Lately, we have been reading a lot about how bad salt is for us, and people are thinking that they have to avoid it to be healthy. HANS member Matthias Muschol disagrees, and, according to the literature he has read, he shares his findings here.
Salt facts
The human body cannot function without salt. If every particle of salt were taken from our bodies, we would live about 48 hours. Our very lives depend on it, yet we call it "common salt."
Salt has been worshipped, salt has been used as money, salt was once worth its weight in gold.
Tears are salty and so is blood. Salt bathes the body's tissues. A solution of salt water substituted for lost blood will keep a human or animal alive for hours.
One of the first weapons in ancient warfare was to cut off the enemy's salt. Tribal kings and priests of ancient Mexico, Peru, Egypt, Babylon and other civilizations were known to seize control of salt supplies and thus hold the power of life and death over their subjects. They could demand anything they desired--for a pinch of salt. The ancient Greek poet Homer referred to salt as "divine." Plato (429-347 BC) stated that "salt was dear to the Gods."
One of the greatest military roads in history was built to bring salt from the salt works at Ostia, on the Tiber River, to Rome. This road is called Via Salaria and is still in use. Romans were paid in part with salt coins that were called
solarium, from which came the English word "salary."
Harsh salt laws were one of the chief causes of the bloody French Revolution.
Mahatma Ghandi's "Salt March" brought about the freedom of India from British Colonial rule and the salt tax.
When Napoleon Bonaparte was at war with Russia, thousands of his men died in the retreat from Moscow. Historians record that these soldiers died from the wounds which would not heal because their bodies had been deprived of salt.
It has been said that the shortage of salt in the American South was the greatest single factor for the Confederacy having lost the war.
--Exerpted from
Miracle Salt by Mae M. Vander Boom
Salt intake is vital
Salt is a vital substance for the survival of all living creatures, particularly humans. Water and salt regulate the water content of the body. There are two oceans of water in the body; one ocean is held inside the cells of the body, and the other ocean is held outside the cells. Good health depends on a most delicate balance between the volume of these oceans, and this balance is achieved by salt--unrefined salt.
--Exerpted from
Salts That Heal and Salts That Kill by Jeffrey Warber, DC, MD
A 2007 study, featured on BBC News, found that the amount of salt consumed in just one Pizza Hut meal is more than twice the recommended daily limit for an adult and four times the daily limit of a six year old.
However, the vilification of salt is similar to the issue of saturated fat, which in fact is a healthy type of fat, but is typically consumed in many fast foods that also contain large amounts of trans fats, which can cause a number of health problems. Similarly, whereas natural salt is a healthy ingredient, processed table salt can be toxic.
Natural (unprocessed) salt is essential for life and plays a key role in:
- allowing fluids to pass in and out of the cells
- helping carry nutrients to the cells
- helping nerve cells in your brain and body to transfer information
- various metabolic reactions in the body
- regulating blood pressure
An adequate intake of sodium is also required for optimal growth of fat, bone and muscle tissues. According to the study above, severe sodium restriction may negatively affect your glucose metabolism and disturb normal blood viscosity. It was found that sodium deficiency can induce behavioral changes such as reduced motivation, fatigue and feelings of depression.
However, it's important to understand that salt used in processed foods is the highly refined variety, and NOT at all the same as the natural salt your body actually craves, to perform these vital functions, including the brain function.
Sources:
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7050585.stm
Comments by Dr. J. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2...
If you would like to contact Matthias, you can forward your thoughts to lorna@hans.org and we will pass them along.