72 thoughts on “Dr. Mercola’s Himalayan Salt Debunked”

1. I was going to ask the safety of aluminum in food, but then I just looked up the NFPA 704 and decided it’s fine.

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   • NFPA 704 is meant to address the hazards to firefighter or others entering a building containing the substance. For food safety, one should look for FDA or CDC sources like this one:
     https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp22-c1.pdf.
     “Drinking water – The EPA has recommended a Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level (SMCL) of 0.05–0.2 mg/L for aluminum in drinking water. The SMCL is not
     based on levels that will affect humans or animals. It is based on taste,
     smell, or color.
     Consumer products – The FDA has determined that aluminum used as food additives and medicinals such as antacids are generally safe. FDA set a limit for bottled water of 0.2 mg/L.
     Workplace air – OSHA set a legal limit of 15 mg/m3 (total dust) and 5 mg/m3 (respirable fraction) aluminum in dusts averaged over an 8-hour work day. “

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     • Useless info. The writer of the article has no research that is accurately describing the components of the sea salt. And common sense tells u where it is mined determines the contaminants. So describing the areas it is mined and how the contaminants differ would be helpful. Sounds like he just doesn’t like Mercola and that is the only reason for the article.

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       • Mercola himself lists the components of sea salt, including what he and you would term “contaminates”. So, as the article points out, Mercola is calling his own product dangerous. I suggest checking out the links in the references section at the end of the article. They do provide the info we are discussing.

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3. Interesting but, what about an analysis of standard table and Kosher salts please?

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   • Hi Phil. Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m really focused on debunking the claims made by Mercola as opposed to doing nutritional analysis, which is outside my field of expertise. There’s a wealth of information out there written by experts that all points to salt (sodium chloride) being salt–and that’s pretty much it. Iodine is added to table salt for a good reason, and even though Mercola disparages it, it’s listed as an ingredient in his salt too.

     But again, the point I want to drive home in what I’ve written is that Mercola claims his salt is somehow better, even though it contains so many of the elements he says are toxic.

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     • I take anyones complete word that food is “good for you”….we are all different. The food I continue to eat (which isn’t much) is the food that doesn’t give me negative side effects. I can tell you from personal experience, h. pink salt (many brands) causes my body a great deal of pain and discomfort. I become miserable. The only salt I eat is on bacon. That’s it. I don’t add any “salt” to anything else.

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4. I actually watched mercolas video on pink salt. I was amazed at the level of pure bullshit. I did a bit of follow up with Morton on the methods they used to treat their salt products just to establish a baseline bullshit coefficient. I was shocked (but not surprised) to find the bsc approach unity. Nearly all the information presented in the video was false. Percentages, temperatures, compositions,….even the geography was wrong..it doesnt come from nepal at all but the punjabi area of pakistan/india. Just amazing.

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   • Anything to sell us a product 😔 Thanks for reading and commenting

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     • Wow. selling products is something newfangled and specific to Mercola. No others are selling it, even though it’s in every grocery store and I doubt any grocery corporation would object to someone saying Mercury or Radium is dangerous, but they’re still hocking it on their shelves. Meanwhile the medical community , ie. doctors/doctor error, are the 3rd leading cause of death.
       Do you know of any deaths Mercola has caused through gross negligence?
       And , as if MDs aren’t glorified drug pushing pimps for the Big Pharma legalized drug pushers, whose side effects are so elaborate and dizzying, hearing or reading the list of side effects alone could send one to the ER, (to get more Rx drugs, of course).
       I realize Mercola seems like a product peddler , however, he has offered valuable , vital info to people for years.
       I credit his info with saving me several times and for my health being more optimal to this day, even with my periodic bad habits, and health knowledge being more advanced than most based on piles of his research and free info sharing with his followers.

