Unrefined Salt Experiments

[LePatron7]

http://www.westonaprice.org/vitamins-and-minerals/the-salt-of-the-earth

http://www.westonaprice.org/vitamins-and-minerals/salt-and-our-health

http://www.westonaprice.org/press/fda-warned-dangers-salt-restriction

Salt Your Way to Health 7 15 10

I personally am experimenting with the unrefined salt, Redmond's Real Salt. I haven't been getting the RDA, so I'm making sure I ingest 1.5-3 tsp to get at least the RDA.

Dr. Brownstein and the Weston Price Foundation both have very good information on the benefits of unrefined, mineral rich salt.

I'll be posting my results mostly in my journal, but a little here. Feel free to post your experiments if you choose to try ensuring you get at least the RDA of sodium. Remember to use an unrefined salt.

[goodsamaritan]

WATER CURE BASICS! QUIT CAFFEINE, ALCOHOL AND SODA, DRINK WATER, ADD SEA SALT TO FOOD AND EXERCISE. DETAILS AT CRITICAL WATER CURE INFO AND CRITICAL SALT INFO. IF IN RENAL FAILURE OR CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE, CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN. READ OUR DISCLAIMER

http://watercure2.org/

involves salt with your drink of water.

[LePatron7]

Makes sense. Definitely make sure you stay hydrated. But keep in mind that the 1.5 tsp should be about the daily value of salt.

[LePatron7]

At 27:13 of the youtube video with Dr. Brownstein it shows the amount of minerals in mg / 1/4 tsp.

[LePatron7]

I'm noticing my posture is much better than it usually is. When reading the symptoms of mild sodium deficiency abnormalities in posture is one of the symptoms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia

"However, emerging data suggest that mild hyponatremia (plasma sodium levels at 131 mEq/L or above) is associated with numerous complications or subtle, presently unrecognized symptoms[6] (e.g., increased falls, altered posture and gait, reduced attention).[7]" - Reference included

So far I've had about 2 tsp today.

[goodsamaritan]

How did you take your 2 tsp of salt?

[LePatron7]

How did you take your 2 tsp of salt?

1.5 tsp in a large mason jar with enough water to make 3 cups, and drink a half a cup here and there through out the day. Then get more if I want more.

[nummi]

Been making glasses of salt water for some days as well. Feel somewhat better if I drink some throughout the day. If enough diluted, but not too much, I find it rather palatable. I don't measure how much, I just put some salt into one glass, pour water in, taste it, if too salty take another glass and pour some in there and dilute it till it tastes right.

[goodsamaritan]

This is a worthy experiment to take.

I will do this with 2 tsp of salt daily using Himalayan BLACK SALT.

I'm in a sulfur kick right now and black salt is high in sulfur.

[LePatron7]

So GS, any update on how your salt experiment is going?

I've been taking 1.5-3 tsp daily and it's been working well for me. I'm also taking 50 mg iodine (Lugol's) daily.

[Andy Chow]

Personally, I wonder about sodium intake more from a sodium/potassium ratio, since that's how the pump works. I seriously doubt any recommendations about eating minerals, and most nutritional sources tend to contain more potassium than sodium.

That said, modern men eat what? 2-3 times more than rda average? And it doesn't seem to have that much effect in reality. Eat it, don't eat it. I eat WAY too much salt according to all official recommendation, yet my blood pressure and all metrics seem to indicate that my health is great, which no one that knows what I eat believe. Heck, I add chamoy to my beer. And I'm not dead.

That being said, I can't imagine how anyone would think that adding minerals to your diet would be good for you.

[cherimoya_kid]

I have found that supplementing with calcium and magnesium, especially magnesium, improved my health.  I've also taken trace mineral supplement clays like Terramin and Pascalite with excellent results.

