those who suffered from eczema soaked affected areas in salt water that had been mixed with Dead Sea salt, it significantly improved the condition of that area.

This was accomplished via a side-by-side comparison the researchers conducted; they had each patient (all of whom had eczema on both arms) soak one arm in tap water and the other in Dead Sea water.

The results were astounding and lead the researchers to conclude the high magnesium content was what was responsible for the reduction in inflammation in the arm soaked in Dead Sea water, and for helping improve the quality and appearance of the skin.

#5 – It can help relieve stress: 

Most people believe a hot bath is relaxing enough; imagine what would happen when you combine it with this world-class stress reliever.

Soaking in a Dead Sea salt bath can help relieve stress because of the presence of magnesium. Magnesium is essential to over 300 vital functions in the body. When it comes to helping you relax, it assists in improving cardiovascular function, stabilizes cell membranes, is a known muscle relaxant,and much more.

That’s all great news, along with the fact many of the other chemicals found in Dead Sea salt help improve detoxification. This will also help relieve stress, since the purging of toxins are helpful in relieving stress as well.