Salt and Good Health

Salt is essential not only to life, but to good health. The National Academy of Sciences recommends that Americans consume a minimum of 500 mg/day of sodium to maintain good health. Individual needs, however, vary enormously based a person's genetic make-up and their lifestyle. While individual requirements range widely, most Americans have no trouble reaching their minimum requirements. Most consume "excess" sodium above and beyond that required for proper bodily function. The kidneys efficiently process this "excess" sodium in healthy people. Experimental studies show that most humans tolerate a wide range of sodium intakes, from about 250 mg/day to over 30,000 mg/day. The actual range is much narrower. Americans consume about 3,500 mg/day of sodium; men more, women less. The very large percentage of the population consumes 1,150- 5,750 mg/day which is termed the "hygienic safety range" of sodium intake by renowned Swedish hypertension expert Dr. Bjšrn Folkow. Every substance, including water, can be toxic in certain concentrations and amounts; this is not a significant concern for dietary salt.

Salt and Cardiovascular Health

Some have suggested that since salt intake is related to blood pressure, and since cardiovascular risks are also related to blood pressure, that, surely, salt intake levels are related to cardiovascular risk. This is the "salt hypothesis" or "sodium hypothesis." Data are needed to confirm or reject hypotheses.

Here's what scientists have found:

1. An eight-year study of a New York City hypertensive population stratified for sodium intake levels found those on low-salt diets had more than four times as many heart attacks as those on normal-sodium diets - the exact opposite of what the "salt hypothesis" would have predicted. (1995)
2. An analysis by NHLBI's Dr. Cutler of the first six years' data from the MRFIT database documented no health outcomes benefits of lower-sodium diets. (1997)
3. A ten-year follow-up study to the huge Scottish Heart Health Study found no improved health outcomes for those on low-salt diets. (1997)
4. An analysis of the health outcomes over twenty years from those in the massive US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) documented a 20% greater incidence of heart attacks among those on low-salt diets compared to normal-salt diets (1998)
5. A health outcomes study in Finland, reported to the American Heart Association that no health benefits could be identified and concluded "Éour results do not support the recommendations for entire populations to reduce dietary sodium intake to prevent coronary heart disease." (1998)
6. A further analysis of the MRFIT database, this time using fourteen years' data, confirmed no improved health benefit from low-sodium diets. Its author conceded that there is "no relationship observed between dietary sodium and mortality." (1999)
7. A study of Americans found that less sodium-dense diets did reduce the cardiovascular mortality of one population sub-set, overweight men - the article reporting the findings did not explain why this obese group actually consumed less sodium than normal-weight individuals in the study. (1999)
8. A Finnish study reported an increase in cardiovascular events for obese men (but not women or normal-weight individuals of either gender) - the article, however, failed to adjust for potassium intake levels which many researchers consider a key associated variable. (2001)
9. In September, 2002, the latest and highest-quality meta-analysis of clinical trials was published in the British Medical Journal confirming earlier meta-analyses' conclusions that significant salt reduction would lead to very small blood pressure changes in sensitive populations and no health benefits. (2002)

Refined Salt: White Poison

The problem with salt is not the salt itself but the condition of the salt we eat! Our regular table salt no longer has anything in common with the original unrefined crystal salt. Salt now a day is mainly sodium chloride and not salt. With the advent of industrial development, our natural salt was "chemically cleaned" and reduced only to sodium and chloride. Major producing companies dry their salt in huge kilns with temperatures reaching 1200 degrees F, changing the salt's chemical structure, which in turn adversely affects the human body. The common table salt we use for cooking has only 2 or 3 chemical elements. The seawater has 84 chemical elements. For our body to be healthy we need all those elements. When we use the common salt, we are in deficit of 81 elements which means we are somehow contributing to becoming weaker, imbalanced and more susceptible to diseases. Use the seawater salt.

Salt is a vital substance for the survival of all living creatures, particularly humans. Water and salt regulate the water content of the body. Water itself regulates the water content of the interior of the cell by working its way into all of the cells it reaches. It has to get there to cleanse and extract the toxic wastes of cell metabolisms. Salt forces some water to stay outside the cells. It balances the amount of water that stays outside the cells. 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. When water is available to get inside the cells freely, it is filtered from the outside salty ocean and injected into the cells that are being overworked despite their water shortage. This is the reason why in severe dehydration we develop an edema and retain water. The design of our bodies is such that the extent of the ocean of water outside the cells is expanded to have the extra water available for filtration and emergency injection into vital cells. The brain commands an increase in salt and water retention by the kidneys. This is how we get an edema when we don't drink enough water.

Historically, these mineral salts were the commodities that trade routes and cities such as Saltzberg grew up around. Once known as "white gold", salt was, and still is, essential for virtually all biological processes. Without mineral salts, says Dr Hendel, there would be no movement, memory or thought and your heart wouldn't beat. Nutritionist Patrick Holford goes one step further. He claims that high-sodium table salt has more to account for than just high blood pressure and heart disease and can actually create mineral imbalances that lead to health problems. "Minerals work together and need to be balanced," he explains. "For example, potassium and magnesium works with sodium to regulate water balance and nerve and muscle impulses. The more sodium you eat, the more potassium and magnesium you need. "A lot of people say salt is bad, but bad salt is bad," says Amanda Nelson, founder of The Natural Salt Seller. "If you put a fish in table salt solution, it will die. Good salt, on the other hand, can be wondrous."

How salt can heal

PMS: Mineral-rich salts can help ease PMS in two ways. The muscle-relaxing effects of magnesium combined with potassium, which helps the body get rid of excess water, can ease water retention and relieve muscular tension. JOINT PROBLEMS: Minerals have an alkalising effect on the body. Natural health practitioners such as Louise Hay have observed that this has an anti-inflammatory effect, easing painful conditions such as arthritis. BACK PAIN: Whether you eat or bathe in them, mineral-rich salts tend to relax. This is largely due to magnesium, which is needed for muscles to relax. Low levels of magnesium are associated with muscle cramps. Replacing table salt with a good mineral salt could help alleviate these. BONE STRENGTH: Unrefined rock salts are rich in minerals needed for bone strength. Apart from calcium, bones use phosphorus, magnesium and other minerals as building materials.

Salts that are good for you

HIMALAYAN CRYSTAL SALT: Himalayan crystal salt contains 84 minerals, all needed by the human body. The rose-coloured crystals are claimed to help digestion, strengthen bones, ease arthritis and relax the nervous and muscular system. For information, go to www.himalayancrystalsalt.co.uk (Available at Keefe Clinic)

CELTIC SEA SALT: Celtic salt is collected from sea shores around Brittany and dried in the sun and wind. It is grey and moist, reflecting the mineral content and capacity to hold water, and is credited with health benefits such as lowering blood pressure. For information go to www.naturalsaltseller.co.uk

Wright's LOW SODIUM SALT: Wright's is an Finland salt containing 60 per cent less sodium than table salt and significant amounts of magnesium and potassium. A study in the British Medical Journal found it lowered blood pressure. (Available at Keefe Clinic)

EPSOM BATH SALTS: Eating too much sodium, combined with too few vegetables leaves us deficient in magnesium, which relaxes muscles. Epsom Bath Salts are rich in magnesium and other minerals which are absorbed across the skin while soaking in a hot bath. Available from drug stores nationwide. For information go to: www.epsomsaltcouncil.org