“Salt mines should be opened to health tourism”

The Cappadocia region, which is on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List and hosts more than 4 million visitors a year with its fairy chimneys, interesting rock formations, valleys, underground and aboveground rock cities, has recently come to the fore with its salt mine.

The salts extracted from the salt mine in Tuzköy District of Gülşehir district revealed many health benefits. It is on the agenda that the opened salt caves will be used for health tourism in the near future. Çankırı Karatekin University Faculty of Engineering Department of Food Engineering Associate Professor Hüdayi Ercoşkun said that salt mines in Turkey should be opened to health tourism. Examining the salt mines, Ercoşkun said, “About 50 million years ago, the Anatolian plateau we were on was under the sea. While the Tethys Sea had European and Asian plateaus in the north, Arabian and African plateaus in the south, the Anatolian plateau was completely under the sea. From the north, Europe and Asia are pressing south. From the south, the Arabian plateau presses towards the north. As a result, our Aegean mountains are formed together with the Taurus Mountains and the Black Sea Mountains. As a result of this pressure, the Anatolian plateau rises from under the sea. However, a long time passes and an inland sea forms in Anatolia. In this inland sea, when the seas are the cleanest and there are no pollutants, the water gradually dries up and the sea water turns into salt.

"There is no element that threatens human health in this salt"

Stating that the starting point of salt mines in Anatolia is Çankırı, Associate Professor Hüdayi Ercoşkun said, “There is a chain of mines in Anatolia that goes all the way to Iğdır. We took samples from all salt mines in Turkey. We examined whether there are heavy metals, radioactive elements in the samples we took, or whether microplastics are contaminated during processing. In our studies, we have determined that there are no residues that threaten human health in the salt. In order to deepen these studies, we decided to take more salt samples and continue our work.”

"New technology is used in the salt village"

Stating that the technologies of the salt mines in Iğdır, Kağızman and Çankırı are old, Ercoşkun said, “The village salt mine follows the new technology. Dynamite is not used. Dynamite can cause ammonium and nitrates in the salt to remain in the explosion. The fact that no motor vehicles enter the mine prevents the absorption of exhaust gases.”

"Salt mines were formed in 35 million years"

Stating that the salt mines on the Anatolian plateau were formed in approximately 35 million years, Ercoşkun said, “When we look at the walls of the mine, we see a wavy pattern. Between each of these waves there is a period of one year. While the inland sea of Anatolia we are talking about dries up, it dries up more in summer. For this reason, the summer months appear whiter. In the winter months, the dry places are darker. Thus, a zebra pattern is formed. The time elapsed between the two patterns is one year. The period we are talking about is about 35 million years.

"Salt dust clears the lungs"

Underlining that the health benefits of salt mines have been proven by scientific studies, Associate Professor Ercoşkun said, “You are far from all radiation in salt mines. You are away from cell phone signals, radio and television signals, the radiation of the sun. Therefore, being away from those is a serious comforting factor. However, since there is salt everywhere in the salt mines, there are also those that are ground at the micron level. When we walk in the mine, we inhale this salt into our lungs. Since the salt going to our lungs goes up to our alveoli, it draws the water around the alveoli and causes the alveoli to be washed.

The first scientific study was carried out

Explaining the scientific results of a study on athletes, Ercoşkun said, “In a study conducted at Çankırı Karatekin University, they examined the health values of the national boxing team. They found that after a month of training in the salt mine, the oxygenation value of the blood, the breath-holding time and the physical performance have increased. This is a breakthrough development with salt therapy. Because the studies carried out so far were mostly in the form of traditional medicine. This is one of the scientific studies."

Saying that salt mines should be opened to tourism, Ercoşkun concluded his words as follows: "Salt mines should also be opened to tourism. Just like in spa tourism, salt mines should be opened for treatment. Again, the clay contained in this salt and obtained as a result of purification needs to be used in heated pools for both cosmetics and treatment. These are the methods used in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland. Hopefully, such investments will take place in Çankırı and Nevşehir in the near future.”