[LePatron7]

http://blog.drbrownstein.com/lower-your-salt-intake-fugetaboutit/

"Unrefined salt should be the salt of choice. Generally I recommend ingesting at least a teaspoon of unrefined salt per day. Good brands of unrefined salt include Selena’s Celtic Brand Sea Salt, Redmond’s Real Salt, and Himalayan sea salt. I have personally tested all three brands and found them to be high in minerals and free of heavy metals.

The take home message: Salt is an essential nutrient for the human body. We cannot live without it. It does not make physiologic, biochemical, nor common sense to recommend limiting a populations’ salt intake to less than ½ teaspoon of salt. In fact, limiting salt intake to these levels will increase the morbidity and mortality rate.

Should you lower your salt intake to control blood pressure? Fugetaboutit."

[primalgirl]

This is wildly confusing since I heard that salt is a poison to our body. I got rid of dark circles and swelling under my eyes by eliminating salt, and when I do eat salt my ankles swell—because my body isn't used to dealing with it...

Further, what animal in the wild, eats salt?

The info that I'm referencing is from Aajonus Vonderplanitz.

Help!! LOL

[cherimoya_kid]

Further, what animal in the wild, eats salt?

Many herbivores crave salt. Deer will travel miles to get to lick at a salt lick. This is quite common among wild herbivores.

[TylerDurden]

I find that salt really harms me: I get a nasty reaction in my mouth afterwards and just a general feeling of ill-health.

[LePatron7]

Everyone's different and responds differently. And yes, 30 minutes of googling "animals eat salt" will yield a lot of info on animals seeking out salt.

From a scientific stand point, the body does use sodium and chloride in the exact forms in salt. The body uses sodium ions (Na+) for nerve conduction (among other things), and chloride ions (Cl-) for other things (water balance, hydrochloric acid, etc.). Salt when placed in liquid, or ingested, forms individual sodium and chloride ions which the body can then use for a variety of different things.

Still, some do fine without it, some don't. Some do well with it, some don't. All depends on the individual.

[primalgirl]

Re; Salt Licks...that's something man puts there and sure salt like sugar is a taste treat, so animals seek it out. IMHO

[cherimoya_kid]

Re; Salt Licks...that's something man puts there and sure salt like sugar is a taste treat, so animals seek it out. IMHO

There are natural salt licks that animals use as well. That's where humans got the idea, from watching animals visit natural salt licks.

[LePatron7]

I don't get the arguing - if someone does or doesn't want to eat salt that's their choice.

Anyway, here's some info on animals seeking salt.

Wikipedia - Mineral Lick - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_lick

"A mineral lick (also known as salt lick or natural lick) is a natural mineral deposit where animals in nutrient-poor ecosystems can obtain essential mineral nutrients. In an ecosystem, salt/mineral licks often occur naturally, providing the sodium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and zinc required in the springtime for bone, muscle and other growth in deer and other wildlife, such as moose, elephants, tapirs, cattle, woodchucks, domestic sheep, fox squirrels, mountain goats and porcupines. Harsh weather exposes salty mineral deposits that draw animals from miles away for a taste of needed nutrients. It is thought that certain fauna can detect calcium in salt licks.[1]"

"Many animals regularly visit mineral licks to consume clay, supplementing their diet with nutrients and minerals. Some animals require the minerals at these sites not for nutrition, but to ward off the effects of secondary compounds that are included in the arsenal of plant defences against herbivory.[2] The mineral contents of these sites usually contain calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S) phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sodium (Na).[3][4][5][6] Mineral lick sites play a critical role in the ecology and diversity of organisms that visit these sites, but little is still understood about the dietary benefits. "The adjectives ‘mineral’ and ‘salt’ bear witness to the common proposition, in the ecological literature, that animals eat soil to satisfy a craving for nutrient minerals, resulting from inadequate forage. However, for wild animals which frequent licks, sodium is the only mineral identified so far, with strong evidence that an extra supply is indeed needed and sought in some cases."[7]:107"

Appears those animals are using "unrefined salt" lol.

