Himalayan salt lamps have skyrocketed in popularity over the last few years. These days you can find them almost anywhere, both online and off.
They have a unique, glowing crystal look to them, which makes them a beautiful accent piece for most rooms, too.
However, there’s more to salt lamps than meets the eye. Not only do they look cool, but they may also help lessen stress and anxiety and even improve your sleep quality.
Salt lamps are basically large chunks of pure Himalayan salt with a lightbulb inside. Sometimes you’ll find them as one solid piece, and others, they’ll be smaller chunks arranged in some sort of container.
Many companies have touted all sorts of health benefits to salt lamps, which come in many shapes and sizes. The claims often involve the idea that they emit of negative ions, which is true, they do. Although they don’t exactly produce high levels of them.
They do, however, offer a nice relaxing glow and could potentially improve your indoor air quality as well.
While beneficial, negative ions occur in much larger abundance in nature. That’s why you may likely feel refreshed after spending time outdoors, especially where there’s running water or sunlight.
They increase the flow of oxygen to the brain, which, of course, has many positive benefits. Additionally, they help combat pollution and germs in the air.
And yes, salt lamps do emit negative ions, but not a ton of them.
Salt lamps do offer other benefits though. For one thing, many people find the warm glow to be quite soothing. Additionally, they are hygroscopic. That means they attract water vapor found in the air. This can help clear the air of allergens, bacteria, mold, and other things carried in the air’s moisture.
So, while they haven’t been widely tested (and neither are the ionic properties), salt lamps may positively affect air quality. Anecdotally, many allergy sufferers claim they’ve felt improvements after investing in a salt lamp as well.
Salt lamps are also great low-light lamps that can be used as night lights. The warm, orange glow is calming and should not negatively impact sleep like blue light from electronics does. For some, the soft hues are even mood-boosting.
