Real Salt, Celtic Salt and Himalayan Salt

This is what real salt looks like—we all know what regular white salt looks like—and we mistakenly think it is real salt when it is not. The fact is that refined white salt, such as commercial table salt is bad, very bad stuff. Unrefined natural salt on the other hand is good, very good stuff providing many health benefits.

Published

 3 months ago 

on

 June 23, 2019

By

 Collective Evolution

IN BRIEF

• The Facts:
  This article was originally written by Dr. Mark Sircus, Ac., OMD, DM (P) (acupuncturist, doctor of oriental and pastoral medicine) and published at Greenmedinfo.com. Posted here with permission.
• Reflect On:
  Do you know the difference between refined salt and unrefined salt?

Unrefined sea salt is healthy. The blood-pressure-raising effect of table salt can be due to its high content of sodium with not enough magnesium to balance it. This has a magnesium-lowering effect that can constrict the arteries and raise blood pressure. Real salt (of various kinds) contains plenty of magnesium and other important minerals, which is why it usually does not affect blood pressure in a negative way.[1]

Sodium is an essential nutrient required by the body for maintaining levels of fluids and for providing channels for nerve signaling. Some sodium is needed in your body to regulate fluids and blood pressure, and to keep muscles and nerves running smoothly.

Without appropriate amounts of sodium, your body may have a difficult time cooling down after intense exercise or activity. When the body is hot, you sweat. If you do not have enough sodium, your body may not sweat as much and you may then become overheated. This could result in a stroke or exhaustion as well as dehydration.

Sodium is an energy carrier. It is also responsible for sending messages from the brain to muscles through the nervous system so that muscles move on command. When you want to move your arm or contract any muscle in your body, your brain sends a message to a sodium molecule that passes it to a potassium molecule and then back to a sodium molecule etc., etc., until it gets to its final destination and the muscle contracts. This is known as the sodium-potassium ion exchange. Therefore, without sodium, you would never be able to move any part of your body.

Excess sodium (such as that obtained from dietary sources) is excreted in the urine.[2]Most of the sodium in the body (about 85%) is found in blood and lymph fluid. Sodium levels in the body are partly controlled by a hormone called aldosterone, which is made by the adrenal glands. Aldosterone levels determine whether the kidneys hold sodium in the body or pass it into the urine.

Dr. David Brownstein weighs in heavily on this matter saying, “Nobody makes a distinction between unrefined and refined salt. They ‘lump’ all salt together as a bad substance. This is a terrible mistake. There are two forms of salt available in the market place: refined and unrefined. Refined salt has had its minerals removed and has been bleached to give it the white appearance that we are accustomed to seeing with salt. It is the fine, white salt that is available at almost any restaurant or grocery store. Refined salt has been bleached and exposed to many toxic chemicals in order to get it to its final product. It has aluminum, ferrocyanide, and bleach in it. I believe this refining process has made it a toxic, devitalized substance that needs to be avoided.”

Link to book: http://www.drbrownstein.com/Salt-Your-Way-to-Health-p/salt.htm

“Unrefined salt, on the other hand,” Brownstein continues, “has not been put through a harsh chemical process. It contains the natural minerals that were originally part of the product. Its mineral content gives it a distinct color. The colors of unrefined salt can vary depending on where it is taken from. This is due to the changing mineral content of the various brands of salt. It is the minerals in unrefined salt that provide all the benefits of this product. The minerals supply the body with over 80 trace elements needed to maintain and sustain health.

Furthermore, the minerals elevate the pH (correct acidity) and lower blood pressure. Our maker gave us salt to use in our diet—unrefined salt—with its full complement of minerals. It should be the salt of choice. It is a vital ingredient that needs to be part of everyone’s diet.”

Dr. Brownstein says, “Years ago salt manufacturers decided that pure white salt is prettier than off-white salt and that consumers prefer pretty white salt. So they started bleaching it. They also added anti-clumping agents to increase its shelf life. The problem is that the chemicals added to keep salt from absorbing moisture on the shelf interfere with one of salt’s main functions: to regulate hydration in your body. The sodium chloride in table salt is highly concentrated, denatured, and toxic to your body. Ever put salt on an open cut? It burns!!!

Refined salt has the same effect on internal tissues and causes a negative reaction: your body retains water to protect itself, and your cells release water to help dilute, neutralize, and break down the salt. This loss of water dehydrates and weakens your cells and can even cause them to die prematurely. Natural sea salt is far superior to chemically-treated iodized table salts as it contains all 92 trace minerals, and it’s only 84% sodium chloride while table salt is almost 98%”.

All this adds up to one thing. Table salt, whether marine or not, is toxic—it’s poisonous to the body and is responsible, in great part, to the onset of many terrible diseases including thyroid and metabolic dysfunction.

In addition to sodium and chloride, Celtic Sea Salt® provides other nutrients that naturally occur in salt beds, including trace amounts of calcium, magnesium potassium, iron and zinc.

In accordance with standards set by The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, independent analysis indicates that levels of heavy metals are non-detectable (e.g. arsenic, cadmium, mercury) or well below published safe limits in Celtic Sea Salt®. Perhaps most importantly, Celtic Sea Salt® is not exposed to refinement and bleaching used to manufacture typical table salt and there are no additives. Celtic Sea Salt® is harvested from the ocean using the sun, the wind and shallow clay ionizing ponds, a method passed down through the generations.

Many Americans over consume refined salt by eating processed foods, fast foods and canned foods with salt added. Celtic Sea Salt® is a good alternative as part of a healthier diet. Recommended use is a half teaspoon per day.

Himalayan crystal salt that is mined 5,000 feet deep below the Himalayan mountain range was subject to enormous pressure over millions of years and is over 99% pure. The higher the amount of pressure the more superior or excellent the state of order within the crystalline structure of salt. Many Himalayan salts are sold cheaply but are collected from higher up near the tops of the Himalayan Mountains instead of from the deeper mines. These salts contain more impurities, do not have the same structure and are not as easily assimilated by the body.

Himalayan salt contains 84 minerals and trace elements in ionic state and is a delightful pink color. People often state that they use less of this salt than of other types. Many sizes are available from 3 oz in a salt grinder to larger 1-kg bags (2.2 lb). Salt chunks are also available for making your own “sole,” which is a saturated solution of purified water with Himalayan salt. A specific recipe (see below) must be followed to make sole and results in a solution that has much less sodium than just adding salt to water would have. Daily use of sole is believed to stimulate the peristalsis of the digestive organs, balance the stomach acid, support the production of digestive fluids in the liver and pancreas, regulate the metabolism and harmonize the acid-alkaline balance.

