All traditional diets contain some salt. Salt is crucial to digestion and assimilation. Salt is also necessary for the development and function of the nervous system. Traditional people valued salt, and went to great lengths to trade or gather sources if it was not readily available in their diets. The modern idea that everyone would benefit from reduced sodium diets has not been shown to be helpful by scientific data.
Unrefined Salt:
We recommend consuming an unrefined salt. The modern refined white salt is not the salt eaten by traditional people. For the most nutrition and minerals, salt should be pink, grey or other color due to the naturally occurring minerals contained in it.
Vital for Health:
Salt, of course, is vital to health. There’s a reason we have a salt taste in our mouths and a reason that foods taste better with salt. The desire for salt is not some cruel joke imposed by a capricious god, but acts to ensure that we eat our food with salt.
The body’s interior ocean is salty, and without salt the myriad chemical reactions that support enzyme function, energy production, hormone production, protein transport and many other biochemical processes simply can’t work. The chemical requirements of the human body demand that the salt concentration in the blood be kept constant. If the body does not get enough salt, a hormonal mechanism compensates by reducing the excretion of salt in the urine and sweat. But it cannot reduce this output to zero. On a completely saltless diet, the body steadily loses small amounts of salt via the kidneys and sweat glands—more if the body is engaging in vigorous physical activity. It then attempts to adjust to this loss by accelerating its secretion of water, so that the blood’s salt concentration can be maintained at the vital level. The result is a gradual desiccation of the body and finally death. The organism literally dies of thirst.
Read more >> The Salt of the Earth
Salt and Seasoning:
BEST
Unrefined salt (which is light grey, pink, red or beige in color); fresh seasoning herbs; non-irradiated dried seasoning herbs, spices and blends without additives. If smoked, must be naturally smoked.
GOOD
Non-iodized salt; dried seasoning herbs, spices and blends without additives; blends containing salt.
AVOID
Iodized salt; MSG; salts, herbs, spices and blends containing MSG, citric acid, hydrolyzed protein or other additives. Spices and herbs (even organic) from China.
Read more in our Shopping Guide Categories
Salt for Babies and Growing Children:
Don’t neglect to put a pinch of salt on the egg yolk. While many books warn against giving salt to babies, salt is actually critical for digestion as well as for brain development. Use unrefined salt to supply a variety of trace minerals.
Read more >> Nourishing a Growing Baby
Where to buy:
There are many unrefined salts available at local natural food stores.
Salt and Health articles:
- Salt – ABCs of Nutrition
- The Salt of the Earth
- Salt and our Health
- Salt and Sulfur
- Salt Intake in the U.S.
