{"id":10219,"date":"2017-01-27T19:06:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T06:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/?p=10219"},"modified":"2019-11-23T08:18:28","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T19:18:28","slug":"the-sorry-story-of-salt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/wapf\/the-sorry-story-of-salt\/","title":{"rendered":"The sorry story of salt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The sorry story of salt, and how we got fooled, again<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Have we been tricked into thinking salt is unhealthy, when actually it is vital to life and health? I believe so.<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

When people are arguing about how healthy a food is, I like to go back to \u201cfirst principles\u201d. And for me, the first question is: what did our ancestors do? The best way I know how to check that is to see what Weston A Price found when he visited healthy societies, who were eating their traditional foods.<\/p>\n

One of the commonalities he found was that all societies ate salt. In fact, they regarded salt as so important that they would trade with their enemies to get it.<\/p>\n

Did they know why it was important? No, probably not. What they did know was that certain foods kept them healthy, and certain foods made them sick. Certain foods needed special ways of preparation, and some didn\u2019t. This was knowledge passed down generation by generation after eons of trial and error.<\/p>\n

So this tells me that there is something important about salt that we are not being told.<\/p>\n

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But first, let\u2019s differentiate between types of salt.<\/p>\n

Real Salt<\/h3>\n

Salt as it comes out of the ocean or from mineral deposits. It has a range of minerals, including all the trace minerals that we need in tiny quantities. Yes, it is primarily sodium chloride, but not solely. And it turns out, we need a lot of sodium and chloride for optimal biochemistry.<\/p>\n

You can tell real salt, because it isn\u2019t white. It might be grey, or pink, or even beige. But if it\u2019s pure white, it probably doesn\u2019t have the full range of minerals.<\/p>\n

It might be labelled celtic sea salt, or Himalayan salt.<\/p>\n

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Supermarket salt<\/h3>\n

This is salt that has had all of the minerals except sodium chloride stripped out. Then we need to add some chemicals to make it flow nicely out of the containers, because heaven forbid it should stick. Oh, and we will add some iodine back, to prevent goitres.<\/p>\n

Which one shall we choose?<\/h3>\n

You already know which one I\u2019m going to choose, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Now, iodine deficiency IS a problem, because our soils have largely been depleted, so I understand why the iodine is added back. But the other two changes outweigh that. We need to address iodine deficiency another way, but that\u2019s a post for another day.<\/p>\n

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Image Source<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve chosen my salt, now what?<\/h3>\n

Just use it. Use it with gay abandon \u2013 the old definition of gay, that is, not the modern one.<\/p>\n

Add it to your food, till the food tastes good.<\/p>\n

Add a pinch to your drinking water, to help absorption and to add minerals.<\/p>\n

As @krazdang<\/a> pointed out in her recent article<\/a>, food manufacturers reduced the amount of salt and fat in many processed foods, then started adding sugar instead for flavour. So you might find that you can use less sugar if you start using salt again.<\/p>\n

Ancestral wisdom not convincing enough?<\/h3>\n

Fair comment. Let\u2019s dig a little deeper.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A Price foundation, wrote about Why Salt is Essential to Health and Happiness<\/a>. She says:<\/p>\n

Salt provides two elements that are essential for life and for good health: sodium and chloride ions. They are both elements that the body cannot manufacture itself so it must be supplied by food\u2026 While sodium is present in a variety of foods, chloride is not; adequate chloride must be obtained from salt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She goes on to explain why salt is vital for good health, being needed for these functions:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Regulating blood volume and pressure, including the flexibility of the blood vessels.
\n\u2022 The firing of the nervous system neurons.
\n\u2022 Sodium-dependent enzymes are required for carbohydrate digestion, to break down complex carbohydrates and sugars into monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose and galactose; sodium is also involved in transporting these monosaccharides across the intestinal wall.
\n\u2022 We also need salt for digesting fats as sodium is involved in the manufacture of bile, which emulsifies fats so that they can be absorbed.
\n\u2022 Salt is critical for development of the glial cells in the brain.
\n\u2022 Adrenal function<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to go into more depth here, but her article<\/a> explains a lot more, and also talks about the history of salt.<\/p>\n

