Many people are confused about salt and rightfully so-your doctor and health professionals tell you to decrease your salt intake to decrease your risk of hypertension, heart disease, stroke and renal disease. On the other side of the fence, many gourmet chefs and holistic specialists claim that salt is good for you and essential for life.
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) claim that Americans are consuming ever higher amounts of sodium, up to 6,000 milligrams a day, instead of the recommended daily allowance of 500 to 2,000 milligrams per day. These high amounts, in a form that is unfriendly to the human body and with no ancillary mineral benefits, are what lead to serious health problems. The sodium that the AMA and the CSPI are referring to is the sodium found in table salt.
There are several distinct differences between table salt and holistic salt.
Table Salt- is poison that has nothing in common with natural holistic salt. Table salt is refined just like white sugar, white flour and white rice. Table Salt is chemically cleaned, refined and dried at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. The excessive heat alters the natural chemical structure of the salt causing the potential for a myriad of health problems in your body. What remains after processing is 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals such as moisture absorbents, toxic iodine and fluoride. In addition, your table salt very often contains dangerous preservatives not required to be listed on the packaging. Calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and aluminum hydroxide are often added to improve the ability of table salt to pour. Aluminum is a light alloy that deposits into your brain – a potential cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
Sodium chloride is an unnatural chemical form of salt that your body recognizes as something completely foreign. This form of salt is in almost every preserved/processed product that you eat, and we Americans eat a lot of processed food. In fact, 90% of the money that Americans spend on food is for processed food. Therefore, when you add more salt to your already salted food, your body receives more salt than it can dispose of. As a food, table salt is absolutely useless, and can potentially act as a destructive poison. In order for your body to try to metabolize table salt crystals, it must sacrifice tremendous amounts of energy.
Sodium chloride from table salt upsets your fluid balance and constantly overburdens your elimination systems, which can impair your health. When your body tries to isolate the overdose of salt you typically expose it to, water molecules must surround the sodium chloride to break them up into sodium and chloride ions in order to help your body neutralize them. To accomplish this, water is taken from your cells and you have to sacrifice the perfectly structured water already stored in your cells in order to neutralize the unnatural sodium chloride. This results in dehydrated cells that can prematurely kill them.
For every gram of sodium chloride that your body cannot get rid of, your body uses twenty-three times the amount of cell water to neutralize the salt. Eating common table salt causes excess fluid in your body tissue, which can contribute to:
o Unsightly cellulite
o Rheumatism, arthritis and gout
o Kidney and gall bladder stones
When you consider that the average person consumes 4,000 to 6,000 mg of sodium chloride each day, and heavy users can ingest as much as 10,000 mg in a day, it is clear that this is a serious and pervasive issue.
The Politics of Salt (Side Bar perhaps)
So why hasn’t the FDA banned the chemical processing of table salt or set salt limits on processed foods?
1978- In 1978 the CSPI urged the FDA to set salt limits.
1982- In 1982, the FDA promised to act if the food industry didn’t bring down sodium levels on its own. Since then, according to CSPI, Americans’ sodium intake has increased, not decreased, and the agency has done nothing.
2003- In 2003, the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, or JNC 7, called for a 50 percent reduction in sodium consumption–a target that CSPI urged FDA to shoot for.
2005-In 2005, after 25 years of false starts and foot-dragging by the Food and Drug Administration the CSPI sued the FDA to regulate salt, but the court ruled that CSPI would need to file another petition with the agency. CSPI’s new legal filing with FDA asks that the agency treat salt as a food additive for purposes of regulation, as opposed to an ingredient the agency designates as “Generally Recognized as Safe,” or GRAS. The agency has greater authority to regulate food additives, including the authority to set upper limits or require special labeling for a given additive. CSPI asked the agency to set upper limits for salt in various categories of processed foods and to lower the Daily Value, or DV, for individuals from 2,400 mg to 1,500 mg of sodium per day. CSPI notes in its petition that several government bodies have urged Americans to reduce their salt consumption, and even FDA itself in
2005 reaffirmed its conclusion that sodium has an adverse impact on cardiovascular disease.
CSPI’s current petition to the FDA was also sent to Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt with a cover note of support from organizations including the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks. Prominent physicians and researchers signing the letter include Dr. Carlos Camargo of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Steve Havas of the University of Maryland Medical School, Dr. Jeremiah Stamler of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Myron H. Weinberger of the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Dr. Jackson T. Wright of the University Hospitals of Cleveland.
