Let’s Talk Salt
We can not live without salt. It is essential to many of our bodies functions. Did you know that along with water, the right kind of salt can actually help regulate your blood pressure? It helps promote a healthy ph balance in your cells and promotes bone strength. Salt has many other health benefits. But...all salt is not the same!
Your normal table salt (traditional iodized salt) is not the salt I am talking about. It has been cleaned with chemicals, heated at high temperatures and rendered into something that your body sees as a foreign substance. The big problem is that processed foods are loaded with this toxic salt. Your body doesn’t like this “industrial” salt. It can create a fluid imbalance that contributes to high blood pressure and other issues. The topper is that toxic chemicals such as aluminum hydroxide are used as preservatives in common table salt.
What salt is the best? I now only use Himalayan Salt in my raw food recipes. First, it is said to be the purest salt on earth. Second, the flavor is amazing. Nothing else comes close. And a tiny bit is all you need to add that special little touch.
Himalayan Salt contains 84 trace minerals. Mined at the foothills of the Himalayas, it comes from deep inside the earth from the largest salt range in the earth. Dating back to the Precambrian age, these salts are said to be pure and free from the polluting agents that are found in most of today’s environments. They are still mined by hand.
In raw food recipes, Himalayan salt can bring out flavor, balance flavors and add a greatly desired dimension to food. Using Himalayan salt can actually add health benefits, too. That said…a tiny bit is all you need. When I say a pinch of salt in the recipes here, I really mean a very small pinch. Literally about 1/16th of a teaspoon.
There are many topical uses for Himalayan salt, too. Rashes, bug bites, mouth rinses, nasal rinses…do a quick search on google and you will find some great tips.
Note: If you are on a salt-restricted diet for health reasons, I would consult with your doctor before adding any salt to your diet.
Jo wrote on July 25, 2010
Our bodies truly need more GOOD SALT — MINERAL SALT – (not the restaurant/store bought salt that has been heated and de mineralized) however, GOOD SALT IS A MUST FOR LOWERING THE ACID OF OUR BODIES. A new book just out written by Robert O. Young PhD. and wife Shelley Redford Young – “pHmiracle” : Revised and Updated July 2,2010 from Amazon.Com $11 dollars, book has good information on right salt. green foods, right oils Omega 3’s. Information how to balance the body and keep it more alkaline also wife Shelley has included many good raw recipes. This would be helpful to majority in knowing “New Biology” information. At present I am on a Raw Cleanse, using my Liquid Salt full of minerals of the Great Salt Lake, from the http://www.phmiracleliving.com web page. Hope this helps. I also have switched to using Hemp Oil that I buy at Sprouts Market or Henry’s here in S. Calif. I add the oil and liquid salt to my drinks also I carry a small purse size of liquid mineral salt PhFlavor. I no longer take blook pressure medicine and off all of my heart meds since adding the good salt and good oils, and eliminating sugar switching to stevia packets for sweetner when needed. No more carbonated drinks – I use squeezed fresh lime or lemon in alkaline water sweetened with green leaf stevia ( stevia is name of a S. American plant and the leaves when squeezed of juice give a sweet taste that is 300s sweeter than sugar so best to ouse liquid with dropper or stevia in packets ). Lastly, when haveing to fight any upset stomach or needing to be less acidic, I use Robert and Shelly Young’s pHour Salts — this is not for food flavor. These 4 salts combined need be mixed in glass of water about 1/4 t. and mixed when injested will alkaline the stomach and take away any heart burn, this is also good for mouth rince to alkaline the mouth and good for tooth paste replacement. Has about 40 uses. I usually mix a glass full of NaHCO3, KHC03, MgHCO3, CaHco3. English of the 4 salts is Sodium Bicarbonate, Manesium Bicarbonate, Potassium Bicarbonate and Calcium Bicarbonate. Directons are to mix 1 scoop with 6 oz water of purified water daily. Use 1 time a day. This is also a wonderful foot soak, put in bathwater, general cleanser. Helps keep the body in alkaline design.
Margaret wrote on July 24, 2010
I was born “salt-free” or something like that. I grew up in a Southern (American) household where salt and pepper were always on the table, but was always confused when I asked for someone to pass the pepper and the salt came along. I did not like butter until I left home and found un-salted butter.
