Social media is awash with wellness trends, including those promising quick weight loss. One such trend involves adding Himalayan pink salt to water and drinking it first thing in the morning. Proponents claim this "pink salt trick" aids weight loss, improves skin, and detoxifies the body. But does this trend live up to the hype? This article examines the science behind the pink salt trick and offers evidence-based alternatives for weight management.
What is the Pink Salt Trick?
The pink salt trick involves mixing Himalayan pink salt with water, sometimes adding flavorings like lemon and honey. Social media influencers tout this concoction as a morning ritual with various benefits, including improved digestion, hormone regulation, and fat burning. However, many of these claims lack scientific backing.
Does Pink Salt Promote Weight Loss?
Registered dietitians and nutrition experts are skeptical about the weight loss claims associated with pink salt. Carla Hernandez, R.D., a dietitian specializing in women’s health, states, "There’s no scientific evidence that Himalayan pink salt promotes weight loss. Pink salt works in the body just like regular table salt, with a few more minerals." The trace minerals in Himalayan pink salt, such as magnesium, potassium, and calcium, are present in negligible amounts, making their impact insignificant. Hernandez likens them to "sprinkles on a cupcake: They add color, but not enough nutrition to matter."
The Role of Water in Weight Loss
While pink salt itself may not directly contribute to weight loss, increasing water intake can be beneficial. Drinking more water can support weight loss by replacing sugary drinks and helping individuals differentiate between thirst and hunger. Studies have shown that drinking water before meals can lead to greater weight loss compared to simply following a reduced-calorie diet. A study found that participants who drank 500 ml of water before each meal lost approximately four more pounds than those who did not. Another study in 2021 indicated that replacing sugary beverages with water was associated with lower weight gain in older adults.
Potential Benefits of Lemon
Adding lemon to your water, as some proponents of the pink salt trick suggest, may have a minor impact on digestion. Bree Phillips, a registered dietitian at UCSF Health, references a study that found lemon juice leads to faster gastric emptying compared to water. Gastric emptying is the process by which food moves from the stomach to the small intestine. However, it's important to note that lemon juice is not a magical weight loss solution.
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Context Matters: When Salt Can Be Beneficial
While the pink salt trick may not be a universal weight loss solution, certain groups might benefit from adding a small amount of salt to their water. Endurance athletes, such as marathon runners and cyclists, lose significant amounts of sodium through sweat. Replacing this lost sodium helps maintain hydration, prevent cramps and dizziness, and support performance. Hernandez notes that extra salt can also be beneficial for individuals on a strict keto diet or those managing POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), a condition where increased sodium intake can improve heart rate and blood pressure regulation.
Is the Pink Salt Trick Safe?
The pink salt trend is not universally safe. Phillips advises consulting a healthcare provider before trying it, especially for individuals with high blood pressure, kidney disease, or heart conditions, who need to limit sodium intake. Excessive sodium can be harmful, and individual needs vary.
Alternatives to the Pink Salt Trick
For individuals seeking healthy and effective ways to manage their weight and ensure optimal bodily function, several alternatives to the pink salt trick exist:
- Electrolyte Drinks: Electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, are essential for bodily functions. While adding salt to water primarily replenishes sodium, electrolyte drinks like Gatorade, coconut water, fruit juice, or even chocolate milk offer a more complete electrolyte profile. However, it's crucial to monitor the salt and sugar content in these beverages.
- Hydration: Maintaining adequate hydration is crucial for weight management. The recommended daily water intake is 11.5 cups for women and 15.5 cups for men, although individual fluid needs may vary.
- Balanced Diet: Adopting a balanced diet is essential for weight management and overall health. Expert-approved diets like the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet (which emphasizes low sodium intake), and intermittent fasting can be effective. Consulting a healthcare provider can help determine a safe and sustainable diet plan.
The Pink Diet Plan
Like many other diet plans, you go through different phases on the P.I.N.K. method. In the first phase, which lasts 3 to 14 days, you’ll be eating very few calories: about 1,000 a day, according to the sample menus. In the second phase, protein, vegetables, and fruit are on the menu, and you’ll start the plan’s DVD workouts, led by buff, pink-clad trainers. Once you're near your goal weight, it’s time for the “7-Day Shred” phase, which curbs carbs and fats in favor of a vegetable soup to help you drop those last few pounds. When you reach your goal weight, you’ll start the maintenance phase, which calls for eating 1,400 to 1,800 calories per day. Fresh vegetables and fruits; “light” proteins such as turkey, chicken, lentils, black beans, and salmon; and high-fiber carbs form the core of the menus; though in Phase 1, your carbs are mostly limited to vegetables. You can have one to two servings of alcohol a week after the first 9 weeks. Processed foods and refined sugars are not on the menu, so forget cookies and packaged meals. You can have moderate amounts of caffeine. You’ll exercise hard on this plan and the first phase calls for eating very few calories per day.
