Salt

Is salt good or bad for us?

Water and salt are the building blocks for the creation of life. Human body is made primarily of water and salt. Both are present in all of our tissues, cells, blood, etc. The ash left over from the cremation of a corpse is pure salt. Salt is a core essential nutrient with exceptional abilities and qualities fundamental for keeping us alive. Without salt, life itself would not be possible.

We all know that human body is 70% water but we forget that this water is a salty water solution consisting of numerous minerals. All living things utilize salt as an essential ingredient for life. In ancient times, salt was as valued a commodity as gold. The various uses of salt are referred to in the history of many cultures, including the ancient Hebrews, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans.

Hippocrates (450 BC) recognized the healing powers of salt. He recommended many salt remedies for healing infections, clearing congestion and curing diseases of the spleen. Paracelsus (1493-1541 A.D.) wrote, "The human being must have salt, he cannot be without salt. Where there is no salt, nothing will remain, but everything will tend to rot."

In ancient Greece, slaves were sold for salt (a bad slave was “not worth his salt”). Marco Polo reported that in Tibet, cakes of salt were pressed with images of the emperor and used as currency. Salt bars were used as money in parts of Ethiopia. Salt also had military significance. For instance, it is recorded that thousands of Napoleon's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal due to the lack of salt.

Our prehistoric ancestors were already aware of the vital necessity of salt. Wherever they found salt they guarded that location like a treasure. Later in history, salt was called "white gold" and became the subject of political power plays, which often resulted in war. Roman soldiers were actually paid with salt, which is reflected in the word "salary." Salt was more important for survival than gold.

All over Europe, salt routes emerged on which the "white gold" was transported. The names of many German cities bear testimony to this time, with names as, Salzgitter, Salzburg, or Salzuflen, for instance. Also, names including the word "hall," the Celtic word for salt, emerged, with city names like Bad Reichenhall, Friedrichshall and Hallein, indicating salt deposits at these locations.

In this article when we speak of the properties of salt, we are referring to salt in its original form: holistic, wholesome, unaltered, unrefined natural salt, as it has crystallized in the earth over millions of years. When we scrutinize the common salt or table salt that is sold in the supermarket, we refer to it as sodium chloride i.e. refined salt with additives, and anti-caking agents.

Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD, the author of "You are not sick, you're thirsty!" explains that salt has many other important functions than just regulating the water content of the body. Here are only a few of it's invaluable benefits. He explains that salt is not bad for you. It does not raise the blood pressure.

It is the insufficiency of other minerals that normally hold on to, and keep water inside the cells that causes a rise in blood pressure. Given in conjunction with other minerals, salt will actually lower blood pressure to normal levels. Be sure when you purchase your salt. It may say Sea Salt on the package, but during heating and processing all the vital minerals are removed from it and sold to the vitamin companies.

The Blood Pressure Myth

Unrefined Salt (in conjunction with water and the other essential minerals) can be very effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats. Contrary to the misconception that it causes high blood, one or two glasses of water with a little salt will quickly and efficiently quiet the racing and "thumping" heart and, in the long run, will reduce the blood pressure.

Salt is a strong antihistamine. It can be used to give relief from asthma. Put it on the tongue after drinking a glass or two of water. It is as effective as an inhaler, without the toxicity. It can also stop persistent dry cough and clear the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma, emphysema and cystic fibrosis sufferers. Salt is a also a strong antiseptic. It is vital for extracting excess acidity from inside the cells, particularly the brain cells.

Salt is needed to maintain the optimal amount of blood in our bodies. It’s even needed by the heart to pump blood throughout our body. Salt is essential for digestion, cell-to-cell communication, bone formation, strength, and prevention of dehydration. Sodium is also critical to reproduction, the proper functioning of cells and muscles, and the optimal transmission of nerve impulses to and from organs such as the heart and brain.

Our bodies rely on elements called electrolytes—such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium which are present in our bodily fluids to help carry out electrical impulses that control many of our bodily functions. Without an adequate sodium intake, our blood volume goes down, which could lead to the shutting down of certain organs, such as the brain and kidneys. Simply put, if we eliminated all sodium from our diets, we would die.

Salt is vital for the kidneys to clear excess acidity and pass the acidity to the urine. Without it the body will become more and more acidic. Salt is a strong anti stress element for the body. It is essential in the treatment of emotional disorders.

Salt is also important for sleep regulation - it is a natural hypnotic. If you drink a full glass of water, then put a few grains of salt on your tongue and let it stay there, you will fall into a natural, deep sleep. Salt is a vitally needed element for diabetics. It helps balance the sugar levels in the blood and reduces the need of insulin.

Contrary to popular belief, the available literature shows that the connection between salt and hypertension is very weak at its best. In fact, in majority of the cases, there is little benefit in restricting salt in order to control blood pressure.

Patients with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, dizziness and other health problems improve when they begin using unrefined salt in conjunction with a holistic regimen. Mineral deficiency causes adrenal fatigue and exhaustion.

