For so long we have been told that salt is bad for us and especially for our heart, and that we should be cutting it out of our diet. More recently there has been a study linking salt with Multiple Sclerosis!
Well this is completely absurd, salt, in moderation, is good for you, but it has to be the right salt, ‘sea salt’ or Celtic salt. Your body needs sodium in the form of salt to survive, your cells need to be bathed in saltwater. Healthy blood is salty, salt is a component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid and even amniotic fluid.
Natural salt carries nutrients in and out of your cells, it maintains and regulates blood pressure, it increases the cells in your brain that are responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning, and helps your brain communicate with your muscles.
Salt helps stabilize and regulate your heartbeats, thanks to its magnesium and sodium content, it minimizes the effects of stress by maintaining proper melatonin, serotonin, and tryptamine levels in your brain, and it helps to boost your immune system.
Salt helps remove cellular acidity, especially in the brain and kidneys and is therefore an alkalizer, it is also a buffer for your blood sugar levels. It is important in keeping your metabolism high, it is the production of energy when electron-rich alkaline water transfers from one cell to another, a process that is managed by the salt concentration in the cells. Water always moves from a cell with a lower salt concentration to a cell with a higher salt concentration as the body seeks pH balance.
Salt is taken into your bone matter to help strengthen your bones and because it contains iodine in a natural setting it is absorbed more readily and helps the thyroid and endocrine system.
All these benefits and functions are linked to ‘natural salt’. However when we talk about other common forms of dietary sodium….well that is another story!
Most of the salt that people consume comes from processed foods that contain many artificial ingredients and chemicals that are bad for your health anyway, including potentially dangerous forms of junk sodium.
• Table salt and the salt added to just about every processed food, has itself been overly processed, destroying its electrical potential. It has no electron energy. So whilst you need to cut out all regular added salt from your diet you do need to add ‘good’ salt, electron rich alkaline crystalline salt like Celtic salt or sea salt.
• Sodium benzoate is a widely used preservative which you will find in carbonated drinks, fruit juices and condiments. Research shows that it may promote infections and cancer by shutting off oxygen from cells and it may also increase the risk of Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
• Sodium nitrate is a common ingredient in processed meats. In your body sodium nitrate interacts with some proteins to form compounds that can cause DNA damage. Research links this damage to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancers of the digestive tract. Sodium nitrate can also damage blood vessels increasing the risk of heart disease.
• The worst sodium compound is monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is used as a flavour enhancer and can trigger many minor problems such as heart palpitations, chest pains, headaches, sweating, burning sensations and many more.
MSG can damage cells, and nerve cells in the brain are particularly vulnerable. Like sodium benzoate and sodium nitrate, MSG may play a role in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
So next time you hear about salt causing health problems, replace the word ‘salt’ with ‘junk sodium’. Natural unrefined sea salt is good for you, in moderation, and much the best type of salt to use because it has not gone through the refining and bleaching processes that are toxic, and still contains other naturally occurring trace minerals which the body can absorb.
One of the main causes of low sodium levels is dehydration, and if you do not have enough sodium in your body it leads to mental apathy, loss of appetite, vomiting occasionally, and muscle cramps. Your body ‘retains’ water when it is dehydrated to dilute acids, and when you are retaining water it is a signal that your sodium is being converted into potassium in the body to balance your pH, and you actually need more water and alkaline salts.
Too much tea and coffee can dehydrate you so I recommend that for every cup of tea or coffee that you drink, you also have 2 large glasses of water!
So don’t give salt up completely, just give up the ‘junk sodium’ and use unrefined sea salt in moderation, it tastes better!