Lee Swanson: Hi, I’m Lee Swanson, president of Swanson Health Products. It’s my pleasure today to talk to Dr. Barbara Hendel, author of the best selling book Water and Salt: The Essence of Life and the Healing Power of Nature. The topic of Dr. Hendel’s book is the importance of having the right type of salt, pure natural salt, in our diet and also pure water. Today we’d like to talk a little bit about this specific type of Himalayan salt from the, obviously, Himalayan Mountains. This is the actual salt. It’s a pink salt, and I’m wondering, Barbara, how does this salt form in the Himalayan Mountains? Dr. Barbara Hendel: Well, this salt is about 250 million years old, and it was created when the Himalayan Mountains were created and— Lee Swanson: 250 million years— Dr. Barbara Hendel: 250 million years old, and it’s not polluted because it was under the earth. There was no pollution 250 million years ago in the primal ocean. [The salt] is as pure as the primal ocean. And the Himalayan Mountains were created when the Indian plate drifted to the European plate. Earlier, India was not where it is now, it was in South Africa. Lee Swanson: So the country of India, at one time, I saw the map, was actually attached to the left side of Africa. Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes. It drifted. Lee Swanson: And it drifted north… Dr. Barbara Hendel: It drifted north to the European plate. And when they came together, the mountains [formed and built up]. Lee Swanson: The Himalayan Mountains were created by this pressure. Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes. [They were] created by this pressure. Then the ocean was separated with the tectonic plate movement. Then the water evaporated and the salt remained. [And the salt came in the mountains because of this tectonic]… Lee Swanson: Pressure? Dr. Barbara Hendel: Pressure, yes. The salts remain. Lee Swanson: So what happened then was the ocean had the natural salt content and… Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes and [the primal ocean contained all the elements found on earth] and in a combination [exactly] like the minerals in our body’s liquids; in our blood and tears and… Lee Swanson: Because this salt existed at the time that the first life came on earth and this is really the primal salt— Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes. Lee Swanson: From which all life came. Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes, and then the primal ocean was a 1% solution, nowadays, the ocean [is at] 3.5% because the water has evaporated. Lee Swanson: A much higher concentration. Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes. It’s a much higher, and, therefore when you jump in the ocean and you get water in your nose or in your eyes, it hurts because it’s too high a concentration. When you jump in a fresh water lake, it hurts too because there is no salt at all. But when you take a 1% solution, perhaps for a nasal wash, or for an eye wash, it doesn’t hurt because it has the same concentration as our tears. Lee Swanson: It exactly matches the saline concentration of the… of the 1%. . . Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes. That’s it. Lee Swanson: I also wanted to ask you about the Himalayan salt’s very nice pink color. What causes this pink color? Dr. Barbara Hendel: It comes from the minerals, especially from iron. Lee Swanson: Iron. Dr. Barbara Hendel: Yes. This red color comes from iron, but there are all minerals like magnesium, potassium, [and all other minerals that you need] and in a concentration like you need it. Lee Swanson: All of us are used to eating salt which is a pure white color, but I, I compare a white salt to a white sugar to a white bread. I always believed if a food is white, man probably shouldn’t eat it because it isn’t natural. Dr. Barbara Hendel: Because it’s refined. Yes. Lee Swanson: Exactly. Dr. Barbara Hendel: It’s not natural. Lee Swanson: And that’s exactly the point of the Himalayan salt and this wonderful pink color… Dr. Barbara Hendel: And it’s a really nice color. There is another point that’s very, very impo