Start Each Day with a Healthy Sole

The ideal way to use Himalayan Crystal Salt is in the form of a sole (so-LAY). Drinking the sole when you awake each morning is like getting up on the right side of the bed. It provides the energizing minerals you need daily to recharge your body, and it helps set the stage for a day of vitality.

Essentially, a sole is water saturated with Himalayan Crystal Salt. The sole contains about approximately 26 parts of salt to 100 parts of water. Prepare the water and salt combination in advance (see directions to the right). Each morning place a teaspoon of the sole mixture in a glass and fill with 8 ounces of pure spring water. Drink it immediately or sip it while getting dressed, checking emails or preparing breakfast. The water helps transport the electrolytes throughout the body to all the many places they are needed.

How to Prepare Sole

Sole is a mixture of water and salt. The object is to saturate the water with dissolved salt so it can’t hold anymore. You’ll know that you’ve created sole when there are undissolved salt crystals in the water. You can’t oversaturate the water with salt. The crystals will simply drop to the bottom of the container.

Place several Himalayan Crystal Salt stones or Himalayan Crystal Salt granules about an inch deep in a glass container. (A canning jar works well.)

Cover the salt with two to three inches of pure, spring water. Let the salt dissolve for 24 hours.

If all the salt dissolves in 24 hours, add more salt to the container. The sole is finished when the water can no longer dissolve the salt and the salt crystals drop to the bottom of the container. There will always be salt crystals in the jar. It doesn’t matter if you have only a few crystals or many. The water is saturated and is now sole.

Cover the container to prevent the water from evaporating. Since salt is a natural preservative, the sole will keep forever. It can’t spoil or go “bad.”

The vibrational energy of the Himalayan Crystal Salt remains in your body for 24 hours.

A teaspoon of sole contains 480 mg of sodium, or 20% of the Daily Reference Value of 2400 mg based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.

Redmond Real Salt is mined in the United States and is another good unrefined salt that I also recommend. It can be used as a table salt and for cooking and is available in coarse and fine grinds and in a variety of sizes.

Real Salt comes from a mineral rich salt deposit formed by an ancient sea in Utah. It contains 62 trace minerals, and is without additives, chemicals, or heat processing of any kind. Real Salt’s unique pinkish appearance and flecks of color come from the more than 60 naturally occurring trace minerals. The result is a delicate “sweet salt” flavor that you may not have experienced before.

Special Note: I was very disappointed to hear Dr. Max Gerson’s daughter Charlotte Gerson saying, “That sodium is never good, never in any form!” I have put Gerson in the best light in my writings and his organization does hold the high ground for organic raw juicing but there are some things they say that have no grounding in medical science or clinical reality. Talk to Dr. David Brownstein and he will tell you that often the first thing a patient needs is water and salt but its real salt not table salt he is talking about and prescribing for his patients.

I have written a full essay addressing this communication from Charlotte. And I have another essay on using seawater as a medicine and that will be seen in my Treatment Essentials book that is now finished and ready for publication on the 15th of February. To even think of discounting the medical miracles from the sea, which Charlotte is clearly doing, makes me shudder.

---

Resources

• [1] http://drlwilson.com/Articles/salt.htm

• [2] These processes in the body, especially in the brain, nervous system, and muscles, require electrical signals for communication. The movement of sodium is critical in the generation of these electrical signals. Too much or too little sodium therefore can cause cells to malfunction, and extremes in the blood sodium levels (too much or too little) can be fatal – http://www.medicinenet.com/electrolytes/article.htm

https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/06/23/real-salt-celtic-salt-and-himalayan-salt/

Salt: How low should you go?

Monday August 18, 2014

BY GENE EMERY

High salt is bad, but is less good? Researchers are divided. - Filepic

Go to Healthwise for more articles

While most scientists agree that high sodium intake is bad, new studies spark debate on further decreasing salt intake.

In one study that looked at death and heart disease, researchers found that extremely low-salt diets may not be as beneficial as many experts believe, and might even pose a hazard.

Another study, focusing on blood pressure effects, found that people with a moderate salt intake didn't benefit from reducing their consumption as much as people in the high-salt group.

“Previously it was believed that the lower you go the better. What these studies show collectively is that there is an optimal level, and lower is not necessarily better,” says Dr Andrew Mente of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, chief author of the blood pressure study.

Salt is everywhere, in condiments such as your favourite kicap. It makes sense to know where your sodium is coming from. – Filepic

On the other hand, a third international study supports the conventional wisdom that there’s a direct link between less salt and better health. This study found no evidence that extremely low levels of sodium are dangerous.

One thing the three studies agree on is that too much salt is bad for you. High amounts contribute to high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, kidney problems and heart failure.

That third study concluded that high salt intake was responsible for 1.65 million heart disease deaths worldwide in 2010.

“These are staggering numbers when you actually think about it,” says Dr Elliott Antman, president of the American Heart Association.

Worldwide, daily consumption is usually 3-6g of sodium, which translates to 7.5-15g of salt. That’s well above the limit of 1.5-2.4g of sodium each day recommend by the World Health Organization and other organisations.

“Even at 4g per day, we found half a million deaths per year,” says chief author Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Mozaffarian says his analysis uncovered no danger at low levels or below, and he argued that even Mente’s blood pressure study showed no risk there.

However, Mente says the relationship seems to be more complicated than previously thought, and the health benefits of lowering salt intake don’t fall at the same place for everyone.

Experts are divided on how low salt intake should go and if that has an impact of health. – Filepic

“If people are eating a very high level of sodium and they reduce their intake, you get a large reduction in blood pressure,” he says. “But if you’re eating a moderate level of sodium and you reduce it to a lower level, you’re not really getting much in return as far as blood pressure reduction is concerned.”

The most dramatic evidence was the study that looked at the link between sodium intake and death, heart attacks and strokes using urine samples to estimate sodium consumption.

Led by Mente’s colleague at McMaster, Dr Martin O’Donnell, it found that consuming less than 3g of sodium per day increased the risk of death or major cardiovascular events by 27% compared to people who consumed 4-6g daily. The optimum sodium level was 3-6g per day. “Both higher and lower levels of estimated sodium excretion were associated with increased risk,” the O’Donnell team concluded.

