Poor sulfur! It suffers from such a bad reputation. When people think of sulfur, they just naturally think of the yucky smell of rotten eggs, which is actually sulfur dioxide gas. Or they think of the biblical admonition of "fire and brimstone" associated with hell itself. (The term "brimstone" is an archaic name for sulfur.) Sulfur is what causes the strong odor near hot springs and volcanoes. It's true that sulfur doesn't smell very good, but sulfur isn't all bad either.

About 25% of our bodies contain sulfur. It is mostly found in keratin, which fortifies the skin, nails, and hair. Sulfur must be present for the body to produce collagen, which keeps skin soft and supple. That's why sulfur is often referred to as "the beauty mineral."

Sulfur is present in many of the foods that we eat, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, garlic, onions, Brussels sprouts, kale, wheat germ, and asparagus.

Sulfur has a long history for use as a health and beauty mineral. The ancient Romans soaked themselves in sulfuric waters to relieve pain and to prevent aging. Today, many of the beauty products that we buy over the counter or that are prescribed to us by our doctors to treat skin ailments like psoriasis, eczema, folliculitis and acne contain sulfur.

The ideal solution would be to get the sulfur without the awful smell, right? We can do that. Amazingly enough, Dead Sea salt has a very high concentration of sulfur, but none of the smell. There are a great many skin care products that contain Dead Sea salt available without a prescription today. Dead Sea salt can be purchased in bulk to be added to bath water for the purpose of treating body acne or other skin problems.