Is epsom salt magnesium sulphate?

Epsom salt is often used for its claimed health benefits, mainly as a remedy for sore muscles and to help with relaxation. One question that people frequently ask is whether or not epsom salt is magnesium sulphate. The answer might surprise you!

What Is Epsom Salt?

Before we can dive into the world of magnesium sulphate, let’s first define what epsom salt actually is. Epsom salt has been around for centuries and was discovered in the town of Epsom in England. It looks like white crystals and dissolves quickly in water.

People use it extensively in beauty routines, bath products, cleaning products, gardening and more. In fact, some gardeners swear by using epsom salt to promote plant growth!

What Is Magnesium Sulphate?

Magnesium sulphate (chemical formula: MgSO4) is an odorless compound that occurs naturally as minerals such as kieserite and epsomite^. It contains both magnesium ions (Mg2+) and sulfate ions (SO42-).

In medicine, it has many uses from laxative to preventing pre-eclampsia during pregnancy~; however most commonly known applications are therapeutic soaking baths where full body flotation therapy aids muscle function recovery.

How Do We Get Magnesium Sulphate From Epsomite?

While there are various ways to obtain magnesium sulphate through chemical reactions involving salts~, processing one mineral alone will lead you straight down the path towards pure forms e.g., simply heating up epsomite crystals at a specific temperature can convert them into pure magnesium sulfate.^

So now comes the big question- does this mean that when we dissolve epsomite crystals or ‘epsom salts’ in our bathtub water we’re effectively sousing ourselves in none other than beneficial amounts of magna-sulfo-8(~18)-hydrate?

Is Epsom Salt Magnesium Sulphate?

Yes, it is. Epsom salt and magnesium sulphate are the same thing! While we commonly refer to it as epsom salt, chemically speaking, it’s actually magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (MgSO4·7H2O). The only difference between the two is how they’re named~

How Does It Work In Our Body?

The body absorbs what’s in our bath water including magnesium through the skin3 which has a variety of positive impacts such as helping blood circulation and reducing inflammation. However ingesting large doses of anything should be done with caution – take care not to drink your bathwater or consume an over abundance of epsomite.

A Confusing Example

It can be confusing that something called ‘salt’ contains no sodium chloride or ‘table-salt’, both chemically different from MgSO4; therefore sometimes we can derive inaccurate assumptions about its properties since so many types of salts exist.^

Given all this information lets sum up some curious things that may interest you about there being more than one type of way magnesium makes itself comfy and useful for humans:

  • Magnesium Carbonate comes in white powder form often utilized by gym enthusiasts for good hand grip;
  • Magnesium Gluconate supplements are recommended when someone unable to absorb dietary amounts;
  • And finally Nigari/Tofu-Dregs is another unique type consisting mostly magnesium-chloride hence used widely in food production industry6;

Maybe interesting tidbits isn’t exactly what you were expecting to get from this article but who knows where life will branch us out next~

Conclusion

So now you know that epsom salt and magnesium sulphate are essentially synonyms! Regardless if people coined “epsome” just based on its past alias’ presence near town locations~, there doesn’t seem apparent reason changing back especially nowadays when variety products available containing the compound but specifying it with a different name. For people looking for relief after intense workout or wish to elevate mood a bit, you can use epsom salt baths knowing you’re getting magnesooome benefits from this tried and true remedy!

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