http://thechalkboardmag.com/alkalizing-101-the-truth-about-salt-for-your-health

By Shelley Young

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The alkalizing benefits of sea salt and 29 reasons it’s good for you!

Salt is a vital substance for the survival of all living creatures – particularly humans. Salt helps to regulate the water content of the body. Water regulates itself, working its way into into the interior of all our cells. It has to get inside each cell to cleanse and extract the toxic wastes of cell metabolisms. Salt forces some water to stay outside the cells and balances the amount of water that must stay outside the cells. The two ‘oceans’ of water in the body are these two oceans held inside and outside the cells of the body. Good health depends on a highly delicate balance between the volume of these oceans, and this balance is achieved by salt – unrefined salt.

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When we drink enough alkaline, energized water to pass clear urine, we also pass out a lot of the salt that was held back. This is how we can get rid of edema fluid or acidic fluid in the body; by drinking more alkaline energized water. Not with diuretics, but with more alkaline energized water! In people who have an extensive edema or acidity and show signs of their heart beginning to have irregular or very rapid beats with the least effort, the increase in alkaline water intake should be gradual and spaced out, but not withheld from the body. You can also add 1 teaspoon of colloidal “liquid salt” to help decrease acidity and regulate the heart beat.

Good sea salt is NOT the same thing as table salt which has been stripped of its companion elements and contains additive elements such as aluminum silicate to keep it powdery and porous. Aluminum is a very toxic element in our nervous system. It is implicated as one of the primary causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Good sea salt has many other functions other than just regulating the water content of the body. Here are some of the more vital functions of sea salt in the body:

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1. Heart: Salt is most effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and – contrary to the misconception that it causes high blood pressure – it is actually essential for the regulation of blood pressure – in conjunction with alkaline energized water. Naturally the proportions are critical.

2. Brain: Salt is vital to the extraction of excess acidity from the cells in the body, particularly the brain cells.

3. Blood: Salt is vital for balancing the acidic sugar levels in the blood; a needed element in diabetics.

4. Cells: Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy needed by the cells.

 

5.  Nerves: Salt is vital to the nerve cells’ communication and information processing all the time that the brain cells work, from the moment of conception to death.

6.  Intestines: Salt is vital for absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract.

7. Lungs: Salt is vital for the clearance of the lungs of mucous plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma and cystic fibrosis.

8.  Sinuses: Salt is vital for clearing up catarrh and congestion of the sinuses.

9. Salt is a strong natural antihistamine.

10.  Muscles: Salt is essential for the prevention of muscle cramps.

11.  Mouth: Salt is vital to prevent excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates salt shortage and over-acidity.

12.  Bones: Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm. Osteoporosis, in a major way, is a result of salt and water shortage in the body.

13. Salt is vital for sleep regulation. It is a natural hypnotic.

14. Salt is a vitally needed element in the treatment of diabetics.

15. Salt on the tongue will stop persistent dry coughs.

16. Salt is vital for the prevention of gout and gouty arthritis.

17. Salt is vital for maintaining sexuality and libido.

18. Salt is vital for preventing varicose veins and spider veins on the legs and thighs.

19. Salt is vital for reducing a double chin. When the body is short of salt, it means the body is short of alkaline energized water. The salivary glands sense the salt shortage and are obliged to produce more saliva to lubricate the act of chewing and swallowing and also to supply the stomach with water that it needs for alkalizing foods. Circulation to the salivary glands increases and the blood vessels become “leaky” in order to supply the glands with water to manufacture saliva. That leakiness spills beyond the area of the glands themselves, causing increased bulk under the skin of the chin, the cheeks and into the neck.

20. Salt contains about 80 mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts. Unrefined Sea Salt is a better choice of salt than other types of salt on the market.

21. Bones: Twenty-seven percent of the body’s salt is in the bones. Osteoporosis results when the body needs more salt and takes it from the body. Bones are twenty-two percent water. Is it not obvious what happens to the bones when we’re deficient in salt or water or both.

22. Salt will help balance acidic hormones and the symptoms associated with hormone imbalance.

23. Salt will reverse sugar cravings.

24.  Salt will neutralize acids associated with muscle cramps or restless leg syndrome.

25.  Salt will help reduce adrenal stress.

26.  Salt will provide a matrix for cellular communication.

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27.  Salt will help energize the body.

28.  Salt will help reduce hot flashes.

29. Salt will provide the primary elements for producing sodium bicarbonate to alkalize the fluids of the extracellular and intracellular fluids.

