A while ago at work there was this
patient who had chronic foot pain and with all the treatments she had, there
was no relief. She ended up having an MRI done only to discover that it was a
normal study. Frustrated she went to a podiatrist and what he told her to do
amazed me but it worked. She is now pain
free. What was it he told her to do? Soak in Epsom Salts for 2 weeks, that's
it. How cool is that?
So my next thought was how and why
does this work? So, in my quest for knowledge I came across tons of info
regarding these wonderful salts. I always knew that soaking in a tub full of
hot water with a few cups of Epsom Salts was good for relaxing muscles and
drawing toxins from the body, but I could never figure out why. It wasn’t until
I spent some time at the Epsom
Salt Industry Council web site that
I learned that Epsom salts—made of the mineral magnesium sulfate—are also a
sedative for the nervous system. When magnesium sulfate is absorbed through the
skin, such as in a bath, it draws toxins from the body, sedates the nervous
system, reduces swelling, relaxes muscles, is a natural emollient, exfoliator,
and much more. How awesome is that?
About Magnesium, it can be
ingested as a nutritional supplement, but studies show that a wide variety of
factors - the presence of specific foods or drugs, certain medical conditions,
even the individual chemistry of a person's stomach acid - can interfere with
their effectiveness. All of the subjects in a recent study experienced
increased magnesium levels from soaking in a bath enriched with magnesium
sulfate crystals, commonly known as Epsom Salt.
Raising your magnesium levels may:
Improve heart and circulatory
health, reducing irregular heartbeats, preventing hardening of the arteries,
reducing blood clots and lowering blood pressure.
Improve the body's ability to use
insulin, reducing the incidence or severity of diabetes.
Flush toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances.
Improve nerve function by
regulating electrolytes. Also, calcium is the main conductor for electrical
current in the body, and magnesium is necessary to maintain proper calcium
levels in the blood.
Relieve stress. Excess adrenaline
and stress are believed to drain magnesium, a natural stress reliever, from the
body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to bind adequate amounts of
serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of
well being and relaxation.
While increasing your magnesium
levels, Epsom Salt also delivers sulfates, which are extremely difficult to get
through food but which readily absorb through the skin. Sulfates serve a wide
variety of functions in the body, playing a vital role in the formation of
brain tissue, joint proteins and the mucin proteins that line the walls of the
digestive tract. Sulfates also stimulate the pancreas to generate digestive enzymes
and are believed to help detoxify the body's residue of medicines and
environmental contaminants.
A few more uses for these salts:
Add one or two cups of Epsom salts
to warm bath water for a soothing and stress-reducing soak.
Massage a handful of Epsom salts over wet skin to cleanse, exfoliate, and soften the rough spots.
Use a warm salt-soaked compress to reduce swelling from scrapes, use a cold compress to take the sting out of insect bites.
Read more about Magnesium in my
next blog post!
To your health!
Comments