Salt has been around for millions of years and more, it's literally an ancient mineral that is critical to life on this planet. And it's misunderstood. I have heard time and again, "My blood pressure is too high, and my doctor says I have to cut out the salt." Or "I think I get too much sodium in my diet." I often wonder if the people sharing these statements really know what they mean by "salt" and "sodium." And then I have to go back and look at who is giving this advice. According to the National Institutes of Health, despite efforts to improve and expand the study of nutrition in medical school, "most graduating medical students continue to rate their nutrition preparation as inadequate," with most taking no more than 23.9 hours of nutrition courses, and some as few as 5 hours. And yet millions of people get their nutrition advice from their doctors. Don't get me wrong, in terms of truly life-saving and emergency medicine, I am so glad we have MDs. We have one of the best emergency medical systems in the world! But we are sorely lacking in preventative healthcare in this country; the US is one of the sickest of all developed nations. I shared this article with some of you last week on Facebook, but in a New York Times article from 2010, one MD exposed just how little he and his medical colleagues know about nutrition. Read to hear it straight from the mouth of a practicing MD. In other words, take the nutrition advice that your MD gives you with a grain of...salt. Himalayan salt, that is.
The "Bad" Salt: So okay, doctors are not entirely "wrong," but they are failing to share what they mean by "salt" and "sodium," and which salts are actually good for you, detoxifying, energizing, and necessary for life! What most people know as "salt," "table salt," or "iodized salt" is just excessively processed (heated often to over 1200 degrees F, which changes the molecular structure)--and sometimes bleached--NaCl. It can also contain trace amounts of processing chemicals. Table salt is devoid of nutritional value and, yes, burdensome to the body and its elimination system. Did you ever wonder why you wake up so swollen after eating chicken fingers or pizza? For every gram of NaCl you take in, your body needs 20 grams of water to process it, which means the body has to go into overdrive to pull water from the cells. High intake of this type of chemical salt, because it causes excessive inflammation in the body, has been linked to a whole host of diseases and conditions including high blood pressure and hypertension, arthritis, rheumatism, gout and kidney and gallbladder stones. So readers, before your doctor can tell you to cut out the "salt," go ahead and cut way back on this type of "table salt." Warning: a lot of processed foods, fried food, and food you get in restaurants are made with iodized salt; and in some cases, especially if you eat out a lot, it's unavoidable. But you can certainly avoid sprinkling extra table salt on your food when dining out, and you can only buy high-quality, natural salts like sea salt and Himalayan salt. Which brings me to the best part.
The Good Salts: Everyone has heard of "sea salt," which is a natural form of salt and does contain a lot of life-generating and sustaining minerals, but it can unfortunately also contain a lot of the pollutants that are now found in the oceans. What I choose for cooking and flavoring my food is Himalayan salt. Hundreds of
One of the Himalayan salt mines |
That's it for tonight everyone. I hope you will all take this information to heart and make the choice to replace the bleached contents of your salt shakers with a little bit of pink divinity. When you go to your health food store to buy Himalayan salt, you may see different options. You can put the crystals in a grinder or buy them fine for a shaker. You won't be disappointed, and your body will thank you!
To your health and longevity!
Ms. Crunchy Chic
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