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With all these facts on why good sea salt is so important to our health, we need to make sure our diets are alkaline – meaning we’re consuming good amounts of green leafy veggies, raw green juices, nut and seed milks. Pureed and chunky vegetable soups are also a must, especially in colder weather, and plenty of good healthy snacks like seaweed snacks that come already salted.

 

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http://www.lifewithgreens.com/differences-between-refined-and-unrefined-salt​

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It seems that in recent years, salt has gotten a very bad reputation – yet, the human body cannot live without salt. In fact, our bodies rely on it to help fight fungus, bacteria, and viruses. It’s important in the regulation of blood pressure, the proper functioning of the nervous system and brain cells, metabolism, digestion, adrenal function, and cell membrane permeability. It’s necessary to produce hydrochloric acid in stomach for digestion, reduces aldosterone (hormone released by adrenal glands to help regulate blood pressure) secretion in our endocrine (hormones that regulate body’s growth, metabolism, and sexual function) system, and it helps our body eliminate toxic substances by keeping them in solution. There’s so much more! However, not everyone realizes that there are different “types” of salt (refined and unrefined), and these differences will directly affect your health.

 

Many people strive to minimize their sodium intake in order to avoid high blood pressure,cardiovascular risk, bad kidneys, and so on. Patients get sent home from doctor visits with the recommendation to limit their sodium intake, and the first place they look to is their dining room table salt shaker. They decrease the amount of salt they put on their food in an effort to decrease their high reported sodium levels. Their effort is commendable, however, not as beneficial as learning the differences between refined and unrefined types of salt or sodium.

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Sodium (that is unrefined) is a mineral found in many fruits, vegetables, legumes, and meats, naturally. When sodium is in its natural (unrefined) form, it helps to regulate body fluid because it’s an electrolyte, improves nerve function, glucose absorption, aids in muscle contraction, blood regulation, and does all the positives I listed in the opening paragraph. Our bodies need sodium! Just not the kind of sodium that it can’t recognize or break down – refined salt.

Common (refined) table salt (NaCl), which most people are accustomed to, is comprised of about 97.5% Sodium Chloride and 2.5% toxic chemicals (silicon dioxide, calcium silicate, corn sugar, iodine, aluminum silicate, and others that act as moisture absorbents and anti-caking agents to allow for easy pouring). This salt is easily recognized because of its white appearance and color. It’s highly processed – dried at over 1,200 degrees, bleached and chemically cleaned, resulting in the loss of trace minerals and essential macro-nutrients. It becomes something the body doesn’t recognize. 

 

Unfortunately, those anti-caking agents perform the same function in our bodies as they do for the salt. Refined salt does not dissolve and combine with the water and fluids in our system (because our bodies don’t recognize it). Instead, it builds up in the body, and leaves deposits in our organs and tissues which cause severe health problems.

Two of the most common anti-caking agents used in the mass production of salt are:
1) sodium alumino-silicate
2) alumino-calcium silicate

Note that these are both sources of aluminum – a toxic metal that has been implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s.

Considering this is the kind of salt on most people’s kitchen counters, as well as added to processed foods, dairy products, and condiments by manufacturers, it’s no wonder doctors are recommending people to reduce their sodium intake! They’re eating the WRONG KIND of sodium, common table salt, that’s in all processed foods incorporated into the standard American diet! 

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Refined salt dominates the food market because it’s cheaper to use, and creates larger profit margins for manufacturing companies. Below are some of the negative effects associated with regular, white, refined table salt.

Inorganic sodium chloride, which is what table salt is, upsets your body’s fluid balance and causes dehydration. This happens because the body works to expel the excess toxic salt by pulling water from the cells. It’s trying to neutralize the damage by ionizing or separating the substance into chloride and sodium elements. For every gram of sodium chloride the body can’t get rid of, the body uses 23 times the amount of water to neutralize it.

Eating table salt can lead to unsightly cellulite, arthritis, gout, kidney and gallbladder stones, constipation, accumulations of toxins in the intestinal tract, hypertension, heart disease, strokes, asthma, and osteoporosis.

Let’s do a quick recap. Refined salt…
• is stripped of trace minerals
• is stripped of macro-nutrients
• is bleached
• is chemically cleaned
• is heated at high temperatures, changing the molecular structure
• is treated with 2% anti-caking agents and toxic chemicals
• causes dehydration
• upsets your body’s fluid balance
• increases “water weight”
• can lead to cellulite, arthritis, gout, kidney and gallbladder stones, constipation, hypertension, heart disease, strokes, asthma, osteoporosis, and accumulations of toxins in intestinal tract.