There is a simple test to ascertain this. Check the blood pressure when lying down and when standing up. Normally, the blood pressure will increase >10mm Hg upon standing. The increase in blood pressure is necessary to get the body ready for more activity (in this case, standing up). Adrenal exhaustion can lead to problems with maintaining a normal blood pressure. If the blood pressure declines from a supine to a standing position, it is a cardinal sign that the adrenal glands are not working correctly.

As common as salt shakers are to our kitchens, so are the numbers of diseases associated with salt's daily use. Life is not possible without salt. But our consumption of salt is killing us. Why is that? Because our regular table salt no longer has anything in common with the original crystal salt of which we're talking about here.

Nowadays, salt is mainly sodium chloride and not salt. Natural crystal salt consists not only of two, but of all natural elements. These are identical to the elements of which our bodies have been built, and from which life was formed in the primordial oceans.

Interesting enough, our blood is the same salty solution as that of the primal sea; that is, a fluid consisting of water and salt. It also has the same ratio of concentration as existed in the days when life left the primal sea. Driven by the forces of gravity and levity, this sole flows through more than 56,000 miles of waterways and blood vessels throughout our organism, and regulates and balances the functions of our body.

How Salt Became Sodium Chloride

Salt companies actually don't make their greatest profits selling salt? Most of the salt sold goes to chemical laboratories and manufacturing companies. Selling salt is actually a side business for salt companies; they make most of their profits pulling out the minerals and selling them back to us through health food stores.

With the advent of industrial development, natural salt was "chemically cleaned", processed, refined , bleached and reduced to the combination of sodium and chloride. Essential minerals and trace elements were removed as impurities. However, sodium chloride is an unnatural, isolated, unwholesome substance having nothing in common with natural salt. Similar to white, refined sugar, salt, once regarded as white gold, has been converted into white poison.

How Table Salt (Refined Salt) Burdens the Body

While our body only requires a minute amount of salt per day, most of us suffer from a lack of salt, even though we are over-saturated with sodium chloride. The body recognizes table salt as an aggressive cellular poison, an unnatural substance, and wants to eliminate it as quickly as possible in order to protect itself. This causes a constant over-burden on our organs of excretion mainly liver and kidneys. In almost every preserved product, salt is used as part of the preservation process. So, by adding salt to this already salted food, the body receives more sodium chloride than it can get rid of.

The body now tries to isolate the overdose of salt. In this process, water molecules surround and neutralize the sodium chloride by ionizing it into sodium and chloride. For this process, the body must use its most perfectly structured cell water. The respective body cells dehydrate, shrink and die.

The Consequences of Consuming Table Salt

The result of consuming common refined table salt is the formation of overly acidic edema, or excess fluid in the body tissue, which is also the cause of cellulite. That's why doctors tell us to avoid salt. For every .035 ounces of sodium chloride that cannot be eliminated, the body needs 23 times this amount of its own cell water to neutralize the salt.

If the sodium chloride is still too high, re-crystallization of the table salt occurs as the body uses available non-degradable animal proteins (as those found in milk), which also have no value and cannot be broken down and eliminated. The body uses these proteins to produce uric acid in order to get rid of the excess salt. As the body cannot dispose of uric acid, it binds itself with the sodium chloride to form new crystals that are deposited directly in the bones and joints.

This is the cause of different kinds of rheumatism such as arthritis, gout, and kidney and gall bladder stones. This re-crystallization is the body's makeshift solution for the cells and organs in order to protect the body from irreparable damage caused by an irresponsible diet. But in the long run, it poisons the system because those substances cannot be disposed of.

The Power of The Chemical Industry

Natural salt, so vital for our life, is chemically processed and turned into poison for our consumption. The motive is rather simple: About ninety-three percent (93%) of the worldwide salt production is more or less directly used for industrial purposes.

Every chemical process requires pure sodium chloride. The remaining, natural elements/minerals are either extracted and sold or considered impurities and discarded as unwanted. Sodium chloride is essential for soda, laundry detergent, varnish, plastic, PVC, pulp and paper, soap, dyes for color, and for its use in clearing snow and ice from the roadways.

Six to seven percent of the salt production is used in the food industry for preservation purposes. There is hardly a single ready-made or fast-food product which doesn't contain sodium chloride, be it yogurt, bread or meat. This is mainly done to extend the shelf life of products. In medicine, salt is used as part of an intravenous solution.

In the emergency room, IV's of "normal saline water" are an invaluable treatment in the acute care setting. Furthermore, most table salt contains preservatives, which are not mandatory to be indicated.

Up to 2% of food-grade salt may contain anti-caking, free flowing, or conditioning agents. These agents may include sodium ferrocyanide, ammonium citrate, and aluminum silicate, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, as well as aluminium hydroxide, to prevent the grains of salt from clumping together. None of these products have any positive effects in the body. Dextrose, also known as refined sugar, is used as a stabilizer so that iodide will stay in the salt.

We need salt in its holistic form, with all the natural elements, in order for our bodies to function perfectly. We need calcium, potassium and magnesium in the exact proportion and order as they appear in natural salt in order for our body to absorb and optimally utilize these minerals and trace elements. We need salt in its holistic state, with all its inherent natural elements, so that our body can function the way it is designed to.