Pink's Fitness and Diet
Training and workout is not merely a way to keep fit for Pink. She is an energetic and strong performing artist. The most astonishing thing about Pink’s impeccable fitness level is the fact that she manages to maintain it while raising kids with her husband Carey Hart. An advocate of body positivity, Pink does not obsess over body composition. Instead, she pays attention to how she feels internally. While everyone can certainly achieve their fitness goals all by themselves, having a good coach can really help elevate the game to a whole new level. Pink has worked with Fitness coach Gregory Joujon-Roche who was crucial in formulating her training plan. She also worked with coach Jillian Michaels after giving birth to her children. Even now, she relies heavily on fitness coach Jeanette Jenkins’ advice. Pink loves different fitness activities and Yoga, strength training, martial arts, gymnastics, biking, tennis as well as surfing are regular forms of activities in her routine. As a 5’4″ tall person weighing 130 lbs, Pink can be mistaken as ‘overweight’ by people obsessed with weight loss. However, the 43-year-old is known for putting on high-energy performances in her live shows. She does not abide by the so-called standards and only focuses on being healthy and fit without worrying too much about what the scale shows. But that does not mean she is giving in to any toxic ideas about body positivity. “I try to eat really healthy most of the time. A food lover by nature, Pink likes to eat her favorite foods without being overly restrictive about the diet. “I know I’m not at my goal or anywhere near it after Baby 2 but dammit I don’t feel obese. While maintaining a healthy weight is important for Pink, she struggled with excessive weight gain during the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of lifestyle change as well as hip and neck surgeries. “Having breaks is good for my voice. Not so good for the body. Especially during Covid, I gained 36 lbs. All I did was make sourdough and then eat the sourdough. “And then I had not just the hip surgery but double disc replacement in my neck. So now I’m the bionic woman. Pink has followed a mostly vegetarian diet since she was 15. However, she started eating chicken when she was pregnant with her daughter Willow. The 43-year-old also includes fish in the diet. A proud mother of two, Pink loves cooking for her family. Serving delicious food to the kids and husband is one of the things Pink looks forward to the most when she returns from the tours. According to her social media posts, she and her family are really good at growing their food as well. Drinking plenty of water is one of the simplest and yet the best things one can do for good health and metabolism. To boost the energy levels and metabolism in the extremely busy schedule of work, social and family commitments, she relies heavily on superfood shakes. Pink’s trainer Gregory Joujon-Roche swears by the benefits of a superfood smoothie made with coconut water, avocados, Flaxseed oil and Blueberries. The four hours a day training routine also necessitates taking nutrition very seriously. After all, a rigorous training routine with a poor diet is a recipe for breaking the body down. “I’m obsessed with Halloumi. I grill it for salads with truffle oil and dandelion greens. The more exotic the greens, the better. I don’t care if people think Halloumi’ squeaky.
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Pink's Workout Regimen
Pink is offering a glimpse into her intense workout regimen, on and off tour. In her Women's Health interview for the March cover, the singer-songwriter spoke about both her physical and mental health ahead of her Summer Carnival tour in June. On top of working out three times a day while on tour, the mom of two especially works at keeping her core strong for the impressive aerial performances and mid-air acrobatics she's become known for. She tells the magazine that she had balls thrown at her stomach as she hung upside down while singing, in order to learn how to simultaneously sing and fly. As someone who's seen her live firsthand, I can confirm her voice does not falter while she's doing flips and ballet over a stadium crowd. "It's exhilarating," she says of her aerial stunts. When she's not touring the world, Pink still works out every day. She's been working with celebrity trainer Jeanette Jenkins for over a decade, incorporating cardio HIIT, strength training, yoga, pilates, kickboxing, and more into her daily routine. While she usually trains through Jenkins's online program, The Hollywood Trainer Virtual Gym, Jenkins also creates specific plans ahead of Pink's performances and music videos, like focusing on side and wall planks in preparation for the pop star scaling a building while singing "Beautiful Trauma" at the 2017 American Music Awards. She also manages to squeeze in Peloton workouts here and there, specifically with Cody Rigsby. "I like being strong," she says. "I identify with my core, my intuition, and my strength . . . I'm short, close to the ground, fast, and agile." Describing her body as the "strongest it's ever been," she jokes, "I could pick up a car if I needed to." Because she "makes noise for a living," she prefers to "unplug and be in nature" when she's not working. After getting hip and double disc replacement surgery, and experiencing major losses in her life - she lost both her father and family's nanny to cancer - the singer says she was "probably a bit depressed" and struggled with losing weight she had gained during the pandemic, despite her rigorous workout routine. She eventually embarked on a two-week wellness program in Spain focused on the Kushi diet, an anti-inflammatory diet based on small portion sizes meant to "deeply cleanse" the body. Aside from the nutritious benefits and weight loss, Pink says she was able to get rest that she wasn't getting before and carve out time to "meditate and cry and journal." Now, feeling like herself again, she reflects on the retreat as "the biggest gift [she's] ever given [herself]" and her kids.
