About Dead Sea Warehouse®
History of the Dead Sea Minerals
Mission: To Affordably Enhance Lives the Amazing Dead Sea Mineral Way!
In 2001, while working at Elk Grove Vitamins in Elk Grove, Ca., Annie discovered something compelling and powerful – the amazingly therapeutic, soothing effects of Dead Sea Mineral Bath Salts.
But it really all began –
In 1976, Annie traveled across the U.S. from her hometown in Upstate New York to San Francisco, California. The proverbial late bloomer, after taking college courses for many years for fun (yes, she does love to learn!), she earned her degree, with honors, at the age of 38.
The next few years were spent building a hunger-fighting, non-profit in the Lake Tahoe community she then called home, an organization that continues to grow and serve the Lake Tahoe community even today.
She was forced to leave her mountain community and her beloved non-profit due to an undiagnosed illness that left Annie so weak that walking across a room was difficult. Annie’s journey into alternative health began as she sought to regain her health.
Eight years later, through applying many alternative health protocols, she regained enough energy to begin working part time at a local health food store, Elk Grove Vitamins, Elk Grove, California. This store is one of the nation’s iconic natural products stores. (This was Annie’s first retail account in 2002, and they continue to carry Dead Sea Warehouse products to this day.)
During her time at Elk Grove Vitamins, she was introduced to the power of 100% full mineral Dead Sea Bath Salts.
Annie’s husband suffered from painfully arthritic fingers. Applying her innate ability to problem solve, she asked him to try a “hand soak” in Dead Sea Mineral Bath Salts. Filling a large bowl with warm water and adding some Dead Sea Bath Salts, soaking his hands for 20 minutes, he had great success! For the next 4 hours, his fingers were pain free. Annie was ecstatic! (As the years went on, utilizing 2 cups of Dead Sea Minerals in his daily bath, his arthritic fingers seldom bothered him!)
Annie then tried a Dead Sea Bath Salt soak for her dry, itchy skin condition and loved the results! No more itchies – and her skin was so smooth!
However, Dead Sea Bath Salts Annie was first using were very expensive at that time and marketed as a beauty and cosmetic indulgence not as the therapeutic they were famous for at the Dead Sea.
After much number crunching, she discovered that 5 lbs. were the ‘break point’ for bringing these amazing Dead Sea Bath Salts to the American marketplace – affordably – for therapeutic use and enjoyment. Searching for a good way to package what was then considered to be a large amount of Dead Sea Bath Salts, Annie located a company that made a bucket with a handle!
The Original 5 lb. Bucket of 100% Dead Sea Warehouse Bath Salts (with a Convenient Handle) was Born.
One Store at a Time. One Loyal Customer at a Time….
Beginning in her home in 2002, she and her husband hand-filled buckets with the Dead Sea Bath Salts imported directly from Israel and sold them to local health food stores.
2004 was a turning point. Annie’s elusive, 10-year mystery illness was unmasked. With surgery and the assistance of a naturopath, her health quickly rebounded. She enthusiastically set off visiting health food stores from Reno, Nevada, to San Diego, California, introducing her 5 lb. bucket of Amazing Minerals Dead Sea Bath Salts to buyers. The rest, as they say, is history. Stores that originally placed the 5 lb. bucket on their shelves in the early 2000s continue to carry the Dead Sea Warehouse products to this day!
Today, Dead Sea Warehouse is One of the Most Trusted Names in the Dead Sea Bath Salt Industry
Annie’s Dead Sea Warehouse product line (that now includes the proprietary Dead Sea Mineral-Saturated Cleansing Bars, Skin Polish, Mud Mask and Moisturizer) can now be found in thousands of retailers across the US and Australia.
Welcome to the Dead Sea Warehouse family!
The History of Dead Sea Minerals
Over 3000+ years of Biblical, Greek and Roman references to the power in the Dead Sea provides evidence of its efficacy. More recent medical research and hundreds of studies have further indicated the effectiveness of Dead Sea Mineral Salts in natural therapeutics. Dead Sea minerals have been long known to revitalize the skin, relieve stress, and soothe aches and pains.
Dead Sea Minerals are Powerful, Naturally-Occurring Elements!
The Dead Sea contains over 21 different minerals and has the highest concentrations of bromide, magnesium, calcium, silica, sodium and potassium of any natural body of salt water in the world.
Due to the natural sourcing and harvesting of Dead Sea minerals, the mineral content varies by season, rainfall, depth of harvest, ambient temperature swings, and more. Yet, there is a studied, and industry acknowledged, standard range of minerals for unadulterated, 100% full mineral Dead Sea Bath Salts.
Typical Mineral Composition
Soak in the Dead Sea… in Your Bath
Draw a ‘warm to high warm’, NOT hot, bath. The Dead Sea is naturally warm. While the water is running, pour in 1-2 cups of our 100% Dead Sea Mineral Bath Salts. Step in and relax for a maximum of 20 minutes (due to the intensity of detoxifying from the absorption of broad-spectrum minerals). Less time is also fine, but 20 minutes is ideal. Repeat 2-3 times a week for maximum benefits. For a foot soak, use 3 tablespoons in a foot tub.