That study shows “there are unintended consequences of going lower” adds Mente.

Currently only about 1% of people worldwide “were consuming less than 2g per day,” he says. “What we’re recommending right now is what almost nobody around the world eats, apart from maybe a few hunter-gatherer societies. We’re making recommendations where the human experience is extremely sparse. These findings strongly question our current recommendation.”

A sprinkle here, a dash there, scientists do agree that the current sodium intake is too high. – Filepic

Mozaffarian disagrees. Both the O’Donnell and Mente studies derived their results from the same research project, known as the PURE study.

“When you have a single study like the PURE study, that’s one study in the context of many,” says Dr Mozaffarian. Some have suggested a risk for very-low salt intake while others have not.

Not only does the weight of the evidence suggest that there is no risk in aggressive salt reduction, Mozaffarian says, “You don’t have any plausible biology to explain why you’d get a small increase in risk with low sodium intake.”

There’s another reason for scepticism. The PURE study assessed sodium consumption based on a single urine sample collected each morning. Antman called that a “very unreliable method” for measuring salt intake.

“The gold standard is 24-hour urine collection, and they didn't use it. And even then your sodium intake may vary a lot from day to day,” he says.

“The bottom line is, the American Heart Association’s position has not changed in response to the PURE paper,” says Antman, a cardiovascular expert at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The association recommends less that 1.5 grams of sodium daily.

Nonetheless, Dr Suzanne Oparil of the University of Alabama at Birmingham contends in a journal editorial that, “Both high and low levels of sodium excretion may be associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular-disease outcomes and (the tests suggest) that increasing the urinary potassium excretion counterbalances the adverse effect of high sodium excretion.”

That idea should be confirmed in a large study, she said, but “in the absence of such a trial, the results argue against reduction of dietary sodium as an isolated public health recommendation.”

“The big picture is that high sodium is bad and should be reversed, and there’s just some controversy over how low you should go,” said Mozaffarian.

“Whether it should be 2g or 1.5g or 2.5g per day, that’s all theory,” he says. “Right now it’s close to 4g per day. Let’s get it down below 3, and then we can argue how low it should go. But right now it’s clearly way too high.” – Reuters

At the end of the day, the point to remember is that excess salt is not good for health.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Health/2014/08/18/Salt-how-low-should-you-go/

Go to Healthwise for more articles

How to Really Build Strong Bones

Beyond Calcium and Vitamin D—How to Really Build Strong Bones

July 05, 2013

Story at-a-glance

• Recent research suggests that the timing of calcium and vitamin D supplementation may actually influence how your bones adapt to exercise, and help decrease exercise-induced calcium loss
• While the featured research is interesting, I believe it falls short in terms of making a health recommendation that will result in improved bone health. Nutrient ratios and combinations may be even more important
• Vitamin K2 is critical, as the biological role of vitamin K2 is to help move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth. If you take supplemental vitamin D, you increase your body’s need for vitamin K2
• Calcium, vitamins D and K2, magnesium and a host of other trace minerals, work synergistically together to promote strong, healthy bones, and your sodium to potassium ratio also play an important role in maintaining your bone mass
• Exercise, especially weight-bearing exercise, helps maintain strong, healthy bones. Acceleration Training or Whole Body Vibration Training has also been proven effective for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

By Dr. Mercola

One of the important strategies for healthy bones is to eat the right kind of foods. A diet full of processed foods will produce biochemical and metabolic conditions in your body that will decrease your bone density, so avoiding processed foods is definitely the first step in the right direction. 

Eating high-quality, organic, biodynamic, locally-grown food will naturally increase your bone density and decrease your risk of developing osteoporosis. Along with your foods, your omega-3 fat content also has a major role in building healthy bone. I recommend krill oil, as I believe it’s a superior source of omega-3s. 

Other nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D and K2, and magnesium, are also critical for strong bones—as is exercise, especially weight-bearing exercises. 

Recent research presented at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco suggests that the timing of calcium and vitamin D supplementation may actually influence how your bones adapt to exercise, and help decrease exercise-induced calcium loss.  

As reported by Medical News Today:¹

"The timing of calcium supplementation, and not just the amount of supplementation, may be an important factor in how your skeleton adapts to exercise training... Previous research has shown that a year of intense training is associated with substantial decreases in bone mineral density...

Experts believe that this kind of exercise-induced bone loss could be related to the loss of calcium during exercise. As blood calcium levels drop, the parathyroid gland produces excess parathyroid hormone, which can mobilize calcium from your skeleton."

How Bone Adapts to Exercise May Be Affected by Timing of Supplementation

The featured research study indicated that taking calcium prior to hitting the gym may help keep your blood levels of calcium more stable, compared to taking calcium after your workout. However, the study did not assess the long-term effects this might have on your bone density, and this, of course, is of utmost importance for anyone interested in building healthy bones. 

According to the featured article:

“[E]xercise-induced decrease in blood calcium occurred whether calcium supplements were taken before or after exercising. Pre-exercise supplementation, however, resulted in less of a decrease.

Although not statistically significant, parathyroid hormone levels increased slightly less among cyclists who took calcium before exercising... The timing of calcium supplementation did not cause a difference in blood levels of a compound that is a biological indicator of bone loss. Both the before- and after-exercise groups exhibited 50 percent increases in the level of this compound, called CTX...”

The Critical Role of Vitamin K2 for Bone Health

There’s plenty of controversy on the issue of using calcium supplementation to ensure strong healthy bones. It’s important to realize that calcium works synergistically with vitamins D and K2, so taking calcium supplements alone may actually end up doing more harm than good. Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue has authored a comprehensive book on this topic titled: Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a Little Known Vitamin Could Save Your Life. 

Dr. Robert Thompson M.D. also addressed this important issue in his book, The Calcium Lie. One of the tenets of his book is that bone is composed of at least a dozen minerals, and if you focus exclusively on calcium supplementation you are likely going to worsen your bone density.

Additionally you will actually increase your risk of osteoporosis. Interestingly, he proposes that one of the best practical alternatives is the use of natural, unprocessed salts, such as Himalayan salt, as they are one of the best sources of a wide variety of trace minerals. 