 

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With the continued demand toward healthier food options, companies have found ways to confuse consumers even more. When you see “sea salt” options in your local grocery store that are bright white in color, stay far away!  White “sea salt” tends to be no different than regular table salt. It too undergoes a washing-out process that strips away most mineral content, and gets put through a heat process that destroys the complex micro-structures and benefits of real sea salt. White, processed salt can still be called “sea salt” even though it is devoid of full-spectrum sea minerals.

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Please eat mineral-rich salt, and feel good about doing so! Sometimes when your body is craving salty foods, it’s because it genuinely needs the minerals found in unrefined salt. You can even sprinkle salt in water and drink it to help with headaches!

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http://altmedangel.com/amasecure/salt.htm

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Biologically speaking, salt (sodium) plays a major role in human health. It not only feeds nutritional mineral elements to our cells, it also dissolves, sanitizes and cleanses toxic wastes from our system. It is this latter function that makes salt such a healing substance.  All classic biology textbooks refer to salt as the cleanser of bodily fluids.

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Most physiological and biological processes function correctly only when sufficient quantities of sodium are present. For example, the body makes hydrochloric acid from salt. (Hydrochloric acid is one of our essential digestive fluids.) In a healthy person, the quantity of salt retained in the tissues remains constant. Any excess sodium ingested is automatically eliminated through the kidneys. However, if disease is present, this elimination of excess salt is impaired, and excess salt deposits are created; or sudden loss of internal salt can occur.

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When stress or infection demand an extra supply of salt, our body reserves are used. Addison's disease, pylorus blockage, ulcers and gastric cancers can create a critical loss of chloride ions and lower the sodium chloride in the digestive system causing a shortage of hydrochloric acid in gastric juices. These losses of chlorine and sodium inhibit the cell's self-cleansing function resulting in the blood becoming loaded with toxins. This, in turn, can act on the nervous system and create a chain reaction of new losses of sodium chloride, which in extreme cases can be fatal.

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Salt is also responsible for the balance of acids and bases within the body. When salt enters the body it dissolves into ions (also called electrolytes because they carry electrical current). With this in mind, the water balance role of salt may be easier to understand. Water is a necessary part of all body cells but cells have no way to hold onto water molecules directly. They can only move ions around and water will follow ions. So the cells direct where the ions go, the water follows and this determines where the fluids go.

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Why do people think salt is bad?

The problem with salt is not the salt itself, but the condition of the salt. In the 1940s the major salt producers in the USA began to dry salt at very high temperatures.  This changed the chemical structure of the salt.  These changes affect the human body adversely.  In order to make salt whiter, dryer and easier to pour they removed the minerals and other nutrients so that what was left was pure white sodium. Sodium is only one chemical found in salt but it is what we buy in our supermarkets and what we erroneously call salt. 

 

Modern scientists have studied the effect of sodium and salt on the human body.  It is now widely known that certain substances increase our appetite.  Salt is one of the most powerful.  The reason for this lies in the part of our brain called the appestat.  The appestat constantly monitors the nutrient content of our blood and only when 51 specific nutrients are present at their proper levels will we feel full.  Food scientists have found that by adding or subtracting some of these nutrients, they can manipulate our sense of hunger and satiety.  While some of this research is still incomplete, it is believed that adding excess fat, sugar and salt to a food tends to make people overeat.  To simplify, if we eat a partial food or in the case of salt, a chemical, our brains tell us to keep eating until the correct number of nutrients are present in the blood.  Have you ever wondered why you can't eat just one potato chip?

 

Salt that will not dissolve has a tendency to collect in body organs.  Use this test to determine if salt has been processed. Mix a spoonful of salt in a glass of water and let stand overnight. If the salt collects on the bottom of the glass, it has been processed. Natural salt will dissolve.

 

The Function of Salt

To truly understand the function of salt, we need to look to the sea, witness the high level of health of its creatures and compare its composition to that of human body fluids.

Dehydrated sea water contains over 80 elements, most required for the maintenance of the human body. While all salt originates from the sea, refined table salt and almost all sea salts sold in health food stores have none of these elements left. Even in the "natural" salts, refining, washing, boiling or kiln drying has stripped away almost all traces of these minerals. That's why it is white and dry.