       For instance, over 15 years ago, i learned about the health benefits of coconut oil, unrefined, that the medical and dietary community had shunned as unhealthy, while canola, soybean, and corn oil were given the blue ribbon of good health, far from the truth. They’re cheap omega 6 oils that lead to poor health , which is why they’re found in so many processed foods, something we now know, but that Mercola was saying back in 2000. It wasnt until another 5 or more years that the mainstream began touting the health benefits of coconut oil. The previous studies on coconut oil, decades earlier , were done on refined coconut oil, leading to unfavorable results, which Mercola noted in his findings. I was buying the coconut oil from his site that came directly from the Philippines.
       On another occasion , I learned from his studies he shared on his site and his recommendations that too low cholesterol can also lead to stroke and the medical community demonizing cholesterol, (everything is cholesterol free!) was based on incorrect science and this is even truer today. On a very personal level, his info saved me from ending up on cholesterol lowing drugs, which were suggested to me, by my personal doctor who consulted with a cardiologist, after I had requested some testing be done, based on information i had also learned from Mercola., regarding the fact that the medical community tends to do blood work on cholesterol, triglycerides but not homocysteine or C-reactive protein levels , an inflammation marker. Well, both were elevated.The homocysteine was easy to treat with folic acid, but my personal doctor, who is highly regarded and knows I am fairly well informed about health issues, in general, decided to ask the advice of the cardiologist who suggested I go on cholesterol lowing drugs. I adamantly refused! Why? Again, Mercola’s shared information and studies , the one in particular that showed too low cholesterol can lead to a certain type of stroke. I had showed the study to my dr, previously, and he agreed it was a very well executed study. I also suffer with migraines and there is a link between migraines, stroke and lower cholesterol, which even a neurologist I visited for my migraines, acknowledged. My cholesterol was already under what Mercola suggested was optimal cholesterol, (total), and at the low end of normal range by testing standards, and my ratios were always perfect. I totally credit Mercola’s information for saving me potential harm done by refusing the Rx meds My dr suggested it could have been related to my occasional bleeding gums when i brushed my teeth, so , again based on information I learned on Mercolas site about healthier toothpaste choices, i switched to Jason’s fluoride free, SLS free , and my gums never bled again. That was over 10 years ago. My dr, while excellent, would have never made the suggestion for the toothpaste switch. Why? because dr’s have to adhere to the AMA rigid guidelines , which really entails only offering Rx drugs. Gee, I don’t see a conflict of interest there. Anything to sell another Rx drug, maybe?

       I could go on and on about all the vast information Ive learned from Mercola over the years that I attribute to my good health now, and being in my mid 50s and on no Rx meds, whatsoever, is a deserved credit and accomplishment compared to most my age. I rarely bought products from his site, although, I feel overall, his products are top notch and better quality than most of what’s out there. I never hung on to his every word, and he’s admitted when he found it necessary to update his previous claims based on new information, but let’s note how the media changes , what seems like nearly every day, and, at times, the medical community establishment, findings and new claims about things that will maximize our quality of life and save us from certain death, which seems to be every changing and there’s always a new Rx drug that will fix everything, and of course sponsoring the mainstream “news” sites.

       Overall, i have to say, even with Mercola’s product peddling, I still trust him more, although I don’t agree with everything he’s said or am uncertain if he’s correct but am equally unsure about what the establishment is claiming about certain nutritional guidelines (for the most part, they’ve been wrong and their food pyramid is disastrous with excess grains and too little healthy fats, and we have one of the unhealthiest populations on the planet, with dietary recommendations that are counter to what Mercola has been recommending, for me, personally, grains and too much carbs are disastrous for my health and when eating those “healthy” grains, I feel the worst, the most inflammation, just as his info shows).

       It seems you may want to spend more of your time pointing a finger of accountability at the medical community, at large, who are responsible for so many deaths, along with their legal drug pushing, drugs that kill more than all illegal drugs combined..along with doctor error… you know, incompetency.
       I doubt pink salt will kill anyone and it’s being sold everywhere and there are certainly a slew of food products to target on any grocery store shelf and, yes, many are making some major bucks with various claims about those products that are potentially dangerous in the short or long term.
       I, personally, having not had many serious health issues, but have already been victimized by dr error and incompetency by the time i was in my mid 30s, which is what led to my intense health research , although, i was always interested in the subject. And I still credit Mercola more than anyone else with educating me with info that’s given me relatively good health status today, (if not for my indulgences, I’d be in very optimal health based on his information).

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       • Mercola is selling products with the same ingredients he says are dangerous. How do you feel about this?