So, while the featured research is interesting, I believe it falls far short in terms of making a health recommendation that will result in improved bone health. And while the researchers argue that timing, and not just dosage may play a significant role in bone adaptation to exercise, I would add that nutrient ratios and combinations may be even more important...  

The researchers did combine calcium with vitamin D, which is important, but they did not address vitamin K2, which is critical. I say critical because the biological role of vitamin K2 is to help move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth. It also helps remove calcium from areas where it shouldn’t be, such as in your arteries and soft tissues.  

Furthermore, if you take supplemental vitamin D, you also need to increase your intake of vitamin K2, because when you take vitamin D, your body creates more vitamin K2-dependent proteins—the proteins that help move the calcium around in your body. But you need vitamin K2 to activate those proteins. If they're not activated, the calcium in your body will not be properly distributed and can lead to weaker bones and hardened arteries. In fact, vitamin K2 deficiency is actually what produces the symptoms of vitamin D toxicity, which includes inappropriate calcification that can lead to hardening of your arteries.  

In a nutshell, it’s important to maintain the proper balance between all three of these nutrients: calcium, vitamin D and K2, as well as magnesium. Lack of balance between these four nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke... 

The optimal amounts of vitamin K2 are still under investigation, but it seems likely that 180 to 200 micrograms of vitamin K2 daily should be enough to activate your body's K2-dependent proteins to shuttle the calcium to and from the appropriate areas. Most Americans get nowhere near this amount though. In fact, an estimated 80 percent of Americans do not get enough vitamin K2 in their diet to activate their K2 proteins, which is similar to the deficiency rate of vitamin D.

How Can You Tell if You're Lacking in Vitamin K2?

There is no test for vitamin K2 deficiency, but you can get an idea of whether or not you may be lacking in this critical nutrient simply by assessing your diet and lifestyle. If you have osteoporosis, heart disease or diabetes, then you're likely deficient in vitamin K2 as these conditions are all associated with K2 deficiency. If you do not have any of those health conditions, but do NOT regularly eat high amounts of the following foods, then your likelihood of being vitamin K2 deficient is still very high:

• Grass-fed organic animal products (i.e. eggs, butter, dairy)
• Certain fermented foods such as natto, or vegetables fermented using a starter culture of vitamin K2-producing bacteria. Please note that most fermented vegetables are not really high in vitamin K2 and come in at about 50 mcg per serving. However, if specific starter cultures are used they can have ten times as much, or 500 mcg per serving.
• Goose liver pâté
• Certain cheeses such as Brie and Gouda (these two are particularly high in K2, containing about 75 mcg per ounce). While cheese from grass-fed milk would be an added boon, it’s not necessary for the cheese to be grass-fed because the K2 is not derived from the milk itself; it’s derived from the bacteria in the cheese. So what’s important is how the cheese was made.

Fermented vegetables, which supply beneficial bacteria to your gut, can also be a great source of vitamin K if you ferment your own using the proper starter culture. We recently had samples of high-quality fermented organic vegetables made with our specific starter culture tested, and were shocked to discover that not only does a typical serving of about two to three ounces contain about 10 trillion beneficial bacteria, but it also contained 500 mcg of vitamin K2. 

Note that not every strain of bacteria makes K2. For example, most yoghurt has almost no vitamin K2. Certain types of cheeses are very high in K2, and others are not. It really depends on the specific bacteria. You can't assume that any fermented food will be high in K2, but some fermented foods are very high in K2, such as natto. Others, such as miso and tempeh, are not.

Mind Your Sodium-Potassium Levels as Well

Two additional nutrients that play an important role are sodium and potassium—you want the optimal ratio between these two in order to maintain your bone mass. If you eat a diet loaded with processed foods, there's a good chance your potassium to sodium ratio is far from optimal, which is typically done by consuming a diet of processed foods, which are notoriously low in potassium while high in sodium. 

An imbalanced sodium to potassium ratio can contribute to a number of diseases, including osteoporosis. To ensure you get these two important nutrients in more appropriate ratios, simply ditch processed foods, which are very high in processed salt and low in potassium and other essential nutrients. Instead, eat a diet of whole, unprocessed foods, ideally organically grown to ensure optimal nutrient content. This type of diet will naturally provide much larger amounts of potassium in relation to sodium, which is optimal for your bone health, and your overall health. If you find it difficult to eat the recommended amount of vegetables, give vegetable juicing a try.

Exercise Also Builds Strong Bones

The other component you can’t ignore if you want strong, healthy bones is weight bearing exercises like strength training. Bone-building is a dynamic process, so you want to make sure you exert enough force on your bones to stimulate the osteoblasts to build new bone. Further, bone is living tissue that requires regular physical activity in order to renew and rebuild itself, so you should make exercise a lifelong commitment. 

Peak bone mass is achieved in adulthood and then begins a slow decline, but exercise can help you to maintain healthy bone mass as you get older, without having to resort to dangerous bisphosphonate drugs.  

Weight-bearing exercise is actually one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis, because as you put more tension on your muscles it puts more pressure on your bones, which then respond by continuously creating fresh, new bone. In addition, as you build more muscle, and make the muscle that you already have stronger, you also put more constant pressure on your bones.  

A good weight-bearing exercise to incorporate into your routine (depending on your current level of fitness, of course) is a walking lunge, as it helps build bone density in your hips, even without any additional weights. 

Ideally, though, your fitness program should be comprehensive, providing the necessary weight-bearing activities for bone health while also improving your cardiovascular fitness and fat-burning capabilities with high-intensity exercises. For a more complete, in-depth explanation of my Peak Fitness regimen, please review my previous article, The Major Exercise Mistake I Made for Over 30 Years. Implementing Peak Fitness -- with its array of weight-bearing exercises for bone health and Peak Exercises for disease prevention, fat loss and more -- may be one of the best lifestyle changes you could ever make.

The Power Plate—A Valuable Exercise Tool for Prevention and Treatment of Brittle Bones

Acceleration Training, a.k.a. Whole Body Vibrational Training (WBVT) using a Power Plate has also been shown to be a safe, natural way to ward off osteoporosis, and it’s gentle enough even for the disabled and elderly. For example, in one six-month long study, WBVT was found to produce a significant increase in hip area bone density in postmenopausal women, while conventional training was only able to slow the rate of deterioration.² A total of 90 women, aged 58 to 70 years old, were divided into three groups:

1. The first group did up to 30 minutes of WBVT three times a week. Static and dynamic exercises for the upper leg and hip area included squats and lunges.
2. The second group did 60 minutes of conventional weight training three times per week.
3. The control group did not exercise at all.

