Article - Urgent!: Himalayan salt contains high levels of fluoride

[Guest guest]

This

article is from the PFPC -- Fluoride Education Project web site.

http://bruha.com/pfpc/index.html

I’m

tossing all my Himalayan and will be using only RealSalt. . .

Dana

“Himalaya Salt”

[contains high levels of fluoride]

©2003

PFPC

http://bruha.com/pfpc/html/himalaya.html

Over

the last few years a new scam has emerged in Europe

which is rapidly spreading across the world. It involves ordinary rock salt

from the “salt range” in Pakistan being marketed as

luxurious and healing “Himalaya Salt”. It is also sold as

“Himalayan Crystal Salt”, “Hunza-Kristallsalz” or

natural “Kristallsalz”, “VitaSal”,

“AromaLife”, etc.. The scam is currently being introduced in India and the United States. It will result in

very high overall fluoride intake in anyone who follows the various

“therapy recommendations”.

What happened?

During

the late 1990s recordings started to appear in Germany, featuring a monologue by a

self-proclaimed “biophysicist” named Ferreira. The monologue

centered around the “marvelous healing energies” of “Himalaya

Salt” (Himalaya Salz) and “living waters” (Lebendiges Wasser)

-> mineral or springwaters (“Quellwasser”). This special salt

was allegedly coming from the high mountain regions of the Himalayas,

“untouched by human contamination”, containing “84 elements

essential to human health”.

The

tape was copied and passed on by thousands. The salt was sold at a price much

higher than ordinary salt, up to 200 times as much. It was common to see it

being sold for 24 Euros per kilogram.

Lectures

were organized and a video called “Water & Salt” (“Wasser

& Salz”) was shown to packed houses (Zeit & Geist, 2002). A book

with the title “Water & Salt - Essence of Life” by

Ferreira and Dr. med. Barbara Hendel became a runaway bestseller in 2002 -

simply by word of mouth, even spawning a glossy magazine with the same title.

[The book is currently being translated into English and slated for release in

the US.]

Within

months “Himalaya Salt” became all the rage in Switzerland, Austria

and Germany, quickly

spreading to Denmark, Holland and other European

countries.The European alternative health industry was quick to jump on the

bandwagon and an article on “Himalaya Salt” praising its superior

qualities to conventional salt became the most-read article on the German site

of “Alternative Health” (“Alternative Gesundheit).

“Himalaya

Salt” sales are consistently in the Top 10 of “alternative health

products”. Originally marketed on the Internet, there are now countless

varieties of products containing “Himalaya Salt” available,

including herbal salts, bath salts, facial masks, cosmetic lines, as well as

salt lamps and tealights. Many international websites can now be found praising

and selling this “Elixir of Live”, “Fountain of

Youth”, or “salt of life”.

The

salt comes as fine salt to be used for cooking, or as salt crystals or blocks

of salt, to be used for daily “sole” drinks and baths, oral rinses,

eye baths, and inhalation therapy. In addition, the salt is marketed

extensively for other uses, and there are now tealights or “salt

lamps” (used as natural “ionizers”), a complete cosmetic line

including soaps, facial sprays, body lotions, “peeling” lotions,

hand creams, steam bath aids, sauna aids, bath salts with rose petals, and

shower gels.

Fluoride & Iodine

Ironically,

“Water & Salt” proclaimed that iodine and fluoride are

“highly toxic” and should never be added to cooking salt (August 4,

2002). This statement immediately seemed odd to a sceptic, as both

“toxins”, fluoride and iodine, were also listed among the

salt’s “84 natural elements essential for the body”.

The

fluoride/iodine issue nevertheless became a cornerstone in the promotional

campaign. Valuable books on the un-wanted effects of fluoride (Ziegelbecker)

and iodine supplementation (Braunschweig-i) were found in the on-line bookstore

of “Wasser & Salz”. However, W & S failed to inform the

public that this very same “Himalaya Salt” may easily possess more

fluoride than conventional, artificially fluoridated salt. Numerous analyses

which had been posted on the web by AromaLife AG itself (Switzerland’s biggest

distributor of “Himalaya Salt”) - to show that it complied with

CODEX regulations - showed this clearly.

Fluoride in Mineral Water

In

addition, the “Water & Salt” people also started to recommend

mineral waters which qualified as “living waters”, and handed out

“Seals of Quality”. One such water, Artesia received this

recommendation, although containing 1.02 ppm of fluoride - a fact which is

aggressively marketed by the company which firmly believes in the proclaimed

“fluoride benefits”.

Origin of “Himalaya

Salt”

It is

claimed that the “magic salt” is coming from the Karakorum (Ferreira, 2002). However, as

pointed out by the group TourismWatch (No.28 and No.30) there is no salt mine

to be found anywhere in this Himalayan region. Most of the salt was coming from

the second largest salt mine in the world, in Pakistan. After the boom began, it

was found that even ordinary road salt was being sold as “Himalaya

Salt” by ruthless opportunists.

Public Health Response

The

responses by the Public Health Departments in Switzerland

and Germany

have been on the verge of the comical. The Swiss “Fluor-und

Jodkommission” warned the public against the scam and issued statements

of concern about the influx of imported specialty salts such as “Himalaya

Salt”. In 2001, the SEV warned that under no circumstances could this

salt “without fluoride and iodine” ever substitute for the Swiss

salt. At no point did it apparently occur to the health agencies to conduct

their own analyses on the product!

Applications:

Cooking/Baking

Not

only is “Himalaya Salt” marketed as the best alternative to

conventional cooking salt - and to be used in all cooking and baking as well as

table use - it is also to be sprinkled onto already prepared foods. New

varieties of herbal salts are also now available. Every morning a teaspoon -

sometimes more - of a 26% “sole” solution is added to a glass of

mineral water and routinely drunk by millions.

Topical Applications

Salt - Baths

As

one of the “best applications” people are advised to bath with this

salt once a week, or with “moon baths” during new and full moons.

1 to 1.5 kg is added to 80 - 100 liters of water. Temperature is to be between

35 and 37 degrees celsius for a length of a minumum of 15 to 20 minutes (up to

2 - 3 hours!). At 1 kg in 100 liters, and at a fluoride content of 300 ppm,

this is the same as bathing in water fluoridated at 3 ppm. Not much different

than the fluoridated baths which were used with great success by Gorlitzer von

Mundy in the treatment of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism (Jod Basedow) for over

30 years! In addition, people are advised to bath their feet in a 10% salt/water

solution, which results bathing the feet in water with a fluoride content of 30

ppm.

Personal Care Products

Daily

topical fluoride intake is assured by use of the cosmetic line which includes

soaps, facial sprays, body lotions, hand creams, shampoos, steam bath aids,

sauna aids, bath salts with rose petals, and shower gels. Complete cosmetic

lines are now offered by Aromalife, as well as “Wasser und Salz”.

Inhalation

People

with asthma and like-conditions are advised by “health trainers” to

add a little “Himalaya Salt” (10%!) to hot water and to inhale this

concoction for 10 to 15 minutes with a covered head, three times a day.

Oral Health

People

are advised to use this salt for toothbrushing. One will get “white

teeth” and the “dental enamel gets dissolved”, it is

claimed...! Of course it is also advised to rinse the mouth with the same sole

which is drunk in the morning.

One

is reminded of the incredible feat by Mr. “Dead Doctors Don’t

Lie” Dr. Wallach and associated independent distributors who have managed

to con people into believing that the “All Natural Tooth Gel” is a

“safe natural alternative to fluoride toothpaste”, although the

actual label on the toothpaste specifies sodium fluoride as ingredient!

Rainer

Neuhaus

PFPC Germany