Seawater can be a natural drüg or medicine. In healing history, it is steeped with its extensive benefits. It has 3.5 percent of salt (sodium chloride) on average. This means that in every liter of saltwater, a person can get 35 grams of salts. And then, small parts of calcium, magnesium, and sulfate.
Here are some of the positive effects of seawater on our health and wellbeing.
Helps Improve Circulation
Seawater swimming can help increase blood circulation. Our circulatory system which is made up of arteries, veins, capillaries, and heart, is responsible for carrying oxygen-rich blood from our heart to our body, and then returns blood to our heart again. Bathing in seawater helps restore essential minerals depleted by stress, environmental poisons, and poor diet thereby improving circulation in the body.
Cold Water Therapy
With cold-water swimming, our temperature receptors under our skin are activated thus releasing hormones that have therapeutic benefits for musculoskeletal composition, such as fibromyalgia, a condition associated with pain and tenderness all over the body accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.
Moreover, frequent swimming in a cooler ocean has also shown to increase the body’s immunity and help increase the release of dopamine and serotonin which can lead to an improved function of the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn helps with organ function.
Helps Fight Liver And Kidney Problems
With ocean water, the process of cell regeneration is accelerated particularly for those damaged by diseases such as cirrhosis. It works by eliminating excess water in the abdomen that occurs as a consequence of the disease.
Helps Deal With Skin Conditions And Wounds
Ocean water is considered to be antiseptic since it is rich in sodium and iodine. It has been found to have wound-healing properties.
Swimming in ocean water is recommended for those individuals suffering from skin conditions such as psoriasis.
Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease that causes raised, red, scaly patches to appear on the skin. It typically affects the outside of the elbows, knees or scalp, though it can appear on any location. Since ocean water contains a high amount of minerals (calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, and sulfate), it has been used as an effective remedy for this condition.
According to a study in the February 2005 edition of the “International Journal of Dermatology, bathing in a magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt solution helps promote skin moisture. People with atopic dry skin, or dryness on the skin’s surface, submerged one forearm for 15 minutes in a bath solution containing 5 percent Dead Sea salt. Results showed that the salt solution improved skin hydration and significantly reduced skin inflammation symptoms such as redness and roughness when compared to tap water.
Hay Fever And Sinus Issues
According to studies, people who live by and swim in the sea tend to have healthier respiratory systems. Due to the salty sea environment, hay fever, sinusitis, and respiratory symptoms, such as inflammations, are reduced. Seawater is cleansing and mimics the body’s own fluids in the lining of the airways, it doesn’t irritate them.
Complementary therapy has been using the salty solution in flushing of the nasal cavity in order to reduce inflammation and infection of the sinuses.
Helps Reduce And Eliminate Anxiety
Bathing in seawater has a calming effect which is mainly due to its high levels of magnesium. Having a stressful life? Go to the beach. It has a relaxing atmosphere and soothing medicinal properties.
