“Dietetically regarded, salt is by no means in the same category with mustard, pepper, vinegar, and other condiments. These are not to be found in blood or muscle. Salt is. In one way or another, it is, in fact, the very essence of existence.”
Our Bodies Need Salt to Function Properly
According to Sally Fallon Morrel:
“People need about one and one-half teaspoons of salt per day. Anything less triggers a cascade of hormones to recuperate sodium from the waste stream, hormones that make people vulnerable to heart disease and kidney problems” (source).
One and a half teaspoons of salt a day is twice as much as what the FDA is now recommending as the optimal daily sodium consumption.
Salt plays a role in many functions of the body. Reducing salt intake too much can actually contribute to heart problems – the very thing that everyone reducing salt consumption is trying to avoid today. It doesn’t really make sense to me that people blame salt for high blood pressure and heart problems.
With all of the effort to reduce sodium consumption have blood pressure and heart problems stopped? No! People back in the 19th and early 20th centuries ate as much and even more salt than people eat today, yet high blood pressure and heart disease continues to increase. It’s the same story as with the pressure to reduce saturated fat . . . but now I’m starting to get off topic.
Not having enough sodium can lead to many different problems, including problems with:
- Metabolism
- Adrenal function
- Insulin resistance
- Cardiovascular disease
- Fractures and cognitive difficulties in the elderly
- Neurodevelopment of infants
In some cases, having too little sodium in the body can even cause hyponatremia, leading to swelling the brain, coma, or sometimes even death. Those would be the extreme cases, but having a deficiency in sodium might contribute to lesser health problems such as tiredness, confusion, headaches, muscle cramps, etc. Having too little sodium can also cause an imbalance in the body’s extracellular fluid.
Salt is Often Replaced with Unnatural Flavorings
When you take away the salt, food tastes pretty bland. One way to add flavor would be to add herbs and spices – and I’m all for cooking with a variety of healthy seasonings like herbs and spices – but, unfortunately, many food manufacturers make up for the reduced salt by adding all kinds of artificial chemical-based flavorings instead.
One of the most popular flavor enhances added to processed foods is MSG. Unfortunately, MSG can be found just about everywhere. You might think you’re avoiding it if you don’t see the letters MSG on the label, but there are many, many hidden sources. (For a list of names of possible MSG sources, check out this link here.)
In addition to MSG, modern processed low-sodium food is often full of all sorts of other artificial flavors and “flavor enhancers.” The ingredients list on some processed foods will simply say “flavoring.” That’s another reason besides the MSG to run away as fast as you can. The word “flavoring” is often the innocent-sounding code for a chemical concoction of artificial ingredients that belong in a science lab and not in a supermarket.
I try to avoid processed food whenever possible, but if I were to have some, I would much rather have my food seasoned with salt than with who-knows-how-many artificial “flavors.”
Is All Salt Equal?
Awhile back, when I started transitioning away from processed foods, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a container of sea salt. I felt like I was doing something good for my body until I realized that my “sea salt” was just as refined as the salt I had been using before. Technically, any salt that came from the ocean could be labeled “sea salt,” but not all brands of sea salt are as natural and unrefined as you might think they are.
Real, unrefined sea salt is full of beneficial trace minerals. It can be hard to tell, though, by reading the label on the packaging whether the “Sea salt” you’re buying is good quality or not. It might just be refined and chemically-process salt in a fancy package.
One way to tell if your salt has trace minerals in it or not, though, is to look at its color. If it’s stark white with no variation in color at all, then it has probably been refined and processed quite a bit. If you can see flecks of color, though, there’s a good chance there are probably still some trace minerals in there.
The brand of salt that I’ve been using is the Real Salt brand. I like this salt much better than regular processed table salt. It could just be my imagination playing tricks on me, but I think it has more flavor than processed salt. And it’s a beautiful pale pink color with flecks of darker pink.
Balance is Key
As is true with so many things in life, balance is key when it comes to salt consumption. I’m not going to measure out every milligram of salt I eat to make sure my salt consumption falls under the FDA’s recommended guidelines, but I’m not going to go crazy and pour heaping spoonfuls of salt over everything I eat either. I’m just going to add salt to my food until it tastes the way I want it to taste, until the salt allows all of the flavors to reach their peak. Rather than being afraid of salt, I’m going to appreciate its benefits and its power to enhance flavors, enjoying as much as I like in moderation.
~ Lori
Sources:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/17/dangers-of-salt-restriction.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/20/salt-myth.aspx
http://www.westonaprice.org/vitamins-and-minerals/salt-and-our-health
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html
This post in linked to Sunday School at Butter Believer, Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick, Scratch Cookin’ Tuesday at Granny’s Vital Vittles, Family Table Tuesday at The Polivka Family, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways at Frugally Sustainable, Natural Living Link-Up at Jill’s Home Remedies, Party Wave Wednesday at Holistic Squid, Thank Your Body Thursday at Thank Your Body, and Fresh Bites Friday at Real Food Whole Health.