Sole (pronounced Sol-ay) is a Sanskrit word for ‘sun’. Sole has been consumed by humans for thousands of years; Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine practices describe adding salt to water creating mineral-rich saline solutions for dietary and therapeutic tonics purposes.

This blog will explain in a practical way what sole is and how to make it at home.   

So what is sole exactly?

Sole is not the same as adding a pinch of salt to your drinking water. While this can be a good practice, sole is quite different. It’s mineralised water made by dissolving unrefined, natural salt in water until fully saturated.  This is typically at 26% saturation.  To put this into perspective, seawater has a salinity of 3.5%.  The Dead Sea is the unique exception. It has a salinity of around 34% comprising more than 5 major salts with more magnesium salt than sodium chloride.

Back to sole, why would you want to drink it?

Why Sole?

Just a teaspoon mixed into a glass of water first thing in the morning (you will just barely taste the saltiness depending on the nature of salt you use) will have the effect of replacing trace minerals lost overnight, will stimulate bile, enzymes and stomach acid thereby supporting digestive fire or agni (especially if taken warm, according to Ayurvedic principles) and will enhance hydration on a cellular level.

Sole contains all the available minerals from the salt in ionised form (eg magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc etc) Therefore one teaspoon of sole carries a much higher mineral charge than just a pinch of salt alone.

Make Your Own Sole

Sole is incredibly simple to make at home and its well worth keeping a jar or bottle of sole on your kitchen countertop to add to your morning drink. Here’s how to make it:

• In a glass mason jar, add 1/4 cup of unrefined natural salt. Use a plastic lid to avoid metal being corroded.
• Add filtered water or natural spring water to fill the jar
• Shake and let sit overnight — you're creating a saturated solution.
• In the morning, check whether there is still salt at the bottom of the jar. If there is, your water is fully saturated. If the salt has all dissolved, it means the water still has capacity to dissolve more salt. Add more salt every day until there is salt visible at the bottom of the jar. Using coarse salt crystals makes this easier to see.
• Keep topping up water and salt – it will keep indefinitely as brine is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, hence its role in preservation of food.
• add 1 tsp of this sole solution to a glass of warm filtered water. Drink on an empty stomach for maximum benefit.

Optional add-ins: fresh lemon juice (liver support), pinch of ginger powder or slices of fresh ginger (digestive boost), splash of apple cider vinegar (alkalizing), a teaspoon of pure raw honey for sweetness and added minerals.

Adding Sun Energy to Sole

Salt and the sun have a natural partnership.  Solar evaporation of brine (or seawater) is one of the oldest methods of salt production; salt crystallizes from being naturally dried by the sun’s energy.  In this way, you could think of salt as a concentrated form of solar fire, a mineralised, crystal memory of sunlight. Some refer to sole as ‘liquid sunlight’ – in other words, liquid light energy from the sun, through the geometrical structure of salt, capable of creating and sustaining life.

You can solar-charge your sole further by placing it in direct sunlight for 20-60 minutes, preferably in the early morning as the quality of the sunlight is a gentle, infrared-rich spectrum and low UV.  It’s said to charge water with photonic energy as the water molecules absorb light increasing cellular vitality. Some research suggests that this sunlight-infused sole may have the effect of restructuring the water into more coherent forms thus improving cellular absorption.  

References:

https://wellnessmama.com/health/make-sole/

Veda Austin: The Secret’s In The Salt

https://symphonynaturalhealth.com/pages/sole-therapy?srsltid=AfmBOoryqsJZhi6m0pwgpbFgCvkV7tzmoYxMjc3Yg7ZmE8C9eHYwDX7y

https://www.holistichealthherbalist.com/how-to-make-sole/

https://askdrernst.com/recipe/himalayan-salt-sole-structured-water/