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       • Mercola is not trustworthy, and often says things that are not true. Folic acid is not a good thing to ingest. Never use folic acid. The body needs folate, not folic acid. And the source of any vitamin or mineral of any kind should be direct food only. The only type of “supplement” that is safe to take is that that is actual food, such as molasses and cod liver oil. Mercola is more accurate in posts where he is selling nothing of his own and less accurate in posts where is. His website is done in a partially bad-style, not as bad as some ad-based SPAM-type websites but not clean of them like regular websites are either. Selenium is not toxic in any way, as this article claims. Selenium is a nutrient that is required to exist and the reason that mercury is poisonous is because it depletes selenium. This is why fish is perfectly safe as far as mercury goes – the amount of selenium in all but three never-eaten fish is 4x the amount of mercury in the fish, from the ocean. (Freshwater fish should be tested independently per body of water that they came from and all ocean fish should come from Alaska or from a well-treated, soy-and-junk free fish farm that is on land and away from natural water bodies). Please use more trustworthy sources for your main/primary source of information, such as the Weston Price Foundation, Dr. Jockers, and whfoods.com.

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         • Mercury buildup in fish is not safe. I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but it’s scientifically unsound.

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6. Wow. selling products is something newfangled and specific to Mercola. No others are selling it, even though it’s in every grocery store and I doubt any grocery corporation would object to someone saying Mercury or Radium is dangerous, but they’re still hocking it on their shelves. Meanwhile the medical community , ie. doctors/doctor error, are the 3rd leading cause of death.
   Do you know of any deaths Mercola has caused through gross negligence?
   And , as if MDs aren’t glorified drug pushing pimps for the Big Pharma legalized drug pushers, whose side effects are so elaborate and dizzying, hearing or reading the list of side effects alone could send one to the ER, (to get more Rx drugs, of course).
   I realize Mercola seems like a product peddler , however, he has offered valuable , vital info to people for years.
   I credit his info with saving me several times and for my health being more optimal to this day, even with my periodic bad habits, and health knowledge being more advanced than most based on piles of his research and free info sharing with his followers.

   For instance, over 15 years ago, i learned about the health benefits of coconut oil, unrefined, that the medical and dietary community had shunned as unhealthy, while canola, soybean, and corn oil were given the blue ribbon of good health, far from the truth. They’re cheap omega 6 oils that lead to poor health , which is why they’re found in so many processed foods, something we now know, but that Mercola was saying back in 2000. It wasnt until another 5 or more years that the mainstream began touting the health benefits of coconut oil. The previous studies on coconut oil, decades earlier , were done on refined coconut oil, leading to unfavorable results, which Mercola noted in his findings. I was buying the coconut oil from his site that came directly from the Philippines.
   On another occasion , I learned from his studies he shared on his site and his recommendations that too low cholesterol can also lead to stroke and the medical community demonizing cholesterol, (everything is cholesterol free!) was based on incorrect science and this is even truer today. On a very personal level, his info saved me from ending up on cholesterol lowing drugs, which were suggested to me, by my personal doctor who consulted with a cardiologist, after I had requested some testing be done, based on information i had also learned from Mercola., regarding the fact that the medical community tends to do blood work on cholesterol, triglycerides but not homocysteine or C-reactive protein levels , an inflammation marker. Well, both were elevated.The homocysteine was easy to treat with folic acid, but my personal doctor, who is highly regarded and knows I am fairly well informed about health issues, in general, decided to ask the advice of the cardiologist who suggested I go on cholesterol lowing drugs. I adamantly refused! Why? Again, Mercola’s shared information and studies , the one in particular that showed too low cholesterol can lead to a certain type of stroke. I had showed the study to my dr, previously, and he agreed it was a very well executed study. I also suffer with migraines and there is a link between migraines, stroke and lower cholesterol, which even a neurologist I visited for my migraines, acknowledged. My cholesterol was already under what Mercola suggested was optimal cholesterol, (total), and at the low end of normal range by testing standards, and my ratios were always perfect. I totally credit Mercola’s information for saving me potential harm done by refusing the Rx meds My dr suggested it could have been related to my occasional bleeding gums when i brushed my teeth, so , again based on information I learned on Mercolas site about healthier toothpaste choices, i switched to Jason’s fluoride free, SLS free , and my gums never bled again. That was over 10 years ago. My dr, while excellent, would have never made the suggestion for the toothpaste switch. Why? because dr’s have to adhere to the AMA rigid guidelines , which really entails only offering Rx drugs. Gee, I don’t see a conflict of interest there. Anything to sell another Rx drug, maybe?

