subject: The Salt Conundrum Is Salt Healthy Or Not [print this page] Salt has been painted the villain in the goal of good health. The U.S. government recommends lowering salt intake to prevent myriad health issues, such as heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke, to name a few we all recognize. Salt is a natural substance. Some say we cannot live without some salt in the diet. Our blood actually contains 0.9 percent of salt. Why is there a problem?
Similar to many other campaigns in recent history, such as the low-fat campaign resulting in rampant obesity, or the campaign for hormone replacement therapy, this campaign against salt is leading us into unhealthy arenas. Salt itself is not the culprit but the refining process that causes salt to create havoc in the body.
The refining process for most of our table salt is the real culprit. Salt is subjected to a heating process of up to 1,200 degrees or more, refined to remove all trace minerals, iodine is added and compounds to prevent clumping. What we are left with has no resemblance to real sea salt. Salt generally comes from the sea. Most people these days have heard of sea salt. But what is sea salt? It is salt that occurs naturally in the sea and some other bodies of water. Sometimes the body of water has evaporated and large salt deposits have been left in dry state, such as in the salt mines in Utah. To obtain sea salt, the salty deposits are gathered and allowed to dry naturally, and left with all their trace minerals. These trace minerals can vary from place to place, but are all naturally occurring, and if one consumes salt, these trace minerals are helpful with its digestion and use in the body.
Over time, the use of refined table salt leads to edema, and is certainly a contributor in many diseases. Like anything that has been altered drastically from its original state, it becomes a substance unrecognized by the body. If the body cannot recognize an element, it tries to isolate that element by surrounding it with water. If the body pulls water from one place to try and neutralize salt in another, this is where the problem comes in, resulting in swelling. I had terribly swollen feet and legs for a few years, until I discovered natural sea salt. Once I started using sea salt, the swelling went down.
The next step in this problem is all the processed foods, high in sodium, and not sea salt, but just plain sodium chloride. Canned foods are terribly high in sodium. I am grateful for some of the low sodium or no sodium canned goods these days, but even with these I am consuming highly refined salt, and not a good quality sea salt with all its trace minerals intact. I have eliminated most canned foods from my diet, in order to lessen the prospect of leg swelling.
Cooking at home, one is in control of what goes into the food. I use only sea salt, of one kind or other. Also, these days so many varieties of sea salts are available. We have orange colored Palm Island sea salt, black Hawaiian sea salt, and pink Himalayan sea salt, to name a few. Then there are multitudes of countries that produce sea salt naturally, and many of these have differing crystal structures. Some are flat crystals, some are rounder and some more conical. Some are meant more as a finishing salt, to be added just before consumption, although if food is properly seasoned it needs nothing more to finish it off. I once purchased a box of a dozen or more tiny containers of sea salts from around the world; Israel, Great Britain, France, Australia and many other countries. In the last few years flavored salts have become available. Smoked salts, such as alder smoked or hickory smoked, have their distinct place. Others such as lemon, balsamic or chardonnay flavored salts can be used in specific dishes.
It is likely as erroneous to believe that all salt is bad for you, as it is to believe that refined table salt is fit for consumption. These are my own opinions, of course. As in all things, moderation is the key. Sitting down to eat and automatically pouring salt on a food prior to tasting it is just a bad habit. Some people believe we need no salt at all and can be perfectly healthy without. It is still better to travel the moderation path. Too much of anything will cause problems, be it sugar, fat, salt or anything else. None of these in excess is healthy. Eat everything you want, in moderation. Learn to use real sea salt and see the change in your health.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.
