Salt: Is it good or bad for you?
There is a great deal of confusion in the health care industry as well as in the knowledge of the general public as to whether or not salt is good or bad for you. Most of us know that sodium is essential for the proper absorption of major nutrients in the body and it contributes to the functioning of the nerves and muscles and it’s necessary for balancing water and minerals in the body. There is a great deal of research that’s being done on the hazard of various sodium types and what the recommended amount should be as well as in what form it should enter the body.
One of the major points of confusion for most people is the differences between certain forms of sodium and which ones are beneficial as opposed to which ones are harmful to you. Some studies have been done that show that a diet with more sodium in it can be helpful and that it significantly reduced the amount of heart attacks than people who weren’t on such a diet. The problems arise in identifying what kind of sodium to consume and how much should be in your diet at any given time - and this can be really confusing for most people. Most of what we eat is refined salt that we recognize as table salt. This type of salt is refined and by doing so it’s almost completely sodium and is stripped from it’s original mineral structure. Unfortunately part of the processing uses aluminum, ferro cyanide, and even bleach - all of which are toxic substances that you take in every time you consume refined, commercial salt - and on top of that you also lose all of the minerals that natural salt offers.
Salt is an extremely useful substance. It works well as a detoxification aid and provides around eighty minerals and essential trace elements if you’re using unrefined, organic salt. Since most of our soil grown food is now lacking in these minerals due to the depletion of them from over-harvesting crops it can be essential that proper salt is a component of your diet. Sometimes refined salt has iodine added to it but if you’re getting natural salt then you'll probably want to add iodine supplements which can be helpful for good thyroid and endocrine function. Unrefined salt has an entirely different look to it then refined salt does. Unrefined salt won’t be as white because it hasn’t been bleached and it won’t be as fine either because it hasn’t been ground down. Unrefined salt can take on a pinkish or grayish hue and it’s usually too coarse to be used in a salt shaker but this is the kind of salt that provides the minerals that our body needs and it should be used as opposed to the refined table salt that can leave toxic chemicals and poisons in our bodies.
Overall sodium is essential for our good health but like so many other processed foods it should be taken in it’s natural state and not after it has been altered. That is the only way to get the positive benefits of it as we all should be working to do.