This months guest blogger is Dionne Stroebel from Blants - Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Is it just an old wives’ tale that an Epsom salt bath will cure you of your ailments?
A 15-minute Epsom salt bath in warm, not overly hot, water will let you absorb magnesium and sulphur through your skin, which brings many benefits.
It might not be the miracle panacea, but here are just 6 of the ways it can help you:
1 – Improving sleep. An Epsom salt bath in the evening will help ease you into a better sleep. The warm water raises your core body temperature. As this drops after your bath, it signals to your mind that it’s time to sleep. The magnesium in the Epsom salt is a muscle relaxant. Relaxed muscles are more conducive to a restful sleep than tense ones.
We need sufficient magnesium to regulate levels of renin and melatonin – hormones that are involved in our sleep pattern. What nicer way to get it than a relaxing bath before bed time?
2 – Easing muscle tension. As mentioned above, the magnesium in your bath salts will help ease those knots and tension that most of us carry, whether exercise or stress induced. And most of us have some stress in our lives, if not enough exercise! Relaxed muscles are less likely to get injured than tense ones. Magnesium also prevents the build-up of lactic acid. So, if you are someone who fits a workout into your day (well done you!) – double bonus.
3 – Easing headaches. This is related to those tense muscles – if your head and neck muscles are relaxed, headaches are less likely. When our magnesium levels are low (as they are thought to be in 80% of us), calcium becomes dominant, which causes tense muscles, spasms, and nerve excitation that can cause headaches. Did you know – magnesium is also just as important for bone health as calcium?
4 – Keeping you regular! Magnesium relaxes the muscles of your digestive tract, and attracts water to your digestive system, which helps free things up and make life easier for your guts. We all need a reminder to keep more hydrated; here’s yours for today – go and drink a glass of water!
5 – It’s a cheap detox in the comfort of your own home; no need to go to an expensive spa! Sulphur is essential to detox our bodies. Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) provides sulphates in an easily-absorbable form, to gently help the body rid itself of waste products and toxins. Sulphur is also very important for our gut health which, we are learning, is intrinsically linked with our overall wellbeing.
6 – Relaxing the nervous system. When we are low in magnesium, our nerves are less able to control things like muscle movement, respiration and mental activity. That’s why we sometimes get twitchy, irritable and on edge. Try absorbing some magnesium a couple of times a week in a warm bath, and see if you can’t shift that ‘edge’, and gain some of these other benefits at the same time.
At the very least, it’s a mindful, peaceful half hour of ‘you time’ that your mind and body will thank you for.
Start with half a cup of Epsom salt, and increase as your body gets used to it.
Use less for children.
No bath? No problem – soak your feet in a tub of warm water with a quarter cup or more of Epsom salt.
Granny would approve!
Thank you to Dionne at Blants. For more on the health benefits of epsom salts, click here.
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Mariana Martin
September 20, 2017
Well you have me convinced! thanks for sharing a great blog read