[primalgirl]

Arguing? I don't get that comment, aren't we discussing and exchanging info? asking questions...isn't this what this forum is about?

[van]

here's another one,  who's to say the deer/animals are going for the salt, or going for trace minerals which would be expected in a sea bed deposit high in salt?
  Then there's the argument that salt deposits are inorganic, just like eating rock dust.   Currently I limit my intake of salt crystals and have increased my sea weed content.  Eating primarily a diet of sea food, as Inger does, seems ideal to guarantee the correct balance of salt and other trace and macro mins.

[LePatron7]

Arguing? I don't get that comment, aren't we discussing and exchanging info? asking questions...isn't this what this forum is about?

Conversation can quickly steer from discussing to arguing. Sorry if I interpreted it wrong.

here's another one,  who's to say the deer/animals are going for the salt, or going for trace minerals which would be expected in a sea bed deposit high in salt?

I personally think they're going for both. Salt really contains essential nutrients - sodium alone is impeccably important for the body.

Sodium in Biology - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_in_biology

"Sodium ions are necessary in small amounts for some types of plants, but sodium as a nutrient is more generally needed in larger amounts by animals, due to their use of it for generation of nervous impulses and finer regulation of fluid balance. In animals, sodium ions (often referred to as just "sodium") are necessary for regulation of blood and body fluids, transmission of nerve impulses, heart activity, and certain metabolic functions."

"The renin-angiotensin system and the atrial natriuretic peptide indirectly regulate the amount of signal transduction in the human central nervous system, which depends on sodium ion motion across the nerve cell membrane, in all nerves. Sodium is thus important in neuron function and osmoregulation between cells and the extracellular fluid; the distribution of sodium ions are mediated in all animals by Na+/K+-ATPase."

Sodium ions play a huge part in nervous system function and many other things.

Then there's the argument that salt deposits are inorganic, just like eating rock dust.

The point of view that because salt is inorganic (not containing carbon), is therefore bad for the body is based largely on not understanding what the terms organic and inorganic really mean. The body uses and makes inorganic substances, I made a post on it recently. The body literally uses the inorganic form. I'd assume the body could break down organic compounds containing sodium to attain the ion as needed though.

My personal view is that eating a raw diet doesn't remove the body's need for sodium and that sodium is probably one of the most important nutrients for the body functioning well.

[eveheart]

In light of the fact that this is the Raw Weston Price forum, I checked on The Weston A. Price Foundation website. Here's a sampling of quotes from http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/the-salt-of-the-earth/:

...as far as the body is concerned, there is no substitute for salt.

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.

The page goes on to list the mechanism of salt in specific body functions and the hazards of low salt.

While discussions of salt, pro and con, can be (and have been) discussed elsewhere on RPD Forum, one person's experience here does not define the Weston A. Price Foundation position, which is the area of discussion here.

[political atheist]

Minerals.
The soil is depleted = food is depleted.
Especially magnesium and copper.
One needs 10mg/kg of elemental magnesium per day to MAINTAIN magnesium levels.(thats 800mg of magnesium for a 80kg person just to avoid deficiency)
Oh just eat magnesium rich foods! 
Oook, which foods? Foods grown on another planet where the soil was not depleted by modern farming practices?

Salt.
Unrefined sea salt contains 90 minerals the body needs.
I read somewhere that sea water was used to CURE leprosi, 500ml/day for one year. It was used to replace blood, turns out sea water's composition matches human blood's composition.
Pretty powerful healing properties right?
Why was AV and others against UNPROCESSED sea salt?
I also read that in Israel and other parts of the world, people use diluted sea water to transform dessert into super fertile soil/land and also use the same diluted sea water to feed the plants/soil frequently.. this way whatever they grow, those plants are super healthy/nutritious and insects dont 'attack' the plants because they are strong and healthy.

Do you eat salt?
Do you take mineral supplements?
What are your thoughts on these two topics?