Jeanette Jenkins' Advice
A schoolteacher from Louisiana ate and worked out like a celebrity for three weeks to see how the wellness principles taught by celebrity trainer Jeannette Jenkins would affect her overall health. As part of a series where people from all walks of life try celebrity fitness routines, "Good Morning America" paired Jenkins -- whose clients include Pink, Alicia Keys and Mindy Kaling --with Asha McDowell, 26, a sixth-grade teacher from New Orleans. Here McDowell shared how she felt following the diet and workout regimen recommended by Jenkins, who is also the creator of the online fitness community Hollywood Trainer Club. Experts recommend consulting with a physician before starting any exercise program. Here is McDowell's experience, in her own words. When I got to L.A., I was expecting to meet with Jeanette and learn about health and fitness. I knew that we would be talking about food and exercising. What I wasn't expecting was for Jeanette to be all up in my business in terms of food, drink, and snacks! For the workout portion, I knew that we would be doing some moving around -- maybe a two-step here and a jumping jack there. Instead, we did a full on workout complete with burpees, push-ups, and whatever other muscle-exhausting moves Jeanette had up her sleeve. So needless to say, I was a little bit nervous about the diet and exercising required for this challenge. Luckily, Jeanette was so supportive and encouraging and patiently got me through our first day! When I got home, starting off the week was easy with all of the excitement that I had! Unfortunately for me, I live in New Orleans, Louisiana, and it was time for Mardi Gras. However, Jeanette talked me through being able to have fun and stay on track. During that week, I did a little more having fun than staying on track. I beat myself up a little bit, but then I realized that it was Mardi Gras, and if you're not eating jambalaya during the Zulu parade, did you really do Mardi Gras? No you didn't. I'm learning that having a healthy lifestyle does not mean being boring. You can still eat kale Monday through Friday and have a daiquiri to celebrate making it through the week on Saturday. You can have a side salad every day for lunch, but eat some pancakes for Sunday brunch. The problems happen when you do "the most." You can still be healthy and have a healthy sized portion of French fries every once and a while. The routine that Jeanette laid out was easy because it gave you options. Now, a girl like me can eat the same thing over and over and not get tired (which is exactly what I did this last month), but if you get tired of something, Jeanette has laid out meals on meals for you to choose. The workouts also give you options. Throughout this program, I find myself having more energy, which is great for a teacher of 11- and 12-year-olds. I used to dread putting on those tennis shoes to workout. Now I look forward to getting the Beyonce body I've always wanted. My boyfriend will be returning from his deployment soon and he will be Jeanette's biggest fan when he sees me. I recently lifted at the gym and was pleasantly surprised by how much I can lift now compared to the amount I could lift before. The verdict: I definitely plan on continuing because I've lost six pounds since the start of February. I can't wait to see my future results on this program.
Jenkins' Top Exercise and Nutrition Tips
Jenkins' top exercise and nutrition tips include:
- The biggest challenge is that people get in their own way. They don’t make healthy living a priority, they don’t make it a way of life, and therefore they are not committed or consistent, so they don’t get results.
- The number one workout move people should add to their lives is some form of 30 minute cardio exercise.
Jenkins' 7 Exercises You Can Do Without Any Equipment
Jenkins shared this circuit routine that she says you can do from anywhere, with no equipment needed. See her demonstrate each move and share modifications you can make if you are advanced in the video above.
- Squats (20 reps)
- Stationary lunge (16 reps)
- High knees (30 seconds)
- Skaters (30 seconds)
- Side leg taps or jumping jacks (30 seconds)
- Push-ups (25 reps)
- Ab tucks (15 reps)
Jeanette’s Healthy Eating Recipes
Breakfast: Egg White Muffins
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Ingredients:
- 6 cups egg whites
- 1/4 cup skim Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup red peppers
- 1/2 cup orange peppers
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup spinach
- Ground pepper
Instructions:
- Coat the muffin tins with cooking oil.
- Place all of the chopped veggies in the muffin tin.
- Fill each muffin tin with egg whites.
- Sprinkle low-fat Mozzarella (or Parmesan, Feta or your favorite low-fat cheese) on top of each muffin.
- Sprinkle on pepper and Himalayan salt
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Let cool and enjoy!
Snack: Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 2 cups spinach
- 1/2 lemon
- 2 tsps ginger
- 1 pear
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 cup ice
- 1 cup water
Instructions:
- In a blender combine 2 cups of spinach, 1 pear, 1/2 a lemon without the rind, 1 kiwi with the skin, 2 stalks of celery, 1/2 inch piece of ginger, 1 cup of ice and 1 cup of water! Blend on high until all the contents have mixed and enjoy! It makes two cups so drink it all or share it with a friend.
Snack: Greek Yogurt with Berries and Granola
Ingredients:
- 6 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup fresh berries
Instructions:
- In a glass bowl or cup layer the yogurt, berries and granola
Dinner: Wild Alaskan Salmon with Sweet Potatoes and Asparagus
Ingredients:
- 4 oz wild Alaskan sockeye salmon
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp Himalayan Salt
- 1 tsp Organic Pepper
- 1 tbsp green pepper
- 1 tbsp red pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Place filet in tin foil or parchment paper
- Squeeze lemon over fish
- Add a dash of Himalayan salt and organic pepper
- Add one tablespoon of chopped onions, one tablespoon red peppers, and one tablespoon of green peppers