The researchers concluded that Acceleration Training might be a solution for reversing bone loss and eliminating osteoporosis, stating that:

"The whole body vibration group got positive results: strength increased as much as 16 percent in upper leg muscles, while bone density at the hip increased by 1.5 percent. In addition, the whole body vibration group showed an improvement in postural control and balance, increased muscle strength and lean mass while losing body fat and fat mass. The conventionally trained subjects were able to slow the rate of bone loss, which is consistent with previous published studies on weight training and bone loss. The control group subjects continued to lose bone mineral density at the average rate."

NASA has also tested vibration platforms to help prevent the bone loss that occurs during space travel. According to a 2001 article in NASA Science:³

"...NASA-funded scientists suggest that astronauts might prevent bone loss by standing on a lightly vibrating plate for 10 to 20 minutes each day... The same therapy, they say, might eventually be used to treat some of the millions of people who suffer from bone loss, called osteoporosis here on Earth.

...Although the vibrations are subtle they have had a profound effect on bone loss in laboratory animals such as turkeys, sheep, and rats. In one study (published in the October 2001 issue of The FASEB Journal), only 10 minutes per day of vibration therapy promoted near-normal rates of bone formation in rats that were prevented from bearing weight on their hind limbs during the rest of the day."

Build Strong, Healthy Bones the Natural Way

To recap, your bones are actually composed of several different minerals, and if you focus on calcium alone, you will likely weaken your bones and increase your risk of osteoporosis as Dr. Robert Thompson explains in his book, The Calcium Lie. Remember, calcium, vitamins D and K2, and magnesium work synergistically together to promote strong, healthy bones, and your sodium to potassium ratio also play an important role in maintaining your bone mass. Ideally, you’d get all or most of these nutrients from your diet (with the exception of vitamin D). This includes:

• Plant-derived calcium: raw milk from pasture-raised cows (who eat the plants), leafy green vegetables, the pith of citrus fruits, carob, and sesame seeds
• Magnesium: raw organic cacao and supplemental magnesium threonate if need be
• Vitamin K2: Grass-fed organic animal products (i.e. eggs, butter, dairy), certain fermented foods such as natto, or vegetables fermented using a starter culture of vitamin K2-producing bacteria. Goose liver pâté, and certain cheeses such as Brie and Gouda
• Trace minerals: Himalayan Crystal Salt, which contains all 84 elements found in your body, or other natural, unprocessed salt (NOT regular table salt!)
• Vitamin D: Ideally from appropriate sun exposure (or a safe tanning bed), as it’s virtually impossible to get sufficient amounts from food. As a last resort, you could use a supplement, but if you do, you may also need to supplement with vitamin K2 to maintain ideal ratios

The bottom line? 

One of the best ways to achieve healthy bones is a diet rich in fresh, raw whole foods that maximizes natural minerals so that your body has the raw materials it needs to do what it was designed to do. In addition, you need healthy sun exposure along with regular, weight-bearing exercise.

[-] Sources and References

• ¹ Medical News Today June 20, 2013
• ² Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Vol. 19(3), pp: 352-359. 2004
• ³ Science.nasa.gov, Good Vibrations November 2, 2001

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/07/05/bone-health.aspx

Foods That Help Control Blood Pressure

June 1, 2013

Considering all the dangers of high blood pressure (including increased risk for heart attack, stroke and dementia), we definitely want to do everything we can to keep our blood pressure levels under control. But are we?

 

Unfortunately, one surprisingly simple step—eating the right foods—consistently gets ignored as an effective technique for controlling blood pressure.*

 

Of course everyone knows that a low-sodium diet helps some people maintain healthy blood pressure levels. But there’s a lot more to blood pressure control than avoiding that bag of potato chips, extra dash of soy sauce or a crunchy dill pickle (just one dill pickle contains about 875 mg of sodium, or nearly 40% of recommended daily sodium intake).

 

What most people are missing out on: With the right combination of blood pressure–controlling nutrients, you often can avoid high blood pressure altogether…or if you already have the condition and are being treated with medication, you may be able to reduce your dosage and curb your risk for troubling side effects, such as fatigue, depression and erectile dysfunction.

 

The best foods for blood pressure control…

 

EAT MORE BANANAS

 

Bananas are among the best sources of potassium, a mineral that’s crucial for blood pressure control. A typical banana contains about 450 mg of potassium, or about 10% of the amount of potassium most people should aim for each day.

 

Potassium works like a “water pill.” It’s a natural diuretic that enables the kidneys to excrete more sodium while also relaxing blood vessels—both functions help control blood pressure.

 

Scientific evidence: In a large study of nearly 250,000 adults published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, people who increased their intake of potassium by 1,600 mg daily were 21% less likely to suffer a stroke than those who ate less.

 

Kiwifruit also is a concentrated source of potassium with more than 200 mg in each small fruit.

 

Recommended daily amount of potassium: 4,700 mg. A good potassium-rich breakfast is oatmeal made with soy milk (300 mg), one cup of cantaloupe (430 mg), one cup of fresh-squeezed orange juice (496 mg) and one cup of coffee (116 mg).

 

Other good potassium sources: Potatoes (purple potatoes have the most), avocados, pistachios and Swiss chard.

 

Good rule of thumb: To control blood pressure, try to consume three times more potassium than sodium.

 

PILE ON THE SPINACH

 

Even if you eat plenty of bananas, all of that potassium won’t lower your blood pressure unless you also get enough magnesium. It is estimated that about two-thirds of Americans are deficient in magnesium—and while magnesium supplements might help in some ways, they do not reduce blood pressure. Only magnesium from food—such as spinach, nuts, legumes and oatmeal—offers this benefit due to the nutrients’ synergistic effect.

 

Recommended daily amount of magnesium: 500 mg. One cup of cooked spinach provides 157 mg of magnesium.

 

Also good: Two ounces of dry-roasted almonds (160 mg).

 

DIP INTO YOGURT

 

Calcium helps the body maintain mineral balance that regulates blood pressure. Calcium also contains a protein that works like a natural ACE inhibitor (one of the most common types of blood pressure medications) and prevents the constriction of blood vessels that raises blood pressure.

