Prof. RNDr. Vanda Boštíková, Ph.D.
Currently, more and more people around the world, especially in developed countries, are struggling with being overweight and obesity. A sedentary lifestyle, an excess of unhealthy foods, and stress are causing people to gain weight. Many therefore follow various diets, exercise plans, and advice from the internet or social media in the hope of finding the right way to lose weight.
In the spring and summer of 2025, there was an increase in the number of videos on TikTok, advertisements on YouTube, and personal testimonials on social media about a miracle drink made from pink salt. All of the stories promised significant and rapid weight loss (1,2).
Snopes.com, an American fact-checking website, focused on this claim. It is a site that verifies information, news, rumors, and hoaxes. It was founded in 1994 by husband and wife David and Barbara Mikkelson. Originally, it focused mainly on various viral stories, mysterious events, and chain emails. Over time, Snopes has grown into a respected source for verifying information about politics, social issues, internet misinformation, viral social media posts, and conspiracy theories (3).
Snopes traced the controversial claim about pink salt back to a 2022 story on TikTok. It turned out that a story from several years ago was being presented again this year as completely new information (2).
This is a common tactic used by people who make money from clicks by driving traffic to their websites. The story/scam often includes a recipe with an ingredient that is available for sale on their site “while supplies last” or “for a limited time only.” There are even several books on Amazon with titles about the “pink salt trick”; most of them do not have a specific publisher (4).
Snopes contacted Allison Childress, a clinical dietitian, to verify this claim. She stated that consuming pink salt does not significantly contribute to weight loss. In fact, too much sodium can lead to water retention, which can actually cause weight gain (however, this would be fluid weight gain, not fat).
Childress elaborated on the nutritional benefits of pink salt, noting that it contains more electrolytes than regular table salt. “However, most people don’t need extra sodium,” she cautioned. The consequences of increased sodium intake in the diet can be serious, especially for people with heart, kidney, and/or blood pressure problems.”
She also cautioned against replacing iodized table salt with other types of salt. “Pink salt contains little or no iodine,” she said. “Table salt is usually enriched with iodine to help prevent iodine deficiency. Iodine deficiency can lead to thyroid problems, including an enlarged thyroid gland or hypothyroidism—reduced thyroid function (5).
In other words, no single trick can lead to weight loss like a healthy lifestyle and healthy habits.
References
- Improving Morning Hydration with the Pink Salt Trick | TikTok
- Perma | Water + Lemon 🍋 + Pink Himalayan Sea Salt Benefits | TikTok
- Snopes.com
- Amazon.com : pink salt weight loss trick
- Allison Childress, Ph.D., RDN, CSSD, LD | Nutritional Sciences | Health & Human Sciences | Texas Tech
*This text has received support from the National Recovery Plan under project 1.4 CEDMO 1 – Z220312000000, Support for increasing the impact, innovation, and sustainability of CEDMO in the Czech Republic, which is financed by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.
