“If you drop your body fat too low, your brain goes: Cool, shut down ovulation.”

Every few months the internet picks a new pantry item to publicly execute.

This week’s victim is pink Himalayan salt.

According to one very confident guy on video, you should stop grinding it on your food immediately because it is allegedly loaded with lead, aluminum, and other heavy metals that will apparently rot your brain if you look at them too long. He claims most pink Himalayan salt comes from Pakistan and not the Himalayan Mountains.

Scary stuff.

First, let’s clear up the geography face-plant, as if those are two different places.

Quick reality check. The Himalayan mountain range runs directly through Pakistan. The famous Khewra Salt Mine, where most pink Himalayan salt is sourced, sits at the foothills of the Himalayas in Pakistan. This is not controversial. This is Google Maps level knowledge.

Now that we’ve handled the “where are mountains located” portion of today’s lesson, let’s move on to the science.

The viral claim references an Australian study that analyzed 31 different salt samples sold as pink salt. The internet version of the story says all 31 were contaminated and contained up to 25 percent over safe levels of lead and other heavy metals.

What the actual study found is… very different.

Out of 31 samples, one single sample exceeded the national lead safety limit set by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. One. And here’s the fun part. That contaminated sample was not from the Himalayan region at all. It was from Peru. Every Himalayan salt sample tested stayed within safe limits for lead, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury.

So no, pink Himalayan salt is not secretly poisoning you. Someone either misunderstood the paper or decided fear performs better than facts. Spoiler alert. It does.

Now, does that mean pink salt is healthier than regular table salt?

This is where the other half of the myth comes in. Pink salt is often marketed as a mineral-rich super salt packed with potassium, magnesium, calcium, and mystical mountain energy or whatever. 😒

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Yes, it contains trace minerals. Trace being the key word.

To put this into perspective, you would need to eat roughly 1.7 kilograms, about 3.7 pounds, of pink Himalayan salt to meet your daily potassium requirement. If you attempt that, potassium deficiency will not be your biggest problem anymore. Being alive might be.

From a physiological standpoint, sodium chloride is sodium chloride. Whether it’s pink, white, flaky, coarse, blessed by monks, or sold in a minimalist jar for $14.99.

Your body cares about sodium content, not Instagram aesthetics.

Table salt is usually iodized, though. That matters.

Iodine deficiency is still a real public health issue globally, and iodine is essential for thyroid hormone production.

If you exclusively use non-iodized salts and eat little seafood or dairy, you can absolutely drift into iodine deficiency over time.

That means fatigue, weight changes, cold intolerance, and thyroid dysfunction. Not sexy. Not trending. Still real.

Heavy metals deserve a quick reality check too. Heavy metals are everywhere. In water, vegetables, grains, seafood, even breast milk.

Toxicity depends on dose, bioavailability, and chronic exposure. The trace amounts found in properly regulated salts are nowhere near toxic thresholds for normal human consumption.

If someone tells you a food is dangerous but can’t tell you how much you would need to consume to reach a harmful dose, they are not educating you. They are fear-selling.

So here’s the boring but correct takeaway.

Pink Himalayan salt is fine. Table salt is fine. Neither is a health supplement. Neither will detox your sins. Excess sodium from any source raises blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. The color does not change that.

Pick the one you like the taste of. If you avoid iodized salt, make sure you get iodine elsewhere. And if a guy online tells you something is “canceled” because of a study, maybe read the study first.

Now I know only a handful of you are actually reading this sentence. If you are, reply with “I read it” because that means you’re a genius like me and I automatically like you more.

And even if I can’t reply to everyone, I sure as f*ck read every single one.

Until next Saturday,

Dr. Kevin Cutthebull, MD

P.S. You know the deal, you can download my favorite guide of the week here. For free (no opt-in required)→ (Download Here)