Salt
Before I even start, I have to say that you must talk with your doctor and find out whether your use of any of the substances or products mentioned in this post, or indeed anywhere on this site, is appropriate for you. All statements are only personal opinion, and have not been approved by any authority or agency or anyone else whatsoever. And read our disclaimer statement.
There is so much controversy about salt. One time I was talking to a fellow gym rat about taking in enough sodium through eating salt, and had a nurse who was working out in the same general area come over to me, literally shaking with rage, and berate me for making such obviously harmful statements. You would have thought I’d been caught in the middle of some particularly heinous act.
Didn’t change my mind. In fact, I gently referred her to a recent AMA release that admitted that their stance on sodium for most people, who do not have a certain relatively rare medical condition, has been in error for years. I asked her to get back to me after she read it. Never saw her again.
The body needs the electrolytes sodium and potassium to function. You die if you do not have enough of each. I’ve been studying this subject for a long time. The action of the sodium-potassium pump in the human body just happened to be the subject of my first college class that I sat in on when I was a senior in high school. If you do not have enough of both, you have huge short-term AND long-term problems. One of my high school classmates learned that lesson the hardest possible way. He died from a diet substance that leached potassium from his body.
The body has a marvelous mechanism to balance everything in this area. If we input sodium, and potassium, AND water in sufficient quantities, a healthy body will simply dump what it does not need via normal urine, and retain a relatively perfect balance of all three. When you first add more than you’re used to of any of the three, there is an adjustment period of a day or so when the body retains water. After that, you dump excess water when you supply it with enough sodium and potassium and water, which is a bodybuilder’s (and dieter’s) dream.
You’ve noticed I headed this post ’salt’ and keep talking about sodium. That is because most of the salt you get is not salt. It is a dangerous substance that I do not blame anyone for saying that you shouldn’t have too much of it. I would say you shouldn’t have any of it. Look at the ingredients on a salt packet from a fast food outlet. Chances are you will see aluminum and/or some other unthinkable ingredients in the package. That’s enough to turn a person off immediately.
But there’s more. To get the pure white ’salt’ of today, it is heated in a kiln to somewhere between 600 and 1,000 degrees fahrenheit. That breaks down the crystalline structure of salt and changes the kind of chemical interaction it has in the body. It actually makes it a sort of anti-salt that does more harm than good. No wonder people think it’s dangerous. It is. Some sorts actually drain sodium from the body. It is a total nightmare.
Easy solution. Natural sea salt. Not pure white. Maybe has specks in it. That’s okay. It means the true salt has not been destroyed. We use RealSalt®which is from a superpure ancient underground sea bed mined in Utah. But there are many other good ones. Just be absolutely sure that it is not cooked in a kiln, and comes from a safe, reliable source. The RealSalt® even has about a hundred trace mineral the body needs, including iodine.
For potassium, good old bananas and potatoes are great sources. There are also other foods, but those two are on the top of the list. You can also get supplements, but I don’t think they are nearly as good. I take them when I work out, but I prefer to get the bulk of my potassium naturally. Well, that’s my theme song, I guess. Natural is always better, and organic is best.
Be sure to drink enough water, whatever you think about salt. Minimum of 80 ounces a day. Yes, it’s possible to have too much water, but you really have to work at it. Everyone I know, me included because I’m not perfect either, does not get enough water, most days.
Hum. Now’s a good time to have a glass. And some organic french fried potatoes with a bunch of tasty real salt on them. Not kidding: I just now did that.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Very important info re: salt vs. sodium. I wish there were more cost effective ways to get the good stuff in ‘every day’ foods. At least the dollar stores sometimes get the good stuff in stock.