Natural sea salt - will not cause high blood pressure

The difference between natural sea salt and regular salt, according to one article I read many years ago, is that "sea salt is regular salt plus some dirt".

It is sad – and digusting – to see supposedly learned health experts make such statements. They think they are helping consumers save some money from not buying natural sea salt, which costs than regular salt. In reality, they not only spread ignorance but also contribute to the growing rates of high blood pressure and heart disease.

The real difference is this: Sea salt DOES NOT cause high blood pressure whereas regular refined salt does.

All the scientific studies that have been done showing that salt "causes" high blood pressure where done on people who took regular, refined salt.

In the early 1980s, one Harvard researcher studied the blood pressure of people who follow the macrobiotic diet. And the researcher found that macrobiotic people, despite eating a fairly salty diet with generous amounts of miso, shoyu, salty pickles, etc, had very healthy blood pressure levels of about 10 points below the national average.

So it is NOT TRUE that salt causes high blood pressure. On the contrary, salt is necessary for health. The blood of a healthy person is supposed to be slightly salty.

And salt was considered so important that, during the Roman Empire, Roman soldiers were paid their wages in salt. And this is the origin of the word "salary".

One 1998 medical study published in The Lancet (14 March 1988) even found that people who eat lots of salt live longer than those who avoid it.

Researchers discovered that those 25 percent of study subjects consuming the lowest amounts of dietary salt actually had a higher risk of death – over 23 deaths per 1,000 person-years. In contrast, the 25 percent who consumed the highest amounts of salt had just 19 deaths per 1,000 person-years.

If that study had considered the difference between those who took natural sea salt versus refined salt, perhaps an even greater difference would be detected.

The one big difference between sea salt and regular salt is this: Regular salt is about 99.9 percent pure sodium chloride whereas natural sea salt is about 95 percent sodium chloride, 4 percent potassium chloride plus the remaining 1 percent consisting of over 50 other minerals and trace elements.

The actual composition of natural sea salt varies, depending on where the salt comes from, how it is processed, and so on. But there is a real, measurable difference – just that some doctors and scientists fail to appreciate the significance of this difference and call it "dirt".

This is utter stupidity. Just because certain substances occur in very small amounts does not mean that they are not important.

But actually, the medical profession has long recognised that regular refined salt, which is almost pure sodium chlorie, is lacking in important minerals.

This is why they developed, for example, iodized salt which has iodine added back in. Unfortunately, the medical profession is not wise enough to leave the other 50 to 60 minerals and trace elements intact, instead of just adding iodine.

Yet another attempt to improve upon regular salt is the product called Pan Salt®, which has an extremely high percentage of potassium chloride. This is, again, another highly unnatural product based on misguided beliefs.

Just because too much sodium is considered "bad", it does not mean that plenty of potassium – which is considered the opposite of sodium – is good. What's good is the right balance. And what's right is, in my opinion, best left to nature rather than to scientists working in a laboratory.

Quality of salt

Even with natural sea salt, there are differences in quality,

Some, like Celtic sea salt, are said yellow / grey in color and said to be 100 percent unrefined.

Others are white and have been minimally refined, mainly to remove magnesium chloride, magnesium sulphate and a few other substances. These magnesium salts, called nigari in the Japanese language, are used as coagulants in the making of tofu.

Within the macrobiotic community, there is some debate over whether Celtic or white sea salt is better. American macrobiotic teachers like Edward Esko argue strongly in favour of white sea salt, saying that Celtic salt is "too yang" whereas the French favour Celtic sea salt.

Where the salt comes from and how it is processed matter as well. Obviously, it is best to get salt from very clean waters, far from civilisation and pollutants.

Plus, you would want salt that is naturally processed – evaporated by the sun and the wind rather than by super hot ovens, and ground rather than pounded.

You can find some very high quality natural sea salt at the Kushi Store with descriptions about the origin of the salt and how they are made.

Finally, there a few more important things to note about consuming salt:

1. Salt must always be cooked together with food, or combined with food through processes such as pickling and salt fermentation – in products like miso, shoyu, salted pickles, etc.
   
   When you cook with salt, add salt during cooking, not after. Make sure the salt is cooked with food for at least 10 minutes.
   
   For example, when you cook brown rice or other whole grains, add a pinch of natural sea salt after the rice has reached a boil, then cover, reduce the fire and simmer for another 45 minutes.
   
   Do not sprinkle salt over cooked food, the way salt is sprinkled over potato chips, steaks and other Western dishes.
   
   
2. Adjust your salt intake with the rest of your food. If you are a heavy meat eater – or even if you had just turned vegetarian but had been eating lots of meat until recently – you would probably do well with less salt, even though it may be good quality natural sea salt.
   
   But if you had been a vegetarian for a long time, you can afford to eat more natural sea salt. It will probably do you good. I have one Indian vegetarian friend who was vegetarian since birth and her food is incredibly salty. Once, I served her miso soup and her husband, knowing her taste, added two tablespoons of shoyu into her miso soup. She took it without complaining it was too salty. Despite her very high salt intake, she is in good health and does not have high blood pressure.