When I left home and started to cook for myself, I learned that certain things did certainly need salt (but they were always cooked foods: grits, bread.) Can’t say as I know about meat because I don’t use that food. When I went raw, I had no more use for salt until I found raw food books and “fancy recipes” (about 20 years after I had gone raw). If I am following a recipe from a book, the first time, I add the salt to see what happens (most often, I will find the food too salty)
When I create recipes for other people, I do include salt because I understand that most people want that flavor/need that ingredient. I test my recipes both ways (salt/no salt) on my non-raw room-mate, to see what other people like.
Salt is not necessary in a balanced raw vegan diet, as vegetables contain sodium. If you feel a need for sodium, celery is high in sodium (and I have never liked it), as do sea vegetables (which I do like, on occasion, but not as a regular addition to my food — I suspect that, when my body needs sodium, that is when I want seaweed salads.)
As I see it, most people use much more salt than they need. That is my take as a nutritionist, and, of course, as a “non-salt” person. (I keep a salt shaker full of sea salt for when people come for dinner – that is the only condiment they usually ask for. I bought a half-pound of salt last October, and the jar it is in is still half full.)
Diana @ frontyardfoodie wrote on July 24, 2010
Yummy! I stopped using anything but sea salt that hasn’t been put through the ringer. I do love salt but definitely use it in moderation. That’s how I’m eight and a half months pregnant and have low blood pressure, only have gained ten pounds and have had no swelling despite the fact that it’s near 100 degrees out there!
Susan wrote on July 23, 2010
My research indicates that the pink color comes from iron oxide and other trace minerals that are present in the salt.
myrecessionkitchen wrote on July 23, 2010
I want to caution those that may be allergic to shell fish that they may want to avoid eating Himalayan salt. It gets it’s pink color from ancient shell fish. I find that I can’t use it.
Cojo wrote on July 23, 2010
I am also concerned about the sustainability of Himalayan salt. How do we know that the Himalayan salt companies are abiding by humane labor practices? Since I don’t know, I usually stick to Celtic Sea Salt (from Portugal) since I’ve met the people in that company and know for a fact that the salt mining is sustainable & humane. Check them out!
Thanks,
Cojo
shelleen wrote on July 23, 2010
Hey! this coming Monday, July 26 is the Full Moon. It is said that a “Soul Bath” can help detox, re-engergize, and rebalance your body!! 1 Cup of Himalayan Sea Salt in Luke Warm water, bathe between 9pm and 3am. Make sure you save time to Air Dry!! Enjoy!
Rene Oswald wrote on July 23, 2010
Have you heard of Himalayan Kala Namak Sea Salt?
Another common name for this salt is Indian Black Salt or Sanchal even though the salt crystals are actually light pink with a grayish tinge. This salt, which has a strong cooked egg odor, is mined in Central India and is very high in trace minerals. It has an amazing similarity to the flavor of hard boiled eggs, especially when used with any dish you create using avocado. I love it! It’s available on my site at http://rawfoodrene.com (click on Food Items on the left side of the page)
Many people have had relief from previous problems with fluid retention and swelling in their legs when they eat a plant-based diet and only use these Himalayn sea salts.
Patricia Robinett wrote on July 23, 2010
table salt is a byproduct of the mining industry. sea water is cheaper to mine than land. they evaporate sea water, remove the precious minerals, and sell the dregs to the public as “food”. the same product is sold for tanning hides, melting ice off streets, etc.
sodium chloride – even iodized – is not real food. white salt is like white flour or white sugar. it took years for goiters to develop in the first population that used white table salt. many diseases begin long before there are noticeable symptoms. so the salt company then put a little token bit of iodine back in and called it ‘good’.
bipolar disorder is caused by lithium deficiency and lithium is another naturally occurring mineral that has been removed from table salt. no one knows what other diseases might be due to mineral deficiencies caused by substituting white sparkly processed salt for full-spectrum, food grade, unprocessed – other than evaporated – sea salt.
natural sea salt – celtic salt – or any salt straight from the ocean that has not been heated or robbed of its precious minerals – contains all the minerals that are naturally present in our intercellular fluids – and in the same proportions. we need every mineral and although there are 84 in himalayan salt, the periodic table currently shows 114. that’s a difference of 30 minerals that are missing in himalayan salt.
it’s possible that many of our modern diseases stem from mineral deficiency. we need all the minerals to function well. don’t settle for anything less than the real thing. and at the same time, you don’t need a lot of it. a little real salt goes a very long way.