   I could go on and on about all the vast information Ive learned from Mercola over the years that I attribute to my good health now, and being in my mid 50s and on no Rx meds, whatsoever, is a deserved credit and accomplishment compared to most my age. I rarely bought products from his site, although, I feel overall, his products are top notch and better quality than most of what’s out there. I never hung on to his every word, and he’s admitted when he found it necessary to update his previous claims based on new information, but let’s note how the media changes , what seems like nearly every day, and, at times, the medical community establishment, findings and new claims about things that will maximize our quality of life and save us from certain death, which seems to be every changing and there’s always a new Rx drug that will fix everything, and of course sponsoring the mainstream “news” sites.

   Overall, i have to say, even with Mercola’s product peddling, I still trust him more, although I don’t agree with everything he’s said or am uncertain if he’s correct but am equally unsure about what the establishment is claiming about certain nutritional guidelines (for the most part, they’ve been wrong and their food pyramid is disastrous with excess grains and too little healthy fats, and we have one of the unhealthiest populations on the planet, with dietary recommendations that are counter to what Mercola has been recommending, for me, personally, grains and too much carbs are disastrous for my health and when eating those “healthy” grains, I feel the worst, the most inflammation, just as his info shows).

   It seems you may want to spend more of your time pointing a finger of accountability at the medical community, at large, who are responsible for so many deaths, along with their legal drug pushing, drugs that kill more than all illegal drugs combined..along with doctor error… you know, incompetency.
   I doubt pink salt will kill anyone and it’s being sold everywhere and there are certainly a slew of food products to target on any grocery store shelf and, yes, many are making some major bucks with various claims about those products that are potentially dangerous in the short or long term.
   I, personally, having not had many serious health issues, but have already been victimized by dr error and incompetency by the time i was in my mid 30s, which is what led to my intense health research , although, i was always interested in the subject. And I still credit Mercola more than anyone else with educating me with info that’s given me relatively good health status today, (if not for my indulgences, I’d be in very optimal health based on his information).

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   • Mercola is selling products that are made from the same ingredients he says are toxic. How do you fee about this?

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7. I guess an old saying, from Tarabic Prophecy, holds the truth: “Thou shall live who do not eat.”

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8. I guess an old saying from Tarabic Prophecy is true: “Thou shall live who do not eat.”

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9. My rule of thumb is to never except any one person’s info as gospel truth. If I see something that intrigues me I investigate it from as many sources as possible…pros and cons, and only then do I attempt to make an informed decision. I have never purchased products from any such sites basically because they are generally over priced. I don’t recommend what I do use to anyone else because everyone is different and will have different results, but I do share my experiences only after using a substance if it was agreeable with me after a prolonged period of time. Condemnation without investigation is the highest form of ignorance. (Albert Einstein )

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10. You are tied into the medical establishment & big Pharma who push and sell dangerous rugs. I will take Himalayan Pink Chrystal Salt over that poison junk table salt sold in super markets. I do not believe one word you have said because you are an idiot and stupid.

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    • Dr. Mercola provided the list of ingredients, Bruce. He also made all the quotes about his own ingredients exactly as stated in the article. Which parts of what were written do you find false? Would love to hear back from you. You’ll notice that unlike Mercola, who bans people who point out the snake oil he’s selling, you’re free to comment here. The personal attacks are unbecoming of someone who has a point to make though, so you might want to can those if you have a story to tell and aren’t afraid to tell it.

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      • Mr. Mark:
        I am one of those who have benefitted enormously by Dr. Mercola’s advice. I have also understood after long study of medical literature (my both children are MD’s which helped greatly) that there is a systematic misguidance perpetrated by so called ‘evidence based’ medicine. I do not want to dwell on that here.

        About himalayan salt: I have not heard of any evidence that it has hurt anybody. Dr. Mercola might be peddling his product, However, a very important point needs resolution. In combination with other minerals and substances even the toxic metals present in the himalayan salt addressed in your article may not be harmful. This we may safely say on the basis of what we know so far about lack of harmful health effects of himalayan salt. Probably as Dr. Mercola presented (in somewhat exaggeration fashion) the toxicity of the poisonous metals in isolated form may be of great concern.

