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Beware the Table Salt
Table Salt is poison. I know it sounds extreme and you probably don’t even want to read the rest of this because well, let’s be honest, salt makes food yummy. Don’t worry…I’m a victim too! Yes, our bodies need salt. We cannot function without it but the fact is our body only needs about 500-1000 mg of salt and this is easily obtained through fresh fruits and vegetables. Trust me, it is severely difficult to become sodium deficient. Actually, it is almost entirely unheard of in normal everyday situations.
So, you ask…what is honestly so wrong with a bit of table salt? First, we must understand that table salt simply isn’t just the salt sitting on your table; table salt is also referred to as cooking salt and this is the salt you find in condiments, grains and breads, canned or frozen foods, meats, drinks and pretty much all processed foods. Unless you go out of your way to purchase raw, unprocessed salt (sea, celtic, or Himalayan) you are eating table salt. Table salt must undergo a process called chemical cleaning. After becoming chemically cleaned, table salt actually turns into sodium chloride, which is an unnatural chemical and is treated as a poison once it enters our bodies. Plus, there are the chemical additives, iodine and fluoride, that we are forced to believe as necessary for our health. Then there are those things added without our knowledge in order to make the salt pour better or help it avoid clumping. Aluminum Hydroxide—yep, the chemical said to cause breast cancer and possibly Alzheimer’s disease…it is right there in our salt ingested everyday. No wonder we have so many health issues! And why do they add these poisons? It is all about making money and the marketing appeal.
Ok, so we know about the chemicals in the salt but there is also the fact that eating this type of salt causes the body to work overtime in order to rid it from our bodies. Sodium chloride upsets the fluid balance in our body and overburdens the elimination systems. Water molecules must surround the sodium chloride to break up the structures (sodium and chloride ions) in order for the body to be able to neutralize the salt. The water is stolen from our hydrated cells and this leaves the cells dehydrated, dry, and rigid and can end up prematurely killing them. All this causes excess fatigue, arthritis, kidney and gallbladder stones, poor blood flow (slow recovery from workouts…not cool salt just not cool), and ugly cellulite.
I think most of us know how to cut our salt intake but it never hurts to reiterate the facts. First, make sure to keep all salt eating below 2000mg a day and the 2000mg doesn’t mean… oh, I ate some soy sauced veggies (soy sauce contains 1000mg of salt per tablespoon) and I don’t really know how much salt that was so let’s just say 500mg. No people. You need to make calculated judgments. It’s your health here! Eat foods that you know are salt free or super low in sodium or if you do go out to eat RESEARCH the menu options and yes, all dressings are loaded with salt. Fresh fruits and Vegetables are free (careful with frozen) as that isn’t where are problem lies. Processed foods are all but evil. Condiments are table salts deceivingly dressed in a tasty disguise and meats (who eats meat?!) rarely are void of salt injections. You need to immediately replace all table salts with celtic, Himalayan, or sea salts -- these are easy unnoticeable replacements that can save you big time but remember even with raw unprocessed salts we need to make sure we stay below 2000mg. Be conscious of what you are eating!
So, you ask…what is honestly so wrong with a bit of table salt? First, we must understand that table salt simply isn’t just the salt sitting on your table; table salt is also referred to as cooking salt and this is the salt you find in condiments, grains and breads, canned or frozen foods, meats, drinks and pretty much all processed foods. Unless you go out of your way to purchase raw, unprocessed salt (sea, celtic, or Himalayan) you are eating table salt. Table salt must undergo a process called chemical cleaning. After becoming chemically cleaned, table salt actually turns into sodium chloride, which is an unnatural chemical and is treated as a poison once it enters our bodies. Plus, there are the chemical additives, iodine and fluoride, that we are forced to believe as necessary for our health. Then there are those things added without our knowledge in order to make the salt pour better or help it avoid clumping. Aluminum Hydroxide—yep, the chemical said to cause breast cancer and possibly Alzheimer’s disease…it is right there in our salt ingested everyday. No wonder we have so many health issues! And why do they add these poisons? It is all about making money and the marketing appeal.
