That’s A-salt brotha’!

That’s A-salt brotha’!

The dark side of white salt

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I don’t have the greatest repertoire when it comes to jokes, but I do have a couple ‘oldies but goodies’. I will generously share one with you.

Did you here what happened to the peanuts?....................They got ‘a-salted’.

Yes, the peanuts got assaulted, and when we consume these refined, white salts, we are also getting assaulted. Table salt is another one of those processed foods that cause many health conditions (see Small thing, big benefits for the complete list). It is basically a lab produced cocktail of chemicals that end up wreaking havoc on your body chemistry. Consider the following chart:

The main issue with table salt is the high content of the mineral sodium. Sodium helps regulate fluid balance in the body. Where sodium goes, water goes.......and thus, if there’s too much salt in the blood, there’s too much fluid. And when there’s too much fluid in a small space we have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Hypertension is the most common sign of sodium imbalance, but if you experience bloating, water retention, swelling of the ankles/wrists, or PMS, it wouldn’t hurt to check your sodium intake.

Most people think that the bulk of sodium comes from table salt. But beware, only 11% of sodium comes from table salt, in the average North American’s diet. 77% comes from processed foods.

There is almost always an alternative to refined, processed foods, and in this case it is unrefined sea salt. A note of caution, there are refined sea salts in health food stores.

Tip: When you look for a sea salt make sure it is slightly dark and it cakes.

Don’t let the salt assault!.............and enjoy the wonderful flavors of the sea!

Interesting factoid!
The word “salt” comes from the English word “salary”. Why? Because the word “salary” was used to refer to the money paid to soldiers to buy salt...a highly valued commodity at the time.

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