Table salt consists of sodium, chloride and additives and has nothing to do with real, natural, holistic salt. Table salt is a dangerous cellular poison that the body tries to eliminate or store, at an enormous expense of energy and effort. Natural salt is crucial for maintaining vital functions in the body.

Refined Salt

Refined salt is usually white in color. Refined salt, is an unnatural substance to the body. Having all of its minerals removed, it is essentially a lifeless product. Being a lifeless product assures a long shelf life. In fact, refined salt can sit on the grocery shelf forever. A long shelf life is a valuable tool to maximize profits for food manufacturers.

Refined salt is bleached in order to obtain the white color. Manufacturers believe that an all white salt product will look cleaner to the consumer and, therefore, increase sales. Physicians need a greater awareness of the difference between unrefined and refined salt. Refined salt needs to be avoided—it is a toxic, dangerous substance that fails to provide the body with little benefit. Unrefined salt should be the salt of choice.

Unrefined Sea Salt

Salt comes from two main sources: sea water and the mineral halite (also known as rock salt). Rock salt occurs in vast beds of sedimentary evaporite minerals that result from the drying up of enclosed lakes, playas, and seas. As contrasted with refined salt, unrefined salt contains much more than sodium and chloride.

Unrefined salt contains all of the elements necessary for life. Celtic Sea Salt (Light Grey) contains 33% sodium, 50.9% chloride, 1.8% minerals and trace elements and 14.3 % moisture. Unrefined salt has not been put through various machines to remove the minerals and other elements that are naturally part of the salt. In addition, unrefined salt has not been exposed to harsh chemicals. Unrefined salt should be collected without the use of heavy machinery or explosives. This minimizes the chance of contamination of the salt.

Unrefined salt contains over 80 essential minerals. Since most patients are deficient in minerals. Upon learning of the mineral content of unrefined salt, it becomes crystal clear that unrefined salt with its high mineral content should be the obvious choice.

The use of refined salt is certainly harmful and needs to be avoided. We need to eat more unrefined salt. Unrefined salt is a vital substance our bodies require in order to optimally function.

As previously mentioned, unrefined salt has many healthy minerals associated with it. On the other hand, refined salt contains primarily sodium and chloride as well as toxic additives.

Unrefined salt is a whole food product which is easily utilized by the body. The additional minerals such as magnesium and potassium are essential for a healthy immune system. These additional agents are meant to be ingested at the same time as sodium and chloride are ingested.

Crystal or Rock Salt

Rock salt is unrefined salt extracted mechanically from the salt mines instead of sea. Rock salt, also known scientifically as halite, was created from the evaporation of ancient inland seas and saltwater lakes, which left concentrated beds of sodium chloride and other minerals.

Rock salt is similar in composition to sea salt but the ratio of minerals may vary. Pure, natural crystal salt has been subjected to enormous pressure over millions of years. The pressure is responsible for creating the salt crystals. Only by sufficient pressure could the salt inside the salt mountain be transformed into crystal salt. This salt is mined extensively from salt mines in Pakistan and Germany.

Today, the Khewra salt mine in Pakistan is the second largest in the world and famous for producing culinary pink rock salt. Pure crystal salt will maintain its natural pinkish color even when finely granulated. When purchasing crystal salt, be sure to check its origin and proof of quality.

For more than fifty years, our doctors, the government, and the nation’s leading health associations have told us that consuming salt increases blood pressure and thus causes chronic high blood pressure. Here’s the truth: there was never any sound scientific evidence to support this idea. Upon close examination we find that the Natural crystal salt and sea salt contain all the elements of which the human body is comprised and are extremely essential for our well being.

For the great majority of people a low-salt diet does not work. People have a hard time maintaining these diets and the expected results are sub-optimal. Patients do not feel well when mineral levels are lowered. Their energy level drops and they develop hormonal and immune system imbalances because of mineral deficiencies.

How to Choose Salt

What makes a good salt?

That is a key question to anyone interested in buying a healthy salt as well as anyone interested in the science behind salt. The most important factor in selecting a particular salt product is to choose one that contains minerals and has not been refined. The minerals in salt give the salt its particular color.

Different salts have varied mineral levels depending on where they are harvested. Therefore, certain unrefined salts may look grey, while others may contain different colors including shades of red or green. Refined salt products are not compatible with a healthy diet. You can usually recognize a highly refined salt product due to its pure white color and its very fine free flowing crystals.

Refrences

David Brownstein MD - Salt your way to health. Remarkable Healing Ability of Unrefined Salt
Vassil Nikolov, Krum Bacvarov - Salt and Gold - The Role of Salt in Prehistoric Europe
Dr. James DiNicolantonio - The Salt Fix_ Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--and How Eating More Might Save Your Life
Robert Kraske - Crystals of Life - The Story of Salt
Jacques de Langre, Seasalt's Hidden Powers - The Biological Action of all Ocean Minerals on Body and Mind Happiness
Dr Barbara Hendel, Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, Peter Ferreira - Water and Salt-The Essence of Life
F. M. D. Batmanghelidj - Yourr Body’s Many Cries for Water
Gianfranco Simone - The Health Benefits of the Himalayan Crystal Salt