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Any untreated, natural, whole salt will stubbornly hold on to part of its original water unless kiln or vacuum-pan dried. Even by drying naturally in the sun, salt crystals will not give up all of their moisture. In fact, the more trace and macro-nutrients the salt contains, the less moisture it will release.

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True "natural" sun dried salt ranges from light gray or beige to pale pink in color. Unwashed salt obtained by the industrial method yields dark gray (dirty) salt which definitely requires washing. Industrial salt making is designed to obtain a 99% pure chemical--sodium chloride. Only about 8% of industrial salt produced is used for food. The rest goes for industrial and chemical uses and is all totally refined.

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Dr. Jacques Loeb, M.D., a biologist renowned for his discoveries on parthenogenesis, did several experiments with protoplasm (living tissue) and salt. When he placed the protoplasm in distilled water, it lived. When he added pure (refined) sodium chloride, it acted as a deadly poison.

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In nature, sodium chloride never occurs in pure form. A multitude of essential major and trace elements are in its crystals. Here is a partial list of these minerals and their function in human metabolism.

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Sodium: Essential to digestion and metabolism, regulates body fluids, nerve and muscular functions.

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Chlorine: Essential component of human body fluids.

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Calcium: Needed for bone mineralization.

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Magnesium: Dissipates sodium excess, forms and hardens bones, ensures mental development and sharpens intelligence, promotes assimilation of carbohydrates, assures metabolism of vitamin C and calcium, retards the aging process and dissolves kidney stones.

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Sulfur: Controls energy transfer in tissue, bone and cartilage cells, essential for protein compounds.

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Silicon: Needed in carbon metabolism and for skin and hair balance.

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Iodine: Vital for energy production and mental development, ensures production of thyroid hormones, needed for strong auto-defense mechanism (lymphatic system).

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Bromine: In magnesium bromide form, a nervous system regulator and restorer, vital for pituitary hormonal function.

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Phosphorus: Essential for biochemical synthesis and nerve cell functions related to the brain, constituent of phosphoproteins, nucleoproteins and phospholipids.

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Vanadium: Of greater value for tooth bone calcification than fluorine, tones cardiac and nervous systems, reduces cholesterol, regulates phospholipids in blood, a catalyst for the oxidation of many biological substances.

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http://juneauempire.com/stories/091506/nei_20060915007.shtml#.WL6mCSMrJmB

By David Ottoson

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The ancients used salt made from evaporated sea water. Traditional peoples who lived far from the sea burned marsh grasses high in sodium and added the ash to their food. In both cases, their salt contained not only sodium and chloride, but many other mineral elements essential to life.

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The refined salt that most people are familiar with results from a chemical and high temperature industrial process. This process removes magnesium salts as well as all other trace elements. After these beneficial nutrients have been removed, additives are added back to keep the salt dry, including aluminum compounds. Potassium iodide is added, as well as dextrose as a stabilizer. This turns the salt a purplish color so a bleaching agent is added to turn it white again. The resulting "pure" salt is anything but.

Even most so-called sea salt is produced by industrial methods. If it is granular, pure white, and flows easily without clumping, you can be pretty sure that your salt is highly refined.

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The best and most healthful salt is made by evaporating seawater in clay-lined vats. It is light grey in color and slightly moist. This "grey" salt is actually only about 82 percent sodium chloride, the rest being magnesium salts and over 80 other trace minerals.

The most widely available "grey" salt comes from the natural salt marshes of Brittany and is harvested by artisans called "Paludiers" who use large wooden rakes, allowing no metal to touch the salt. This is the famous Celtic Sea Salt, which is highly prized by both health seekers and chefs. 

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http://healthwyze.org/reports/115-the-truth-about-table-salt-and-the-chemical-industry

 The Truth About Table Salt and The Chemical Industry

Written by Thomas Corrihe

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The mainstream media, at the behest of the misguided medical establishment, villainizes salt. Society is constantly told that salt can raise the blood pressure, cause cardiac failure, damage the kidneys, aggravate asthma, and cause kidney stones. The establishment makes no distinctions between the different types of salt.

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Sea Salt

Unrefined and unadulterated sea salt is not harmful in moderate amounts. Its benefits over table salt contrasts the immense differences between God's engineering and man's. The human body requires a certain amount of sodium for optimum health, and we could not live without it. Healthy sea salts selectively make a body a hostile environment for pathogens, such as bacteria and parasites. Its specific toxicity to pathogenic life forms is why salt is such an excellent preservative, while leaving the healthy foods completely intact. Even mainstream medical doctors will admit these things when probed, but their institutionalized attacks upon salt continue unabated.