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        • Thank you for reading and commenting Vijay. It is Dr. Mercola who claims the ingredients are toxic, so you would have to take that matter up with him. He does not differentiate between the metals being present in isolated form or in combination. In fact, if you read his writings (linked my article), you’ll see that he’s actually concerned with heavy metals being present along with other compounds in products. So I’m sorry, I don’t find the apologetics convincing. Mercola is claiming his own product is toxic.

          A point you did not address, but Mercola does, is the doctor’s claim that the heavy metals present in the salt he sells accumulate in the body over time and cannot be removed naturally. Not coincidentally, Mercola is happy to sell you products to assist with this removal.

          I’m sorry that you do not wish to dwell on evidence based medicine, because anecdotes such as “Dr. X made me feel better” are of very little use in a world where real people are throwing away proven medicine in favor of pseudoscientific snake oil remedies–and often dying from it.

          Thanks again for commenting. Please feel free to follow up if you wish. Mercola has deleted the near half-dozen times I’ve caught him selling products he claims is dangerous. I practice no such censorship here, and welcome the chance to speak with as many of his followers as possible.

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        • The reason why Himalayan salt is safe is because the amount of all of these bad things are less then .001 PPM – Not detectable, except for aluminum. The amount of aluminum is still lower then the amount of aluminum in “iodized salt”. However, the brand Real Salt has less aluminum then Himalayan. It also has less sodium chloride (which is good) and tastes better. In addition, there is only one brand of Himalayan salt which gets the salt from underneath the mountain, which is the salt that was tested for all the extra health claims that were verified in studies. This brand has now added the words “Original” and “Crystal” to it’s title so that it could be differentiated from other brands after other brands started mining Himalayan salt from higher up the mountains due to the health benefits shown with the first brand.

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          • Nobody is arguing the salt isn’t safe–except for the people selling it. They clearly claim that even trace amounts are dangerous and will build up in your body over time. Their claims, not mine.

            Also, mewgirl, you’re one of the few commenters here that I’ve had to toss comments into the trash bin because of excessive foul language and personal attacks against others. You’re welcome to offer an opposing viewpoint, but ad hom attacks severely weaken your already unsound arguments. Keep it clean or keep it to yourself please.

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11. Mark, I find astonishing that most references you provided are articles in Dr. Mercola’s website, and they do alert of the dangers of all these hazardous metals in an understandable and very detailed way (btw, reference 12 is missing the correct link).

    This makes me think that the real problem that led to this paradoxical state (“Hey! I am selling something great, but remember, I told you before it will harm you or kill you!”), is not due to Dr. Mercola himself or the person(s) that wrote those articles, but to those who manage the business/shop in his website.

    This is what I assume it happened: the website’s popularity was too great to be neglected (or to not take advantage of) when the shop business was initiated and the most appropriate market to target was “healthy” products.
    Therefore, all mainstream products that could be acquired and included in the “healthy” bandwagon, without being too controversial according to previous articles, were chosen for inclusion. They probably did not even think that someone could actually investigate the composition of one of those products and compare it with the knowledge provided in the website.
    Since the shop has sold that product a few (or a lot of) times and it provides the business profit, it’s easier to ignore any ethical consciousness telling them to stop selling it. Unless someone can prove that someone really died from taking that product, it does not seem to matter, i.e. profit wins.

    Thanks for letting me know about this problem and realize this, Mark.

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12. the amount of mercury in a single amalgam filling is not in “trace” amounts.

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    • The original dental association made it malpractice for members to use and place amalgam in the 1840’s. Reason for this were quite clear. In 1859 the ADA was established and amalgam use was not malpractice from then until now.

      I know first hand what mercury poisoning does because I ended up with 17 amalgams in my mouth. Today I have none!

      Peace grows with CommUnity….1and1is1.

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13. It’s all very simple, you need somewhere around 60 minerals for the mind and body to function as what we would consider “normal” – Himalayan salt contains almost all 60 and if your body is working as normal it should have no problem ridding of microscopic amounts of toxic minerals. Also, mercury is a meme, a very old and heartbroken meme. Salt is absolutely one of the building blocks of nature and Himalayan salt I’d consider a very good one. This article is garbage.

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    • It’s all very simple. Himalayan Salt contains multiple elements that your hero claims are toxic heavy metals that accumulate in the body and cannot be naturally removed over time. Yet he sells you the salt. Please come back and defend this. I would love to hear from you again. Seriously. Thanks for reading an commenting.