 

Important: Stick to low-fat or no-fat yogurt, milk and cheese—the saturated fat in whole-fat dairy products appears to cancel the blood pressure–lowering effects. In addition, opt for “plain” yogurt to avoid the added sugar that’s found in many brands of yogurt. If you don’t like the taste of plain yogurt, add a little granola, honey, nuts, seeds, fresh berries or banana.

 

For a tasty “pumpkin pie” snack: Add plain canned pumpkin, walnuts, pumpkin pie spice and Splenda to plain yogurt, and top it with fat-free whipped cream.

 

Other high-calcium foods: Leafy greens and sardines (with the bones). Calcium supplements also can help keep blood pressure down, but recent research has linked them to increased cardiovascular risk. Talk to your doctor about these supplements.

 

Recommended daily amount of calcium: 1,000 mg for men age 51 to 70…1,200 mg for men age 71 and older, and women age 51 and older. Eating two fat-free yogurts (830 mg), one cup of cooked spinach (245 mg) and three kiwifruits (150 mg) will easily get you to your daily calcium goal.

 

ENJOY SOY

 

Soy foods, including tofu, soy nuts and soy milk, may be the most underrated blood pressure–lowering foods. Research shows that people who regularly eat soy can reduce their blood pressure as much as they would by taking some medications. Soy increases nitric oxide, a naturally occurring gas that lowers blood pressure.

 

Helpful: If you can’t get used to the taste (or texture) of tofu, drink chocolate soy milk. An eight-ounce glass has 8 g of soy protein. Unsalted, dry-roasted soy nuts are an even richer source with about 10 g in a quarter cup.

 

Recommended daily amount of soy: 20 g to 25 g of soy protein. This translates to two to four servings of soy nuts or soy milk. Women at high risk or who are being treated for breast, ovarian or uterine cancer should discuss their soy intake with their doctors—it can affect hormone levels that can fuel these cancers.

 

SIP RED WINE

 

Too much alcohol increases risk for high blood pressure—as well as heart disease and stroke. In moderation, however, red wine relaxes arteries and reduces risk for diabetes, a condition that often increases blood pressure. White wine and other forms of alcohol also reduce blood pressure, but red wine is a better choice because it contains more heart-protecting antioxidants known as flavonoids.

You’ll get significant flavonoids from wines with a deep red color, such as cabernets. Specifically, grapevines that face harsher sun exposure and nutrient deprivation produce more flavonoids—cabernet sauvignon tops the list.

 

Red wine also is high in resveratrol, another antioxidant. One glass of red wine contains enough resveratrol to stimulate the body’s production of nitric oxide. Pinot noir wine has more resveratrol than other types.

 

Recommended daily limit for red wine: No more than two glasses for men or one glass for women.

For people who can’t drink alcohol, purple grape juice has some flavonoids and resveratrol but doesn’t contain the full benefit provided by red wine.

 

SLOW BREATHING LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

 

You’ve probably heard that yoga, meditation and other forms of relaxation can reduce blood pressure.

 

An even simpler solution: Merely breathing more slowly, for just a few minutes a day, can do the same thing—and research shows that for some people, combining slow breathing with relaxation techniques can be as effective as drug therapy.

 

What to do: Once a day, take a little time to slow your breathing. Breathe in deeply for 10 seconds, then breathe out at the same rate. Repeat the cycle for 15 minutes.

 

Or try Resperate, an electronic breathing device that helps you synchronize your breathing ($300, www.Resperate.com).

 

*In addition to smart eating habits, a blood pressure–controlling action plan includes regular exercise (ideally, 30 minutes of aerobic activity, such as brisk walking or swimming, at least five times a week) and a stress-reducing regimen.

 

Source: Janet Bond Brill, PhD, RD, a registered dietitian and a nationally recognized expert in nutrition and cardiovascular disease prevention. She is the author of Blood Pressure Down: The 10-Step Plan to Lower Your Blood Pressure in 4 Weeks Without Prescription Drugs (Three Rivers). www.DrJanet.com

 

http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/diet-a-exercise/foods-that-help-control-blood-pressure

Malaysians at risk because of salt-heavy diet

18 May 2013| last updated at 12:00AM

By PREDEEP NAMBIAR

TIGHT REGULATIONS: Ban advertisements of food products with high sodium on television, says CAP

GEORGE TOWN: A RECENT Health Ministry survey on the intake of salt has revealed that Malaysians are consuming nearly double what is required, putting themselves at a higher risk for stroke and heart-related diseases.

The survey revealed that Malaysians consumed 8.7g of salt daily, equivalent to 3,419mg of sodium, which is 1.7 times higher than the limit of 5mg, or 2,000mg of sodium, set by the World Health Organisation.

Consumers Association of Penang president S.M. Mohamed Idris yesterday said this was worrying as the sodium-heavy diet was putting more people at risk of cardiovascular diseases.

"The recommended salt intake per day should be one teaspoon of salt, or 5mg, which is 2,000mg of sodium," he said in conjunction with World Hypertension Day yesterday.

Idris called on the government to make it compulsory for all food manufacturers to cut down on sodium content through the means of regulatory amendments.

"We would also like the government to promulgate laws to reduce the amount of sodium in foods and ensure food manufacturers display the sodium content on all packaging."

He also sought a ban on advertising food products with high sodium on television, especially on programmes viewed by children.

Idris said table salt (sodium chloride) was the major source of sodium in the Malaysian diet, adding that monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium bicarbonate (leavening agent), sodium nitrate and sodium benzoate, which were equally unhealthy if taken in excess, were also present in many other food.

"In our survey, CAP has found more than 40 sodium-containing additives in processed foods. Most of the processed foods, such as instant noodles, soy sauce, chilli sauce, fried rice seasoning and even some canned sardines, contain high sodium.

"The WHO Codex Alimentarius food standards allow 136 additives in instant noodles. Out of that, 24 are sodium salts. A packet of these noodles have more than 1,000mg of sodium, which is more than half of the allowed intake."

He said the excess salt in one's diet was one of the main reasons why high blood pressure cases among Malaysians had been on a rise for the past decade, with 33 per cent of adults aged 30 and above suffering from hypertension in 1996, and 43 per cent in 2006.