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Sea salt naturally contains selenium, which helps to chelate toxic heavy metals from the body. It also contains boron which helps prevent osteoporosis, and chromium which regulates blood sugar levels. Sea salt is one of the few sources for safe copper ingestion, and copper helps the body to form new arteries whenever the main arteries become too clogged. Small quantities of sea salt will actually lower the blood pressure of most individuals, because it provides the trace minerals that aid with blood pressure regulation. It can only stabilize the blood pressure when the industry-depleted salts are removed from the diet. Mineral deficiencies are partly responsible for the rising obesity epidemic. Obese people are invariably malnourished, and their bodies are starving, because regardless of how much they eat, they are not getting the minerals and nutrients that they need. The processed table salts and conventionally grown produce are a big part of the problems.

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Table Salt

The more common "refined" table salts have been been stripped of their minerals during processing, which manufacturers then sell to supplement companies. It makes the unmistakable point that the producers of table salts are intentionally stripping what they know to be the most nutritious part of the salt, and actually increasing profits by malnourishing their own customers.

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Table salt has all of its minerals removed, which would otherwise help to balance the blood pressure. Consequently, table salt causes gross blood pressure fluctuations, instead of stabilizing it. This well-known danger has created an entire industry of "low sodium" foods.

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Processed foods are very high in sodium, but it is always in the form of table salt, artificial flavors, or flavor enhancers. In the ultimate heart-health irony, low sodium products often contain monosodium glutamate, a sodium-based excitotoxin that causes heart attacks in people who do not have enough magnesium (from organic vegetables and sea salt). It is probably the most common reason for mysterious heart failures in young athletes, who simply fall-over dead at sporting events. The profuse sweating imbalances their electrolytes even further, to become the final straw on the camel's back.

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Contrary to popular belief, table salt is not just sodium chloride. It also contains additives that are designed to make it more free-flowing. Ferrocyanide, talc, and silica aluminate are commonly included. Aluminum intake leads to neurological disorders, particularly when no selenium is provided to help the body to chelate it. Aluminum bio-accumulates inside the body, causing further degeneration over time. Talc is a known carcinogen, though its effects upon ingestion have not been heavily studied. While it was once used in baby powders, the majority of such products now use cornstarch instead of talc, because of the known health risks. The F.D.A. has a special provision to allow talc in table salt, even whilst it is prohibited in all other foods, due to toxicity issues. According to current regulations, table salt can be up to 2% talc.

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Fake Sea Salts

Some companies sell bright white salts that are labeled as "sea salt", but they have had all of their minerals removed, just like table salt. It is the minerals that give real sea salt an off-white color. Depending on where it originates, real sea salt will be either gray or slightly pink. Salt that contains saltwater minerals is never bright white. Most of the sea salt that is available at major retailers is just as mineral depleted as table salt. These alleged sea salts sometimes contain anti-caking agents too, because they are produced by the same despicable companies that produce table salt. The reputable sea salt companies that we have investigated do not use any anti-caking agents or other impurities.

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Iodine and Iodide

The potassium iodide that is added to table salt is not adequate to compensate for most iodine deficiencies. It is usually sufficient to stop goitrous boils from swelling in the neck, which are caused by an extreme deficiency. However, not enough iodine can be obtained from table salt to maintain optimal health, unless a dangerous amount of sodium is consumed. Naturally-occurring iodine is present in unadulterated sea salt with complimentary minerals, but even the vastly superior and healthier sea salt may not be enough for a tiny fraction of people who have extreme iodine deficiencies, which are caused by fluoride toxicity and other mitigating factors.

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F.D.A. Deception About Sea Salt's Iodine

The F.D.A. mandates that any salt, which does not have iodine added (at the chemical plant) must bear a warning label. It must state, "This salt does not supply iodide, a necessary nutrient". As a result, sea salt distributors are required to lie on their labeling. Unadulterated sea salt usually contains more iodide than iodized table salt does. Iodide is iodine that is mixed with a salt. In fact, iodide really ought to be called, "potassium iodine". The naturally-occurring iodine in sea salt is maligned by false labeling to favor the chemical industry's bastardized products and profits. Moreover, the inorganic iodide in table salt is less healthy, because it is lacking the trace minerals that work with it, that are found only in natural sea salts. Sea salt distributors are not allowed to put any of this truthful information on their labels, under the threat of serious legal trouble for violating the disingenuous labeling requirements.

 

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