British seaside holidays: everything you wanted to know
HistoryExtra podcast
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The Health Benefits of Sea Water
People in the 18th century and from earlier, actually in the 17th century, doctors were beginning to look at sea water. They started out suggesting that people go for the cold water cure. The idea was that these minerals would sort of enter through your skin. And so men bathed absolutely stark naked because they thought if they had an enclosing, this would stop the minerals getting into their skin. But the other way was to drink the sea water, which seems a ridiculously unpalatable thing to do.
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