There is, unfortunately, a big misunderstanding here in this country about the use of Salt in our diets. How many times have I heard patients say that they are healthy eaters…making sure never to add salt to their cooked foods? Across the world and throughout history, salt has been considered more valuable than gold, cherished for its healing abilities, and revered as a “vital symbol of life.” How have we gotten so far off track to believe that having no salt in our diets is better for our health? We must make a distinction between what constitutes good salt and bad salt. Hopefully this article will help to clear up some of the confusion. Salt is after all necessary for an array of bodily functions.
Salt, otherwise known as Sodium Chloride (NaCl), is essential for many different processes in the body. The chloride part of sodium chloride helps make up hydrochloric acid in our stomachs which aids in digesting our food efficiently. Without this, people can suffer from indigestion, acid regurgitation, undigested food, and malabsorption. Sodium chloride, salt, is also responsible for adrenal function. Without salt your body would not be able to make over 50 percent of the necessary hormones needed to keep the body going. In Chinese medicine, salt is used to treat constipation, detoxify poison, tonify the kidneys, strengthen the heart and mind, and as an antidote to all forms of radiation. Salt alkalizes the body, balancing acidic environments that can lead to disease.
There is an important distinction to be made between various kinds of salt. Iodized salt, otherwise known as table salt, has nothing in common with natural salt. Iodized salt should be avoided at all costs. This is the salt that is usually used in restaurants and sold in grocery stores. Iodized salt is heated to high temperatures which changes the actual chemical structure of the salt. Certain chemicals have also been added to it in order to keep it from clumping together. Sea salt, in the past, has been a better choice than iodized salt, but presently is being refined by 90 percent of the companies selling it. Sea salt has the potential to carry toxins from our polluted oceans and, therefore, is no longer a clean and safe choice.
Himalayan crystal salt is a superior choice to iodized salt and sea salt. It is taken from deep inside the caves of the Himalayan mountains. This salt does not go through any refining process and is therefore free of pollutants. Himalayan cooking salt is nature's way of providing the body with vital trace minerals that it needs. Over 250 million years old, this mineral rich salt helps to replenish our depleted bodies with over 84 trace elements in an easily absorbable colloidal form. Himalayan crystal salt infuses your food with essential minerals of potassium, magnesium, and calcium while also enhancing flavor.
Himalayan crystal salt can be used not only for cooking but in a variety of forms. Himalayan bath salts added to your bath reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation. This healing salt has been known to get rid of long standing skin conditions. Use a small amount in your bath every day and watch as redness and irritation disappear. Or soak your feet in a tub of filtered water and Himalayan salt after a long day at work. Use the bath bar to rub on specific areas of pain and fatigue.
Himalayan salt lamps and candle holders are yet another form in which this salt comes in. It is useful for cleaning the air, much in the same way that modern day air purifiers do, only in a more natural way. When heated, these beautiful salt crystals release negative ions into the air. The negative ions attach themselves to positive ions, pollution particles, in the air. The pollutants, or positive ions, then fall to the ground and can be easily vacuumed up. Just Mother Nature's natural alternative to healthy air.
Healthy salt is one way to help the body stay in balance in this stressful world that we live in. We actually need salt to stay alive! When it comes to choosing between good salt and bad salt, choose Himalayan salt. Nothing compares!