2006-In June of 2006 the American Medical Association (AMA), our nations doctors, added their voice to the war against salt. They are now urging the FDA to revoke the ‘generally recognized as safe’ (GRAS) status of salt and to develop regulatory measures to limit sodium in processed and restaurant foods.
“Frankly, the FDA is more interested in racing expensive new drug therapies for high blood pressure to market than it is improving Americans’ diets so they wouldn’t need the drugs,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Improving the food supply by gradually reducing the sodium content of processed foods would send a lot fewer Americans scurrying for expensive medical care. You’d think an administration ostensibly in favor of weighing costs and benefits of government action would see that.”
(End Side Bar)
Holistic Salts
A Holistic salt is a salt that is natural, as it occurs in nature and has not been refined or chemically treated by man.
Sea Salt
Many people believe sea salt is a healthy alternative to table salt, but this is no longer the case. The oceans are being used as dumping grounds for harmful toxic poisons like mercury, PCBs and dioxin. Reports of oil spills polluting the sea are becoming more frequent. With some 89% of all the sea salt producers now refining their salt, today’s sea salt simply isn’t as healthy as it used to be. If you were to look into a microscope at sea salt you would see it has irregular and isolated crystalline structures disconnected from the natural elements surrounding them. Thus, however many vital minerals it may contain, they cannot be absorbed by your body unless the body expends tremendous energy to vitalize them. Your body’s net gain is small compared to the great loss of energy.
Mined Salt or Rock Salt
Mined salt, or rock salt, is also a poor source of salt. While natural rock salt comes close to being holistically intact and is more valuable than industrial table salt, from a biophysical as well as bio-chemical perspective, it holds little value. The elements contained in rock salt lack sufficient compression to be included in the crystal web, but are only attached to the surface and in the gaps of the crystalline structure. It is the considerable pressure that brings the elements to a colloidal state – where your cells can readily absorb them. The valuable elements found in rock salt are useless because your body cannot absorb and metabolize them.
Himalayan Crystal Salt
This Salt Is over 250 million years old and is by far the purest, highest grade of natural salt available on earth and is absolutely uncontaminated with any toxins or pollutants. This salt is mined by hand and washed by hand and is known as “white gold” because it contains eons of stored sunlight. Together with pure spring water, Himalayan Crystal Salt offers all the natural elements exactly identical to the elements in your body – the very same elements originally found existing in the “primal sea.” Because the perfect crystalline structure of crystal salt is balanced, it is not isolated from the 84 inherent mineral elements, but is connected to them in a harmonious state. This means the energy content in the form of minerals can be easily metabolized by your body. When you use this salt it has a vital energetic effect. Your body gets an ample net gain with zero energy loss. It is very difficult for your body to absorb too much crystal salt since there are powerful and effective feedback loops that regulate this process. Natural crystal salt always has a balancing effect and does not contribute to high blood pressure like typical table salt. You can find this salt on the shelves of your local health food store for about $7.00.
Containing all of the 84 elements found in your body, the benefits of natural Himalayan Crystal Salt include:
1. Regulating the water content throughout your body.
2. Balancing excess acidity from your cells, particularly your brain cells.
3. Balancing your blood sugar levels and helping to reduce your aging rate.
4. Assisting in the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in your body.
5. Absorption of food particles through your intestinal tract.
6. Help in clearing mucus plugs and phlegm from your lungs – particularly useful in asthma and cystic fibrosis.
7. Acts as a strong natural antihistamine and helps clear up congestion in your sinuses
8. Prevention of muscle cramps.
9. Making the structure of your bones firm – osteoporosis can occur when your body needs more salt and takes it from your bones.
10. Regulating your sleep – it is a natural hypnotic.
11. Maintaining your libido.
12. Preventing varicose veins and spider veins on your legs and thighs.
13. Stabilizing irregular heartbeats – in conjunction with water it is actually essential for the regulation of your blood pressure.
Himalayan crystal salt can also be used for therapy. When you take a “brine bath,” the Himalayan salt’s healthy minerals penetrate your skin in the form of ions. This stimulation will cause natural cell growth in your living cell layers and is beneficial for everyone.
Taking a brine bath with Himalayan salt is especially recommended for those with:
o Various skin diseases.
o Rheumatism and joint diseases.
o A post-operative care regimen.
o Gynecological diseases.
o Recurring infections
o Severe insect bites, blisters or wounds.
o Skin irritations from poison oak, ivy or sumac.