Ok, so we know about the chemicals in the salt but there is also the fact that eating this type of salt causes the body to work overtime in order to rid it from our bodies. Sodium chloride upsets the fluid balance in our body and overburdens the elimination systems. Water molecules must surround the sodium chloride to break up the structures (sodium and chloride ions) in order for the body to be able to neutralize the salt. The water is stolen from our hydrated cells and this leaves the cells dehydrated, dry, and rigid and can end up prematurely killing them. All this causes excess fatigue, arthritis, kidney and gallbladder stones, poor blood flow (slow recovery from workouts…not cool salt just not cool), and ugly cellulite.
I think most of us know how to cut our salt intake but it never hurts to reiterate the facts. First, make sure to keep all salt eating below 2000mg a day and the 2000mg doesn’t mean… oh, I ate some soy sauced veggies (soy sauce contains 1000mg of salt per tablespoon) and I don’t really know how much salt that was so let’s just say 500mg. No people. You need to make calculated judgments. It’s your health here! Eat foods that you know are salt free or super low in sodium or if you do go out to eat RESEARCH the menu options and yes, all dressings are loaded with salt. Fresh fruits and Vegetables are free (careful with frozen) as that isn’t where are problem lies. Processed foods are all but evil. Condiments are table salts deceivingly dressed in a tasty disguise and meats (who eats meat?!) rarely are void of salt injections. You need to immediately replace all table salts with celtic, Himalayan, or sea salts -- these are easy unnoticeable replacements that can save you big time but remember even with raw unprocessed salts we need to make sure we stay below 2000mg. Be conscious of what you are eating!
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Comment
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Comment by Denys on January 26, 2010 at 6:36pm -
I wonder how do you, guys, can eat salt? I've stopped adding salt to any food at all and taste of food became much better. Of course several first days not salted dishes did not taste, but after a while - was this: I was very very hungry and dropped in to one chineese restaurant - everything was so salty that it was hard even to chew it, in the end left hungry :) Taste of salt suppress taste of foods like a noise of powerful engine suppress singing of birds )
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Comment by Peter Schwagly on January 26, 2010 at 11:24am -
What brands of salt are using aluminum hydroxide as an anti-clumping agent? The only known additives I could find in brands sold in North America are magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate, calcium silicate and/or calcium phosphate. These are not harmful substances. They are different ionic compounds, also known as salts.
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Comment by VeganDiaries.com on January 26, 2010 at 11:13am
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I've been reading about himalayan salt vs. celtic sea salt and learned that of the two, celtic has the most trace minerals. I've definitely switching from the regular kosher salt I've been using.
http://www.sunfood.com/buy/1/93/237/Celtic-Grey-Sea-Salt--16-oz---b...
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Comment by Caity McCardell on January 26, 2010 at 10:41am -
Bravo! I really appreciate this informative post about salt, Kate. I love Himalayan salt, but I enjoy olives once in a while (which make me feel terrible and salted out). ~Caity
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Comment by kara on January 26, 2010 at 8:46am -
Since paying attention to my salt intake and reducing it - I feel less bloated. Now the problem is "snacks - pretzels, rice cakes, etc" tastes too salty!
I dilute my tamari and dressings with water and NEVER add table salt to anything. Thanks for this informative post.
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Comment by Ellen on January 26, 2010 at 7:22am -
i've been curious about the best source of water too. there's an iphone app that's from some government water organization that says many breast cancer patients have high chlorine levels. the app offers many tips, but doesn't address this issue on how to resolve. I've looked on the bottled water I buy (for races and recovery only...we have a filter on kitchen faucet, tho i don't remember if it filters out chlorine) and there's no "7," which is supposed to be an indication that it includes BPA.
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Comment by Sarah V on January 26, 2010 at 3:19am
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I'm well aware of the evils of table salt however there are certain things I struggle to avoid.
I only use Himalayan salt when preparing food myself but I love salted rice cakes which I know are probably terrible for me! Will try to wean myself off these soon. Thanks for the reminder and the push to give it up.
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Comment by Nancy Zare on January 25, 2010 at 1:40pm -
Thanks for the information. I've switched to sea, Celtic and Himalayan salt. I understand that they contain most of the essential minerals our bodies need. So not only do I enjoy the taste, but this salt provides necessary nutrients too.
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Comment by Ted Carr on January 25, 2010 at 12:22pm
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Too much sea salt isn't good for you either in that it too causes excess fatigue and slow recovery from workouts...
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Comment by Sam Cornell on January 25, 2010 at 10:57am -
Great Article, thanks for sharing
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