Understanding Salt: A Vital and Misunderstood Nutrient
by Sue Ward, MS CCN
Adding the right type of salt to your diet can help with blood pressure, cholesterol, fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, stress (adrenal) disorders, thyroid problems and immune system function. It helps with sinus and respiratory health and can promote bone strength and vascular health. In combination with water, it is essential for regulating your blood pressure. Unrefined salt can also help with detoxification of various harmful chemicals from the body including bromine, a toxic element that is increasing in our food supply. Bromine robs the body of iodine, a critical nutrient for the prevention of thyroid disorders and breast cancer. Bromine is found in most commercial bakery products (breads, cookies, cakes), some carbonated drinks (Mountain Dew and Gatorade) and many medications. It is also used as an antibacterial agent for pools and hot tubs as well as a fumigant for termites.
So what about low-salt diets? Conventional medical practitioners commonly recommend low-salt diets for those with high blood pressure. However, there is not much data to support low-salt diets for treating hypertension, especially since most studies did not look at unrefined salt and its impact on blood pressure. In fact, only a small minority of people will see a lower blood pressure from a low-salt diet. Many also experience a drop in energy level as well as hormonal and immune system imbalances on a low-salt diet. It is precisely the minerals contained in unrefined salt that are helpful for regulating water balance and blood pressure, potassium and magnesium in particular. Remember, refined salt is stripped of all these beneficial elements; it is a very toxic substance for our bodies and should not be used.
So be aware of these important differences between unrefined and refined salt and for optimal health, choose only unrefined salts. These will be light gray, pink or off white in color sometimes with specks of different colors, but remember that unrefined salt will never be all white. Sanoviv recommends Redmond Sea Salt, Celtic Sea Salt and Pink Himalayan salt for food, cooking or put a pinch in your pure drinking water for a healthy electrolyte drink.
“The human being must have salt, he cannot be without salt. Where there is no salt, nothing will remain, but everything will rot.” Paracelsus (1493-1541 AD)
For more information about salt, check out Salt Your Way to Health by David Brownstein, MD
So glad to see this info. I had swollen legs, ankles and feet especially during hot weather. My M.D. told me to cut out salt as this was causing the water retention in my body. But, fortunately, I went to my chiropractor and he said they were swollen because I was dehydrated! And my body was trying hard to retain fluid by pulling it out of the cells and settling in lower extremeties. He also suggested the unrefined sea salt — 1/4 teaspoon in a liter of water — and drink 2 liters a day. I did — voila! no more swollen legs/feet — and I’m continuing on that regimen with good success. We now use only unrefined sea salt from Natural Healing House and make sure we get enough purified water, since we are in our 70s, and this is a common problem for seniors, he said.
Thanks for this excellent information that I will pass on to a family member who had a heart attack and was told to cut his salt, too.
What about half salt – does that still contain iodine? I understand it has enough potassium as regular salt, if not more.
Generally salt is not a good source of iodine unless iodine has been added to the product (it would then be called “iodized” salt). So unless the company is adding iodine it is not a good source. In fact, there really isn’t a good unrefined salt that is also a good source of iodine. Kelp granules are an excellent source of iodine and can also be used to sprinkle on salads, meals or in soups.
Very well and simply explained..thank you and will share!
Thank you for the wonderful information! I so enjoy getting all this essential and important information. I am so trying to do my best to stay healthly. My goal is to get my funds together and come down for a complete evaluation. Thanks!
What an interresting article!
Thank You for this precious information.
Please send more of these infos!
Is there any iodine in unrefined salt?I just had recently found out through bloodwork,that my body was amost depleted of sodium.due to to much waterconsumption.It took awhile to get back to normal
thank you
Unrefined sea salt is not a good source of iodine. We recommend obtaining iodine from organic kelp granules. These are available at most health food stores. The brand we have tested here at Sanoviv to confirm iodine content is Maine Coast Sea Vegetables (kelp granules). Their claim that ¼ teaspoon contains about 3 mg (not micrograms) of iodine is very close and and excellent source of daily iodine. Also, it is true that if you drink too much water you can dilute important electrolytes. We recommend putting a pinch of unrefined sea salt in your purified water.
Susan Ward
Wow thats crazy. Its amazing what we don’t know about what we eat every day.
This was wonderful and great insight for our family. Our son will compete at a national 7 on 7 for football. The weather will be very hot and conditions very strenous. We will use the celtic salt instead and rev3. I know that it was recommended to use a pinch would that be equal to less than a teaspoon for how much water
The general recommendation is ¼ teaspoon of unrefined Celtic Sea Salt to 1 gallon of water (water should be filtered or reverse osmosis).
I never really understood the difference between refined and unrefined salt, until now….thank you so much for clearing that up. Look forward to future blogs.
You are the best Sue. Thank you for this valuable information.
How wonderful timely is this news information, my husband has been diagnosed with fourth stage prostrate cancer which has matasized into his bones, his blood pressure is off the wall, the side effects from the treatments are off the reciter scale, so we have adopted a diet of no salt, no white sugar, exercise, up his Usana supplements, etc. His blood pressure was looking better, he is on coquino one hundred, calcium magnesium and supplements to help us, large amounts of vitamin D and more. Getting this information is vital to us, my question would be how much to include in our diet, we are eating low GI food, mostly green vegetables, he craves bread, we haven’t found one that works for him, we do give him sprouted bread, I’d like to make it from scratch, we’ve moved to raw milk, make our own, yogurt and I am in the kitchen twenty four seven, he eats nearly four of the portions of food, I make, he like bread, it would help,if I could make this for him, what would you recommend instead of, he is European and bread has been his stable even as a boy during the war, how would I add salt to his salads and raw greens ?
I am so grateful to God for this timely information. Thank you, Go with God in all that Usana and Sanoviv do. Dianne ,
You may want to pick up a copy of the book we recommended as it has excellent information about hypertension and low-salt diets. For bread, it is difficult because so much of modern day wheat is genetically modified. I believe you can still find Einkorn wheat, which is an ancient wheat. Einkorn wheat DOES contain gluten, but it is different from most modern wheat and better tolerated. Perhaps you can make your own bread, however, it should still be minimized. Sounds like the other things you are doing are right on track.
Susan Ward
Thanks for sharing this greatly informative article on the benefits of unrefined salt! I will definitely pass it along to my patients. “To Salt!”
I deeply appreciate your making salt more understandable! I KNEW there was an important difference, but didn’t have the science, and couldn’t fish it out of the internet without more confusion.