The Story on Salt, Part II

Table salt: the Poison Pill
When table salt is chemically cleaned and processed, the trace minerals and electrolytes that naturally occur in unrefined salt are removed as if they were impurities. Chemically processed table salt is inorganic which means that the chemical bonds are so strong that it can’t be easily broken down or metabolized by our bodies. When you take in an inorganic mineral, your body will either store them or eliminate them. In this case, when you take in table salt your body sees it as a poison and tries to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, most of us take in way more table salt than our bodies can eliminate. When this happens, your body has to do something with the excess salt.

Have You Ever Wondered Why You Feel So Thirsty and Bloated after Eating That Pepperoni Pizza?
Well, that’s because your body has been put into a tough position. It can’t get rid of the table salt fast enough so it must neutralize it. How does it do that? It is forced to take water from our healthy cells to surround it and as a result, you retain water, and kill off healthy cells.

Consumption of table salt increases blood pressure, and leads to a number of disorders such as edema (water retention), and excess fluid in the tissues (i.e. cellulite) so of course your allopathic doctor will tell you to reduce your salt intake. Unfortunately most allopathic doctors are not trained to and do not educate their clients about the benefits of unrefined salt.

How Is Unrefined Salt Different?
Think of a diamond. A diamond started as coal, but this coal was subjected to intense pressure over millions of years and as a result the diamond was formed. Salt that has been subjected to this same pressure eventually becomes crystal salt. Our bodies can easily absorb the crystalline structure of salt because our blood has a crystalline structure. As an added benefit, the trace elements trapped within crystal salt are in particles small enough to penetrate human cells for optimal metabolism. So while there are many types of unrefined salts to choose from, crystal salt is my favorite. Many types of sea salts are also beneficial, but due to the pollution of our oceans, and for a variety of other reasons, many sea salt producers are starting to refine their salt. If you purchase sea salt, you have to check the label carefully to make sure that it does not have additives. Chances are, if your sea salt looks too much like table salt you probably want to avoid it.

It's Not Your Body's Fault
Contrary to popular belief, our bodies function perfectly. Your body does exactly what it is supposed to do each moment to keep you alive TODAY. When our body throws up a signal, such as acid reflux or intestinal gas, it is telling you that it is reacting perfectly to something we experienced or ate that does not agree with it.

Salty Fun Facts
These fun facts come from one of my favorite books on salt by Dr. Hendel and Peter Ferreira, Water and Salt…The Essence of Life.

1. Salt in its pure form does not need to be metabolized by our bodies in order for us to absorb it.
2. Natural crystal salt normalizes your blood pressure—so if you have high blood pressure, it lowers it. If you have low blood pressure, it raises it.
3. Osmosis which is the foundation of cellular metabolism is managed by salt.