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14. I believe the misunderstanding here is due to the toxicity of inorganic minerals and metals relative to their organic counterparts which are essential for the health of the body. Also, some of it is due to “old science” such as the reports about aluminum’s association to neurological problems which turned out to be a laboratory error. Once discovered and corrected, however, only the erroneous conclusion gets repeated. A good source for information is the $100 billion worth of USDA research in animal nutrition and Dr. Joel Wallach’s publications such as Rare Earths Forbidden Cures as well as many Youtube videos. He’s got a degree in Agriculture, is a veterinarian, naturopath and has been a pathologist for nearly 50 years. He’s intimately familiar not only with the body’s nutritional requirements but the various USDA programs as well as corporate sales tactics that has resulted in our present food related illnesses. There are 90 essential nutrients that the body requires for maintenance and growth that in their inorganic form are indeed toxic. Even arsenic, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals that are toxic in their inorganic form, are required by the body in their organic form, sometimes in only trace amounts, for health.

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15. I saw on Dr. Oz that people who consume himalayan salt it cures barrets esophagus. I have been using himalayaj salt for fours years and since using my gastroenterologist says their is no sign of barrets on my endoscopy ,so I will continue to use himalayan salt.

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    • I’ve never argued against its use. My point is that it contains the very same elements that the quacks selling it say will kil you 😛

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      • I see the logic and agree that there is an actual issue. But why or what makes him a ‘quack’?

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        • Thanks for reading and commenting, Ja.

          “Quack” is a term often used to describe those claiming to have certain medical knowledge, most often dubious, hypocritical or outright wrong, often pushing said “knowledge” for personal gain.

          I believe Mercola falls squarely in that category, and write to back up more claim. Imagine an anti-pesticide doctor who sells a facial cream made with a pesticide. Mercola is such a person.

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16. You’ve debunked nothing for me.. clearly naturally occurring metals is not what he meant. You do realise there’s lead in carrots, for example?? Shoving mercury into your tooth or veins via vaccine is completely different. Get off your soapbox dude.

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    • It’s not different at all. Mercury is mercury. Please explain how it’s different. I’d really like to hear from you.

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      • Are you a chemist? Do you understand how the periodic chart works?

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        • It’s called the periodic table, not the periodic chart. What is your question regarding it?

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17. As far as mercury and aluminum are concerned, there is a big difference between ingesting them and injecting them. These two elements are mostly chelated by the body when ingested, I.E. tunafish and pears, but injecting them (as in vaccines) bypasses all the body’s checks and balances used to chelate and eliminate them from the body.
    Very Big Difference !

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    • Citations? And why are you defending quacks who say not to ingest but then sell products meant to be ingested that contain these same metals?

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18. I’m not sure if you know this or are purposely avoiding to mention it, but each mineral has more than one form, some being toxic and some none-toxic. Hence, while drinking tap water will increase your exposure to HEAVY METAL aluminum, ingesting a natural mineral complex, such as Himalayan salt, will only increase your consumption of a harmless non-toxic form of aluminum. Your body can use or dispose of this aluminum quite efficiently. So please stop “debunking” smart, knowledgeable people with your ignorent scorn and misleading others. Also, petty insults like “quack” a very unprofessional and subjective.
    Have a nice life.

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    • Aluminum isn’t a mineral, it’s an element.

      The claim I am debunking is that the mere presence of these metals is dangerous. They are present in the salt. Please refer to the ingredients list provided.

      Thanks for reading and commenting. Would love to discuss this further with you if you’d like to reply.

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19. Mark, you lost. The smarter people leaving comments have explained things in very understandable terms. You are simply stupid or the medical industry has their hand up your puppet ass… Do yourself a service and admit you lost this debate. Simply, our bodies need these elements and things in their bound form. When they’re isolated and aren’t bound they’re toxic. This is Mercola’s point.

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    • It’s true I’ve seen a lot of factually incorrect arguments. You made a couple in your own reply Frank. For example, your body has no physiological need for aluminum, “bound” or “unbound”, despite your assertions. You won’t readily find it free (“unbound”), Mercola doesn’t argue it’s dangerous “bound” vs. “unbound”, toxicity is determined by a number of factors including but not limited to dose, route of administration, etc. I’m not sure why you’re hung up on “bound”. But please, do go on.

