More than just a condiment
Many if not most people believe that:
- Salt is a condiment whose only value lies in adding to or bringing out the flavor of foods.
- Salt is salt, period; it’s all the same other than minor variations in taste.
- Salt should be restricted, especially if you have high blood pressure or other heart concerns.
False, false, and false. Read on.
Salt of the earth
Sodium and chlorine, the two basic components of salt, are absolutely essential for life in animals, including humans.
Interestingly, salt was considered so valuable until recently that some ancient people were paid in salt; the root of the word “salary” comes from this, as does the phrase “worth his/her salt” and the complimentary “salt of the earth.” Salt was so important as a food preservative in the days before refrigeration that its presence made it possible to eat in the winter: meat jerky and ham, sauerkraut and pickles. It is only recently that salt has been demonized. If not overused, salt – healthy salt, not commercial salt – can even help to alleviate some health problems.
What is there to say about salt?
Salt is just salt, right? Sodium chloride, abbreviated NaCl? Actually, there’s a world of difference in salt, and the difference between natural and refined salt can make a profound difference in how your body works.
Refined salt
Refined salt usually contains aluminum or other compounds to keep the salt from caking, hence the slogan on one refined salt brand, “When it rains, it pours.” It lacks minerals and contains other chemicals. Much of food-grade salt may have anti-caking, free-flowing, or conditioning agents, including sodium ferrocyanide, ammonium citrate, and aluminum silicate, none of which are found in real food. Dextrose, a type of sugar, is sometimes used as a stabilizer.
An all-white product looks better to most mainstream consumers than a grayish, pinkish, or yellowish salt with specks, the colors of natural salt. What is used to give commercial salt its pure-white color? Processes and chemicals that certainly don’t belong in your body.
Refined salt not only doesn’t supply minerals, but can worsen a mineral deficit. Both lack of unrefined salt and excess of refined salt can be problems.
Unrefined salt
The least processed varieties of salt are slightly moist since they don’t have added chemicals to keep them from absorbing water. Grains of natural salt tend to be coarse, and not pure white, although there can be quite a variation in color – gray, pink, yellowish, off-white, even reddish or black.
There are many different kinds of unrefined salt, many of which are becoming downright trendy. These varieties include Himalayan pink salt, kosher salt, sea salt, Celtic salt, and Real Salt (brand name). These vary slightly in taste, texture, color, and mineral content. They are all an improvement over the pure white free-flowing refined salt that is usually sold in cylindrical canisters.
But what about iodine?
Commercial salt, unlike refined salt, has added iodine, a mineral that is important for proper thyroid function. However, the iodine that is added to salt is usually synthetic which is difficult for your body to process properly. And according to at least one researcher, the iodine in iodized salt is essentially gone four weeks after opening the canister. It’s much better to get your iodine from natural sources, such as sea vegetables, some seafood, natural yogurt, navy beans, baked potato, and Himalayan salt.
The blood pressure connection: not what you might think
When more salt is eaten, more water is retained to dilute the salt to maintain an optimal concentration in the body and bloodstream. More water in the blood translates to more pressure against the arterial walls, just as opening up the outdoor faucet more means more pressure against the walls of the attached hose. This is high blood pressure (BP).
Because of this connection, many doctors believe that restricting salt intake will lower blood pressure. This is true, but only for a certain portion of the population who have salt-sensitive high BP. Others are not affected by restricting salt, and still others have high BP due to taking in too little salt. Practitioners at CAM have found that, in some cases, having patients with high BP eat more salt – in particular, the right kind of salt – will lower their BP to normal levels.
Another consideration is that these studies showing a correlation between high BP and high salt intake base their conclusions on the use of refined salt; indeed, many researchers don’t realize that there’s a difference.
The connection with fatigue
Sodium (salt) deficiency and its accompanying low blood pressure has been shown to be related to chronic fatigue (CFS). Salt, preferably mineral salt, Real Salt or sea salt without added dextrose or aluminum, can help alleviate some of the symptoms, although it is not a cure. If salt makes a difference in your energy level, this can be an important clue to an alert health professional that low salt could be a factor in your illness.
Heavy fatigue which may come on suddenly, in which one can barely move but can’t sleep, accompanied by low blood pressure, nausea, depressed appetite, cold hands and feet, and thirst even after drinking water can be due to low sodium levels. A glass of salt water (½ to 1 tsp. of mineral or sea salt in a glass of water) can relieve these symptoms within 10-30 minutes.
Salt cravings can indicate low adrenal function, one of the causes of fatigue. Low calcium and potassium can also cause low adrenal function, and these are minerals that are supplied at least in small part by natural salt.
The bottom line
Most foods in the Western diet contain way too much sodium and salt, and the great majority of that comes from processed foods. If you eat whole unprocessed food and use unrefined salt, and a knowledgeable practitioner has determined that you don’t have a medical condition such that you need to restrict salt, feel free to salt your food to taste, and enjoy.