"On an average, 110 Malaysians are dying of cardiovascular-related diseases daily. In fact, it is the principal cause of death in the country, with 16.5 per cent of all deaths recorded by the Ministry of Health hospitals in 2008."
 http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/malaysians-at-risk-because-of-salt-heavy-diet-1.281277

Why High Salt Consumption Alone Will Not Increase Your Heart Disease Risk

April 04, 2013 |216,515views

Story at-a-glance

• New preliminary research findings suggest excessive salt consumption contributed to 2.3 million heart-related deaths worldwide in 2010; 42 percent from coronary heart disease and 41 percent from stroke
• However, previous research has NOT found strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death. In fact, salt restriction increased the risk of death in those with heart failure
• Salt is an essential nutrient required for blood pressure regulation, transportation of nutrients into and out of your cells, ion exchange, and brain-muscle communication. But all salts are not equal, in terms of their impact on your health. Processed (table) salt is health harming, while natural unprocessed salt is not only healing, but in fact essential for many biological functions
• Potassium deficiency may be more responsible for hypertension than excess sodium, and too much sodium along with too little potassium has been found to more than double your risk of death from a heart attack, compared to eating about equal amounts of both nutrients
• Our ancient ancestors consumed 16 times more potassium than sodium. Many “experts” believe that a “normal” ratio today is four times as much potassium than sodium. It is helpful to strive for at least as much potassium from your diet as sodium
• The best way to ensure you’re getting enough potassium is not to rely on the use of a supplement, but to avoid processed foods, and dramatically increase your vegetable intake. Juicing is a great way to get more vegetables into your diet

By Dr. Mercola

Salt has long been a treasured food staple. Far from being harmful, high-quality salt is actually essential for life, but in the United States and many other developed countries salt has been vilified as a primary cause of high blood pressure and heart disease.

According to preliminary research presented at an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans on March 21,¹ excessive salt consumption contributed to 2.3 million heart-related deaths worldwide in 2010; 42 percent from coronary heart disease and 41 percent from stroke.  

This includes sodium intake from commercially available table salt and sodium found in processed foods and soy sauce. According to the researchers, 40 percent of deaths were premature, occurring in those under the age of 69. Sixty percent of the deaths were in men; 40 percent were women.

To reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed 247 food surveys on sodium consumption collected between 1990 and 2010. From these, they tried to determine how the various salt intakes affected cardiovascular disease risks. The ideal salt intake was determined to be less than 1,000 mg per day.

Kazakhstan had the highest average salt intake at 6,000 mg per day. Kenya and Malawi had the lowest average intake at about 2,000 mg. Other salty regions included Central Asia, with an average of 5,500 mg sodium per day; high-income countries in the Asia-Pacific area, averaging 5,000 mg per day; and East Asia at 4,800 mg per day. 

According to the featured article:²

“Global sodium intake from various sources such as prepared food and soy sauce averaged nearly 4,000 milligrams a day in 2010... In the U.S., the average intake was about 3,600 milligrams a day. While the World Health Organization recommends sodium intake of fewer than 2,000 milligrams a day, 181 of 187 countries representing 99 percent of the world’s population exceeded the recommended level.”

You Need Salt, But Make Sure It’s the Right Kind

So is salt a dietary friend or foe? Salt is actually a nutritional goldmine, provided you consume the right kind, and maintain a proper salt-to-potassium ratio, which I’ll discuss in a moment. Unfortunately, modern table salt has very little in common with natural, unrefined salt.

Salt provides two elements – sodium and chloride – that are essential for life. Your body cannot make these elements on its own, so you must get them from your diet. Some of the many biological processes for which natural salt is crucial include:

Being a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid, and even amniotic fluid	Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells, and helping maintain your acid-base balance	Increasing the glial cells in your brain, which are responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning. Both sodium and chloride are also necessary for the firing of neurons
Maintain and regulate blood pressure	Helping your brain communicate with your muscles, so that you can move on demand via sodium-potassium ion exchange	Supporting the function of your adrenal glands, which produce dozens of vital hormones

However, not all salts are created equal. Natural salt contains 84 percent sodium chloride, and 16 percent naturally-occurring trace minerals, including silicon, phosphorous and vanadium.

Processed (table) salt, on the other hand, contains 97.5 percent sodium chloride and the rest is man-made chemicals, such as moisture absorbents and flow agents. These are dangerous chemicals like ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate. A small amount of iodine may also be added.

Some European countries, where water fluoridation is not practiced, also add fluoride to their salt.³ In France for example, 35 percent of table salt sold contains either sodium fluoride or potassium fluoride, and use of fluoridated salt is widespread in South America.

Besides these basic differences in nutritional content, the processing—which involve drying the salt above 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit—also radically alters the chemical structure of the salt. So, while you definitely need salt for optimal health, not just any salt will do. What your body needs is natural, unprocessed salt, without added chemicals.

Does Salt Really Cause Heart Disease?

Overindulgence in the typically used commercially processed table salt can lead to fluid retention, high blood pressure, swelling of your limbs, and shortness of breath. In the long term, it is thought to contribute to high blood pressure, kidney and heart disease, heart attacks, and heart failure.

However, compelling evidence suggests that while processed salt can indeed cause fluid retention and related health problems, numerous studies have, overall, refuted the salt-heart disease connection.

For example, a 2011 meta-analysis of seven studies involving more than 6,000 people found NO strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death.⁴ In fact, salt restriction actually increased the risk of death in those with heart failure.

Similarly, research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that same year revealed that the less sodium excreted in your urine (a marker of salt consumption), the greater the risk of dying from heart disease.⁵ This study followed 3,681 middle-aged healthy Europeans for eight years. The participants were divided into three groups: low salt, moderate salt, and high salt consumption. Researchers tracked mortality rates for the three groups, with the following results:

1. Low-salt group: 50 people died
2. Moderate salt group: 24 people died
3. High-salt group: 10 people died

The risk for heart disease was 56 percent higher for the low-salt group than for the group who ate the most salt! Some studies have shown a modest benefit to salt restriction among some people with high blood pressure, but the evidence does not extend to the rest of the population. So what’s really going on? Well, there are at least three factors that need to be taken into consideration.

1. First, an ingredient that contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease across the board is fructose, and since so much of salt intake comes from processed foods, it’s easy to see how the lines of causation may get blurred. Virtually all processed foods are high not just in sodium, but also fructose, particularly in processed foods sold in the US.
2. Another factor is that there’s a huge difference between natural salt and the processed salt added to processed foods and salt shakers in most homes and restaurants. The former is essential for good health, whereas the latter is best avoided altogether.
3. A third factor that can have a significant impact on whether salt will harm or aid your health is the ratio between the salt and potassium in your diet.

