Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Sal do Himalaia" in Portuguese language version.
As is often the case with nutritional controversies, pseudoscience slithers into the picture. In this case it is in the form of “natural” alternatives to table salt with insinuations of health benefits. Himalayan salt, which is composed of large grains of rock salt mined in Pakistan, is touted as a healthier version because it contains traces of potassium, silicon, phosphorus, vanadium, and iron. The amounts are enough to color the crystals, giving them a more “natural” appearance, but are nutritionally irrelevant. Some promoters make claims that are laughable. Himalayan salt, they say, contains stored sunlight, will remove phlegm from the lungs, clear sinus congestion, prevent varicose veins, stabilize irregular heartbeats, regulate blood pressure, and balance excess acidity in brain cells. One would have to have a deficiency in brain cells to believe such hokum. It doesn’t even rise to the level of taking it with a grain of salt.