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Another good article, from 2012, is Exposing Mainstream Myths by Morton Satin.<\/h3>\n

Check it out here <\/a>if you\u2019d like a breakdown of why the myths we believe about salt are proven wrong. One of the things he says is:<\/p>\n

Reduced salt intakes have repeatedly been linked in the medical literature to the following conditions:
\n\u2022 Insulin resistance (diabetes)
\n\u2022 Metabolic syndrome
\n\u2022 Increased cardiovascular mortality and readmissions
\n\u2022 Cognition loss in neonates and older adults
\n\u2022 Unsteadiness, falls, fractures
\n\u2022 Lifelong avidity for salt<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hmm, do some of those look familiar?<\/h3>\n

They should, they are becoming rampant in our modern society.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one reason that I, for one, would like to see us all go back to basics, and just eat real food, like our ancestors before us.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading<\/h3>\n

Photos by myself, @sift666<\/a> or from Pixabay, unless otherwise stated.<\/p>\n

Follow me<\/a> for more health, nutrition, food, lifestyle and recipe posts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Contact me in Discord, SteemitChat, or through Peerhub to ask about one on one nutritional coaching or EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) sessions by Skype. Bitcoin, Steem or Paypal accepted.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Some of my previous posts on NUTRITION:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 The wide variety of healthy diets out and what they have in common<\/a>
\n\u2022 The travels of Weston A Price and his discoveries about healthy diets<\/a>
\n\u2022 Good fats vs bad fats<\/a>
\n\u2022 DNA testing for better Health & Fitness<\/a>
\n\u2022 DNA testing part 2: How Well Do I Digest Carbs?<\/a>
\n\u2022 DNA testing Part 3: I can\u2019t eat Carbs & How to Manage that<\/a>
\n\u2022 About the Gut & Psychology syndrome (GAPS) diet Part 1 \u2013 Can it help autism?<\/a>
\n\u2022 GAPS diet Part 2: Foods we can\u2019t have<\/a>
\n\u2022 GAPS diet Part 3: Foods we CAN have<\/a>
\n\u2022 GAPS diet Part 4: What if I can\u2019t eat some animal foods<\/a>
\n\u2022 Salicylate intolerances<\/a>
\n\u2022 Introduction to the Paleo diet<\/a>
\n\u2022 How to get started on a Real Food diet Part 1<\/a>
\n\u2022 Why use Real Food diets for healing<\/a>
\n\u2022 How to get started on a Real Food diet Part 2<\/a>
\n\u2022 We did a three day water fast<\/a>
\n\u2022 Comparison of different diets \u2013 which is for you?<\/a>
\n\u2022 Should you eat Dairy? Part 1: Pasteurisation<\/a>
\n\u2022 Cashews and the Paleo diet<\/a>
\n\u2022 Should you eat Dairy? Part 2: Quality<\/a><\/p>\n

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Badges courtesy of @elyaque<\/a> and https:\/\/www.steemverify.com\/<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

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FROM:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span> kiwideb<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sorry story of salt, and how we got fooled, again Have we been tricked into thinking salt is unhealthy, when actually it is vital to life and health? I believe so. When people are arguing about how healthy a food is, I like to go back to \u201cfirst principles\u201d. And for me, the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[17,34,16],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5906,"url":"https:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/wapf\/cmd-drops\/","url_meta":{"origin":10219,"position":0},"title":"CMD DROPS","date":"December 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"CONCENTRATED MINERAL DROPS Minerals and trace minerals are critical to the health of the human body. They are the catalysts for all the vitamins and other nutrients your body uses for developing and maintaining good health. Concentrated Mineral Drops(CMD) captures the perfect balance of those minerals. Using CMD\u00ae Concentrated Mineral\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "HEALTH"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/aa.biotrace-cmd-concentrated-mineral-drops-btcmd1-g-500x500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22785,"url":"https:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/wapf\/blood-pressure\/","url_meta":{"origin":10219,"position":1},"title":"BLOOD PRESSURE","date":"June 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATIONS Almost half of men and 61 percent of women age seventy-five or older take blood pressure medications.\u00a0The rationale is that high blood pressure is bad for the brain and increases the risk of stroke and dementia. 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