That said, it’s clear that many are consuming far too much processed table salt and not enough natural salt. This begins early. According to the featured article, nearly 75 percent of processed meals and snacks for toddlers contain 210 mg of sodium per serving or more. Some toddler fare contains as much as 630 mg per serving, which equates to 40 percent of the daily limit recommended by the American Heart Association for adults.  

Lead researcher Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH told MedPageToday:⁶

"'These findings highlight both the tremendous disease burdens caused by sodium but also the incredible opportunities for prevention.' ...He urged global public health efforts rather than relying on individuals to control intake of so pervasive an element. 'Our results should inspire both food industry and policymakers to take rapid and decisive actions to reduce sodium in the food supply... If voluntary agreements are not enough, taxation or restrictions on amounts of sodium should be implemented.'"

The Importance of Maintaining Optimal Sodium-Potassium Ratio

As mentioned earlier, another important factor that needs to be taken into account is the potassium to sodium ratio of your diet. Imbalance in this ratio can not only lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) but also contribute to a number of other diseases, including those highlighted in the featured research, along with a few others:

Heart disease and stroke	Memory decline	Osteoporosis	Ulcers and stomach cancer
Kidney stones	Cataracts	Erectile dysfunction	Rheumatoid arthritis

The easiest way to achieve this imbalance is by consuming a diet of processed foods, which are notoriously low in potassium while high in sodium. (And, to reiterate, processed foods are also loaded with fructose, which is clearly associated with increased heart disease risk, as well as virtually all chronic diseases.)

Why is potassium so important?

Among other things, your body needs potassium to maintain proper pH levels in your body fluids, and it also plays an integral role in regulating your blood pressure. It’s possible that potassium deficiency may be more responsible for hypertension than excess sodium. Potassium deficiency leads to electrolyte imbalance, and can result in a condition called hypokalemia. Symptoms include:

• Water retention
• Raised blood pressure and hypertension
• Heart irregularities/arrhythmias
• Muscular weakness and muscle cramps
• Continual thirst and constipation

According to a 1985 article in The New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Paleolithic Nutrition,"⁷ our ancient ancestors got about 11,000 mg of potassium a day, and about 700 mg of sodium. This equates to nearly 16 times more potassium than sodium. Compare that to the Standard American Diet where daily potassium consumption averages about 2,500 mg (the RDA is 4,700 mg/day), along with 3,600 mg of sodium... As mentioned earlier, if you eat a diet of processed foods, you can be virtually guaranteed that your potassium-sodium ratio is upside-down.

This may also explain why high-sodium diets appear to affect some people but not others. According to a 2011 federal study into sodium and potassium intake, those at greatest risk of cardiovascular disease were those who got a combination of too much sodium along with too little potassium.

The research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine,⁸ was one of the first and largest US studies to evaluate the relationship of salt, potassium and heart disease deaths. According to Dr. Elena Kuklina, one of the lead authors of the study at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), potassium may neutralize the heart-damaging effects of salt. Tellingly, those who ate a lot of salt and very little potassium were more than twice as likely to die from a heart attack as those who ate about equal amounts of both nutrients.

How Can You Ensure Proper Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio?

So, how do you ensure you get these two important nutrients in more appropriate ratios?

1. First, ditch all processed foods, which are very high in processed salt and low in potassium and other essential nutrients.
2. Eat a diet of whole, unprocessed foods, ideally organically and locally-grown to ensure optimal nutrient content. This type of diet will naturally provide much larger amounts of potassium in relation to sodium.

I do not recommend taking potassium supplements to correct a sodium-potassium imbalance. Instead, it is best to simply alter your diet and incorporate more potassium-rich whole foods. Green vegetable juicing is an excellent way to ensure you’re getting enough nutrients for optimal health, including about 300-400 mg of potassium per cup.  

By removing the fiber you can consume even larger volumes of important naturally occurring potassium. Some additional rich sources in potassium are:

1. Lima beans (955 mg/cup)
2. Winter squash (896 mg/cup)
3. Cooked spinach (839 mg/cup)
4. Avocado (500 mg per medium)

Other potassium-rich fruits and vegetables include:

• Fruits: papayas, prunes, cantaloupe, and bananas. (But be careful of bananas as they are high in sugar and have half the potassium that an equivalent of amount of green vegetables. It is an old wives tale that you are getting loads of potassium from bananas, the potassium is twice as high in green vegetables)
• Vegetables: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, avocados, asparagus, and pumpkin

Putting Salt Consumption into Proper Context

More than 80 percent of the salt most people consume is from processed foods. Indeed, there is far too much sodium in processed foods. But you shouldn't be eating those foods anyway—sodium is just one of MANY ingredients in packaged foods that will adversely affect your health. The salt added to these convenience foods is bleached out, trace mineral deficient and mostly sodium—as opposed to natural salt, which is much lower in sodium and contains a myriad of other critical trace minerals. Himalayan salt, for example, contains about 86 different minerals, and in terms of taste, you cannot compare it to regular table salt. Natural salt has flavor, over and above just salty taste.

The more you can move toward a diet of whole organic foods in their natural state, the healthier you'll be—whether it's veggies, meat, dairy products, or salt. And increasing your vegetable intake will help insure you’re getting the ideal ratio of sodium-to-potassium, which may be more crucial for overall health than we currently imagine.

Given that salt is absolutely essential to good health, I recommend limiting, or ideally, eliminating processed foods and processed table salt and switching to a pure, unrefined salt. Generally speaking, it is perfectly fine to salt your food to taste, provided the salt you're using is natural and unrefined and you’re eating plenty of vegetables.

[-] Sources and References

• WebMD March 21, 2013
• MedicineNet.com March 21, 2013

• ¹ Bloomberg March 21, 2013
• ²See ref 1
• ³ Poisonfluoride.com Fluoridated Salt FAQ
• ⁴ American Journal of Hypertension 2011 Aug;24(8):843-53.
• ⁵ JAMA. 2011;305(17):1777-1785.
• ⁶ MedPageToday.com March 21, 2013
• ⁷ NEJM 1985 Jan 31;312(5):283-9
• ⁸ Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(13):1183-1191

 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/04/04/high-salt-consumption.aspx?