When I finally get to the point where I realize that common table salt is dangerous for my health, and decide to use as little as possible, in order to keep my blood pressure numbers where they should be, I come across research indicating that table salt has thousands of uses, and not only does it have thousands of household uses, but is crucial to maintaining our health.
“Besides making foods delicious, it's believed there are more than 14,000 uses of salt, and our grandmothers were probably familiar with most of them. Many of these uses were for simple things around the home before the advent of modern chemicals and cleaners. However, many uses are still valid today and a lot cheaper than using more sophisticated products.”
Also at this site many recipes can be found to create artwork, science projects, and just good eating using ordinary table salt as one of the ingredients.
While sea salt claims to have 92 minerals which are beneficial to our health, common table salt has two components; sodium and chloride. Many table salts have added iodine, a necessary nutrient for health. According to “Nutrition: Concepts & Controversies” sea salt provides little iodine because iodine becomes a gas and escapes off the salt during the drying process.
While I find the differences between common table salt and sea salt fascinating, this will have to be the topic on another article, as there is a lot of material to cover here.
TOO LITTLE SALT CAN BE DEADLY
Having had a son who suffered from a heat stroke while working as a roofer on a particularly hot day, I am well aware of the dangers of allowing one's body to become deficient of sodium. According to the American Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. over 90% of our body's inorganic constituents of blood serums is made up of sodium chloride. Therefore when the intake of salt is less than what is secreted a condition called alkalosis is created. This condition is marked by nausea, vomiting, severe muscle cramps, and possibly convulsions.
On this particular day, my son called me from his cell phone. He had left his job, and parked along the road side vomiting severely and experiencing severe muscle cramps and tremors. I called an ambulance, and met him at the hospital, where he was on intravenous fluids consisting of a salt solution. His kidneys had shut down and he was diagnosed as having suffered from a heat stroke. He was in extreme pain, and spent three days in the hospital before being able to come home. The doctor informed me that if I had not called for an ambulance when I did, my son would not have lived.
Around 25% of our body's total sodium is found in our bones. Changes in salt intake and secretion have an impact on our health in connection with our heart, kidneys, liver, and certain endrocrinological systems. An imbalance of salt creates a disturbance of homeostatic equilibrium. (A normal daily salt intake ranges from 5 to 15 grams daily.)
SODIUM ATTRACTS WATER
An excessive intake of salt may result in edema, increased risk of hypertension and degenerative heart disease. Excessive salt increases the risk of toxemia for pregnant women, and causes bloating, and menstrual discomfort in others. This is the news about salt that we hear the most frequently.
SALT IS VALUABLE
There is a quote in the Bible stating “You are the salt of the earth”. This is meant as a compliment, as salt is considered highly valuable. On the other hand, when someone is told that they are not worth their salt, they know they are thought to be worthless. The word “salary” was created from the word “salt”.
Long ago, because of the high value placed on salt, spilling salt was considered a major offence, hence came our superstition of throwing salt over our left shoulder. Two origins come to us regarding this long ago practice (Yahoo Answers and Everything 2): In order to ward off evil, salt is to be thrown over the left shoulder with the right hand. The salt is thrown with the right hand as right symbolizes the “good” hand. Because many ancient traditions place the devil at the left, it is believed that salt may be thrown to:
- Blind the devil
- Distract the devil, while the wasted salt is cleaned up
- Be an offering to the devil to placate him
Still another theory is that the salt was originally spilled by an angel to warn the party of the devil sitting on his left hand side. In all these theories note that salt is considered valuable.
DIETS RARELY LACK SODIUM
It is for this reason the FDA has not set up a daily requirement for sodium. Sodium lurks in many unexpected places, and one finds it difficult not to replace what their body loses due to normal activities.