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      • Absolutely. Put simply, for you, “bound” substances are connected to other things in food. When in this form our bodies can use them. For instance, when aluminum is “bound” with other things in a molecular structure, our bodies can then use it to remove the toxic “unbound” aluminum…the kind found in your favorite toxic pharmaceutical soup. Mercola has talked about things like this.

        You’re very correct that toxicity is determined partly by “route of administration”. I assume I don’t have to name the toxic practice that accomplishes this.
        Maybe you should be more hung up on this.

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        • Citations for your aluminum claims? That’s so incorrect that it doesn’t even approach being incorrect.

          Again, your body has no physiological need for aluminum. That includes the scenario you made up.

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20. I stumbled upon this thread in reading about Himalayan salt and radiation. I have used this salt for almost 10 years and have noticed a lot of benefits. I have psoriasis that I have treated externally with this salt and have very successfully kept it at bay for years. I also use it in my cooking. I’m not commenting on Mercola’s marketing and write ups, just stating how good this salt has worked for me. I don’t use Mercola’s products, I buy it from other sources. But I am assuming the ingredients are very similar. I have also not heard of anyone having any negative effects of it. In fact for every negative comment I find, there are 100 positive comments. I have also read studies about the lead content and others, and these amounts are minuscule and not enough to cause any issues. As per researchers.

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    • Well, it’s just salt. I’m certainly not claiming negative effects… I’m pointing out Mercola’s hypocrisy.

      I appreciate your reading and commenting, but with all due respect, you must realize the difference between scientific studies and anecdotes. What helped your psoriasis? No way to tell. Glad you’re feeling better though.

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21. Actually to add to this. This salt is the only thing that has worked after 35 years of trying anything and everything that the medical community has offered.

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22. This information has been a godsend. I am trying to wrap my brain around it all, as I was very close to opening a salt therapy room for the public. Could you please shed some light on what happens when people breathe these elements in? Why do they claim to get such relief from things like arthritis, allergies, etc? Much thanks 🙂

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    • I’m not sure why people make these claims. I don’t know of any scientific studies that back any of it. I’m not a doctor, but this reminds me of the relief people claim from homeopathic “medicines.” There are NO active ingredients in these “medicines”, it’s just water and sugar. Yet I’ve received comment after comment from people swearing they’ve cured myriad diseases. Since it can’t be the “medicine” (there’s nothing there), I have to conclude it’s all in their minds.

      People selling salt therapy products get away with exaggerated claims because of a loophole in American law that lets them make the claims with a disclaimer “this product is not intended to treat or cure any disease and has not been evaluated by the FDA”, or similar. You can sell any snake oil you want and sadly, people will line up to buy 😔

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      • I understand that, and it’s a much deeper subject. What I am truly more curious about is inhaling the salt. Do our tissues absorb the arsenic, cadmium, mercury… and contribute to metal toxicity in our bodies?

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        • The chemists and doctors I’ve spoken with say that the trace amounts of almost all of those elements listed in Himalayan salt, both those claimed beneficial and harmful, are so small that they might as well not be there. In other words, they’re insignificant. Himalayan salt is just salt with some impurities left in.

          The irony I point out in my writing is that all of the sellers of the salt (Mercola, Wolfe, etc.) claim that the heavy metals DO build up over time and cannot be removed from your body naturally. They even sell you products to help remove the metals.

          So the question I’ve posed to Mercola, Wolfe, and others selling this salt but making the heavy metal claims is: why are you selling something you’re telling your followers will kill them?

          I have links to the sellers’ statements about the metal accumulation in each article I write.

          Again, experts I have spoken with say that with few exceptions, there isn’t enough of any of the 84 elements in Himalayan salt to make it different from table salt, except that table salt has an important additive (iodine). So Himalayan salt won’t help or hurt you… it’s just salt.

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          • Table salt does not contain iodine. That is why synthetic iodine is added to it, therefore causing it to continue to contain no iodine.

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          • mewgirl723, table salt with Iodine does have Iodine, usually in the form of Potassium iodide. It doesn’t matter if the Potassium iodide comes from an ancient sea bed or is synthesized in a lab. It’s still EXACTLY the same compound. I think you are hung up on the word “synthetic” and think that lab-synthesized compunds are fake, like fake leather. All the chemicals that are used in labs and industries come from nature originally. The difference is that these are purified to meet specifications.