Dead Sea Bath Salts moisturize and leave the skin silky because of the naturally-occurring, broad spectrum of minerals!
The Controversies
Not all products labeled ‘Dead Sea Salts’ contain 100% Dead Sea Mineral Salts.
Products labeled ‘Salt Bath’ are just that: Mostly salt, Sodium Chloride.
Dead Sea Warehouse uses only full spectrum, 100% mineral bath salts, with less than 9% Sodium Chloride for all our bath salt products.
A full, 100% mineral Dead Sea Bath Salt contains less than 9% sodium chloride. If a product is labeled as ‘Dead Sea Salts’ and tastes like table salt (Sodium Chloride), it most likely is! Sodium Chloride is extracted from the full mineral salts and sold worldwide for food use (yummy, bright and white it is!). Many companies utilize this Dead Sea Sodium (which costs only 1/3 of the full mineral bath salts) as their ‘Bath Salts’. This denies you the full mineral benefits of true 100% Dead Sea Mineral Bath Salts.
EPSOM salts are only ONE (1) MINERAL, Magnesium Sulphate. With regular use, it is drying to the skin.
Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) vs Magnesium Chloride
According to Daniel Reid, author of The Tao of Detox, magnesium sulfate, commonly known as Epsom salts, is rapidly excreted through the kidneys and therefore difficult to assimilate. Reid states that Magnesium Chloride is more easily assimilated and metabolized in the human body.
This would explain, in part, why soaking in an Epsom salt bath does not have as long-lasting effects. Reid explains that we would need a higher concentration of Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) rather than Magnesium Chloride in a bath to realize optimum benefits.
Dead Sea’s Primary Minerals: Historical and Studied Benefits and Uses
Magnesium Chloride: Supports quick repair of skin tissue. Provides anti-allergenic elements to the skin’s surface. Magnesium is essential for cell metabolism. GREAT for the relief of many aches and pains as it is a known anti-inflammatory.
Potassium Chloride: Supports regulation of the nervous system. Provides energy to skin cells for hydration and regeneration of cells. Helps balance skin and body moisture. Helps reduce water retention.
Calcium Chloride: Cleanses pores. Long known to strengthen bones and teeth. Strengthens cell walls and membranes.
Bromides (NOT the same as Bromine): Helps soothe and repair damaged skin. Relaxes muscles and calms nerves.
Sulphur: Natural disinfectant. Utilized in many anti-acne soaps. Works closely with the liver to rid the body of toxins.
Iodine: Aids in support of correct functioning of thyroid gland and body’s metabolic exchanges.
Sodium: Skin soothing. Helps cells retain nourishment and expel waste. Powerful detoxifying agent. Soothes stiffness and cramps.
Zinc: Stimulates production of collagen and elastin. Also known to protect the skin against sunburn and windburn and to support the immune system.
Boron: Known to offer temporary relief from skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Supports healthy mucous membranes. Supports the immune system.
The Dead Sea is Home to the Oldest and One of the Largest Health Resorts in the World
There are numerous health resorts along the shoreline of the Dead Sea and people the world over flock there to “take the waters” (Balneotherapy) and immerse in the Dead Sea water and springs (Thalassotherapy). They go for relaxation, a natural ‘float’ and various conditions studied:
Rheumatologic: Soaking in authentic Dead Sea Bath salts can be effective for addressing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis. The minerals are absorbed while soaking, stimulating blood circulation. [1]
Common skin issues: Research has demonstrated that skin disorders such as acne and psoriasis are relieved by regular soaking in water with added Dead Sea Salt. The National Psoriasis Foundation recommends the actual Dead Sea and Dead Sea Salts as effective therapeutics for psoriasis. [2] Last time we checked, countries such as Denmark, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland provide state aid to their citizens to visit the Dead Sea for their psoriasis.
Allergies: The high concentration of bromide and magnesium in the Dead Sea Salt can relieve allergic reactions by cleansing and detoxifying. [3]
Anti-Aging the Skin: Another study concluded that the high concentration of magnesium in Dead Sea salt was instrumental in improving skin hydration and reducing inflammation. Further research into Dead Sea salt benefits has shown a 40% reduction in the depth of wrinkling.[4]
[1] Harari, Marco; Shani, Jashovam. “Demographic evaluation of successful antipsoriatic climatotherapy at the Dead Sea (Israel) DMZ Clinic”. International Journal of Dermatology. 36(4): 304–305. doi:10.1046/j 1365-4362.1997.00204.x.
[2] “The Dead Sea” National Psoriasis Foundation. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
[3] Proksch, Ehrhardt MD, PhD et al. “Bathing in a magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt solution improves skin barrier function, enhances skin hydration, and reduces inflammation in atopic dry skin”, International Journal of Dermatology, February 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
[4] Ehrhardt, Proksch; Nissen, HP; Bremgartner, M; Urquhart, C. “Bathing in a magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt solution: follow-on review”. International Journal of Dermatology. 46 (2): 177–179. doi:10.1111/j.1365-4632.2005.02079.x. PMID 15689218