Whether floating in your bath or in a floatation tank consider the remarkable health benefits of pure magnesium sulphate salts.

Recent research in Birmingham University, at the School of Biosciences has shown that magnesium and sulphate will pass through the skin, raising the levels detected in the blood. This can have important benefits to health because both magnesium and sulphate deficiency are common.

Magnesium is found in vegetables and grains, depending on the quality of the earth in which they are grown. However many soils are magnesium deficient either naturally or through over-cropping. Magnesium is also found in sea water. It is essential to life and deficiency is linked to many diseases including cardiovascular disease.

Sulphate is also essential to life in several ways in that it is essential for the formation of proteins in joints; for digestive enzymes and the gut wall lining; is essential to the formation of brain tissue and is also involved in detoxification. It is not easily absorbed from the diet which means bathing in magnesium sulphate is therefore a significant, safe and easy way to correct deficiency.

Any surplus is naturally removed by the kidneys, just as it would be if there was a surplus as a result of your diet. The recommended amount for regular bathing is 1% solution which means 10g per litre. A standard bath holds about 60 litres of water which means you need about 600gm. A four person hot tub holds about 1000 litres requiring 10 kg of spa salts.

Most normal commercial bath salts are based on common (and cheaper) salt, Sodium Chloride, not on Magnesium Sulphate. Sodium Chloride is generally speaking derived in the diet in excessive quantities, and absorbing more through the skin is not recommended.

The benefits of Magnesium Sulphate also apply to floating where the concentration is much higher. We now see that as well as the healing effect of muscle relaxation, capillary dilation and endorphin generation through floating at body temperature, the added benefit of Magnesium Sulphate is absorption through the skin. www.floats.co.za