            A simple way to synthesize Sodium ascorbate is to mix a certain proportion of Ascorbic acid and Sodium bicarbonate in water. What you get is a Sodium ascorbate solution. Not fake. This is how those fizzy Vitamin C tablets work.

            It’s Elementary School chemistry.

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      • Bold-faced lying does not help your case. Homeopathy is extreme watered-down amounts of poisons which they believe helps the same illness that the poison in it’s potent amount causes.

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    • I have had great personal experience from the himalayan salt. I have tested pretty much everything that the medical community has come with to fight Psoriasis. But in my 35 years only thing that has worked is the himalayan salt. Currently there is no known cure for Psoriasis, but the symptoms can be treated. And no, it is not in my mind. Comments such as “Since it can’t be the “medicine” (there’s nothing there), I have to conclude it’s all in their minds.” is showing complete ignorance and is belittling people. But each to their own.

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      • I’m SO glad you found some relief Mike! I’ve read amazing things that salt has done, hence why I want to open a therapeutic room! Cheers to you 🙂

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      • In the case of homeopathy Mike, it’s not belittling anyone: it’s a statement of fact. There are no actual active ingredients. It’s sugar and water.

        So you have people with “it helped me” stories, certainly meaning to do well, misleading others into thinking there is evidence, or the possibility, the product helped.

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        • No point of discussing this with a person who does not believe in evidence. I have no need to make you believe in any product. Leaving this discussion now.

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          • Personal experiences and stories are not evidence, so I’m sorry to see you leave the discussion, as I very much believe in evidence. You just haven’t offered any.

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23. Well Mark,
    I truly distrust one who disputes another yet fails to offer an alternative !!! You guys pick something and tell us how “BAD” it is yet offer no “GOOD”. Always easy to offer criticism yet offer no solution. It’s likely all the toxins you list would be generally found in ANYTHING natural but in quantities so minute.

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    • In addition to the uninformed you try to skew. 1ppm would be one drop of water to 13.2 GALLONS. Most all your contaminates are in like decimals of .0, .00. and .000 !! Bet there are .001 PPM of near any earthly element in the very air we all breath !!

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      • And yet Mercola, Wolfe, Axe, et al claim even trace amounts of these elements build up in your system, can’t be eliminated naturally, and sell you products to remove them 😈

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    • Real Salt brand salt is less contaminated, and tastes better. The Himalayan salt from the very bottom of the mountain mined the original company that first sold Himalayan salt and which all the studies were done with back then that made other companies also want to sell it, is probably also less contaminated, and definitely has higher levels of the nutrients.

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24. Pingback: Food Babe Decks The Malls With Bowls of Folly | Bad Science Debunked

25. I can’t believe I’m about to defend a quack. and this Mercola is a quack.
    Looking at the list tested he probably went to a lab and said “Test for all the elements” and the lab dutifully did so. Probably by ICP-OES looking at the range tested.
    When the mineral says ” — under 0.01 ppm” it means that they tested for it and the sensitivity of the instrument was such that it cannot detect an amount below 0.01ppm. It could be present, it might not be but you can’t tell either way with the instrument used.

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    • MRC’s comment here hits me as the most sensible thing on this page.

      Overall, the rest of the content is pretty much discouraging.

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26. Mercola is great. He knows his stuff and is very passionate about what he does. He speaks against the establishment and the big corporations. That’s why he is bad mouthed. None of his products contain magnesium stearate. Those heavy metal numbers for his salt are very tiny. They are better than other peoples salt and you use only a little salt. The coffee you drink has higher amounts of heavy metals and pesticides. Get his news letter and you will learn a lot. Mercola is the best and I have been buying his products for years. They are the real deal.

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    • Sounds almost like a Mercola employee recommending products there Gary 😉 . If you’re familiar with Merc’s writings, you’ll see that he doesn’t accept any level of heavy metals. One of his famous howlers is a story of the evacuation of a building because of a mercury spill the size of a tooth filling. So sorry, no, but if you read Joseph’s polemics you’ll find that he picks on very tiny levels of elements in other products yet sells the same thing himself. Again, the facts have been laid out for you. I cannot force you to accept them. But Mercola is indeed happy to accept your money. Are you aware he sells a pesticide as a skin care product, even though he’s anti-pesticide?

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