Pharmaceuticals never stands still. Based on the latest discoveries, pharmacological companies create new preparations, sending the old ones to oblivion. For example, not so long ago, Soviet women in urgent need of losing weight knew that they had Glauber’s salt, which was sold in every drugstore for a penny. Nowadays, a pharmacist will only shrug at such a request. After all, now this product can only be bought in a vet clinic. And all because a more successful analog, magnesium sulfate, has replaced it on the market. However, there is a difference between these laxatives.
## Brief Description
[Image of Glauber’s Salt Crystals] Full chemical name: sodium sulfate decahydrate.Other names:
Sodium sulfate
Mirabilite
Chemical formula: Na2SO4 · 10H2O.
Form of release: coarse white powder.
Characteristics:
large transparent crystals;
crystals are geometrically shaped – in the form of prisms;
taste is bitter-salty;
no smell;
it melts quickly in the mouth and dissolves immediately in water;
does not burn;
it effloresces when exposed to air for a long time or when heated, losing weight;
after efflorescence it becomes simple sodium sulfate.
Main purpose: laxative.
Method of administration: through the mouth, after dissolving in water.
Pharmacokinetics: not absorbed by the intestines.
Sources:
a mineral which is mined in Canada, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Western Siberia;
sea water;
mineral springs of the Karlovy Vary and Marienbad resorts (Czech Republic);
salt and gypsum deposits.
From history: discovered for the first time in the winter of 1626 by German alchemist, chemist, pharmacist and physician Johann Rudolf Glauber as a component of mineral waters.
[Quote]Origin of the name. Glauber called the substance he discovered mirabilite, from the Latin “mirabilis”, meaning miraculous. And this salt in fact cured him of typhoid fever, when he was in a very serious condition.[/Quote]## The Heart of the Matter
In medicine and veterinary medicine, Glauber’s salt is used as an effective, rapidly-acting laxative. This is why it is so popular for losing weight. The problem is that not so long ago it was removed from the register of medicines for humans, having been left only as a means for treating animals.
Therefore, many who want to lose weight with the aid of mirabilite are interested in the main question: can a person take a solution made from the powder sold in veterinary pharmacies and hospitals.
Many sources claim that Glauber’s salt, prescribed as a laxative by Soviet doctors for their patients, is no different from the one currently used in veterinary medicine. On the one hand, it is so, because both the one and the other products are pure powder without any impurities. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that medications intended for the treatment of people and animals have different requirements.
[Image of Glauber’s Salt]No doctor will officially prescribe this medicine for the treatment of a patient today. Although there are many positive reviews about losing weight with its help. Therefore, if you nevertheless decide to lose weight in this way, you should understand that you are taking full responsibility for any consequences. Are you ready to take a drug with an inscription on the packaging: “For veterinary use”, “For animals”, “For veterinary use”?
You can lose weight just as successfully with the help of many other laxatives that are functional analogs, but are permitted by official medicine – such as, for example, magnesium sulfate. Yes, mirabilite acts more quickly, but it is also more aggressive, it irritates the intestinal walls and has a greater number of side effects.
Even more so, one should not order sparkling jars labeled “Glauber’s salt for people” or “Glauber’s salt for losing weight”, etc., from dubious Internet resources. This is quackery.
## Mechanism of Action
Health benefits:
helps with constipation;
improves digestion;
regulates metabolic processes;
stimulates the production of bile;
relieves symptoms of poisoning;
blocks toxic substances that enter the gastrointestinal tract with food, not allowing them to be absorbed into the bloodstream.
The main indications for the use of Glauber’s salt in Soviet medicine were constipation and severe forms of poisoning.
Effect for losing weight:
activates intestinal peristalsis, thereby providing a laxative effect;
frees the gastrointestinal tract from stagnant feces;
binds with toxic substances in the stomach and removes them from the body;
improves lymph flow;
removes excess fluid, having diuretic properties (but not as strongly, as laxatives);
cleanses the body.
Mirabilite promotes losing weight by removing feces, toxins, poisons, and other waste products, as well as excess fluid. However, body fat with this is not reduced.
[Quote] Worth knowing. In the story by Konstantin Paustovsky, “Kara-Bugaz”, there is a description of the extraction of Glauber’s salt in Turkmenistan. After its publication, the writer’s colleagues began to call him the “mirabilite of our literature”[/Quote]
## Possible Harm
Usually, before losing weight with the help of any medications, it is recommended to undergo a medical examination and to consult a doctor and nutritionist. However, in the case of Glauber’s salt, such advice is absolutely useless: no professional doctor will prescribe a veterinary preparation for people. Therefore, if you decide to lose weight in such an extreme way, you can only rely on yourself. At the very least, one should read about the contraindications and side effects.
Contraindications:
individual intolerance;
vitamin deficiency;
anemia;
dehydration;
serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, any intestinal disorders (especially diarrhea);
cholecystitis;
any acute exacerbation of chronic diseases;
pregnancy, lactation;
childhood and old age.
Side effects:
dehydration;
deficiency of minerals, vitamins and other useful substances, which, because of mirabilite, are not absorbed by the body, and are actively excreted as soon as they enter the gastrointestinal tract;
prolonged, uncontrolled diarrhea;
vomiting (rarely, but it happens);
deterioration of health;
excessive pallor;
bags and dark circles under the eyes;
weakness, lethargy, drowsiness;
sharp mood swings, irritability;
allergic reaction.
Given such a fairly extensive list of side effects, it is not surprising that Glauber’s salt was replaced by magnesium sulfate, which is less aggressive on the gastric mucosa.
## Application
Self-use of Glauber’s salt as a laxative
