The proper use of salt

Salt is NOT HARMFUL. What is harmful, However, is poor quality salt, the excessive use of salt and the improper use of salt.

The quality of salt has changed completely over the past 100 years or so. The salt that is now commonly available is refined salt. It contains at least 99.9 percent sodium chloride.

The salt is highly unnatural. It’s more like a chemical drug. And it is harmful.

Moreover, the salt is often produced in a very unnatural way-by heating sea water in a very hot “oven” of over 1,200ºF. Such high temperatures change the molecular structure of salt crystals, again rendering them harmful.

Natural sea salt is produced simply by drying sea water under the sun. It is not pure sodium chloride, but it also includes about 4 percent potassium chloride, plus traces of more than 50 other mineral salts. (The actual composition depends on where the salt comes from.) This is the only type of salt suitable for human consumption.

Grey vs white sea salt

Natural sea salt comes in two forms – grey and white.

Grey sea salt, such as Celtic salt, is totally unrefined while white sea salt is minimally refined, to remove magnesium chloride.

There is some debate, especially in macrobiotic circles, over which type of salt to use. Some argue that only grey salt should be used since it is totally natural.

Others argue that its effect is very strong – in macrobiotic terms, very yang. People who use grey salt tend to become physically very stiff – and mentally very stubborn – after many years. So they recommend white sea salt.

Use of salt

The use salt is also important. Sprinkling salt onto cooked food at the table is not the correct way.

The correct use of salt is to add salt during cooking. Salt should be cooked together with other food for at least 10 minutes, preferably longer. When used this way, the salt binds with oil or other food molecules and will not enter our bloodstream directly.

Similarly, the use of salt in the production of soy sauce, miso and other salty seasonings, or in making salted-pickles, will combine with other food molecules. This process is called chelation.

If we use salt this way, and if we do not take too much salt, then salt won’t harm us but will contribute to good health instead.

How much salt should one take? Generally, our food should be mildly salty – not very salty but not totally saltless either. But everyone has different needs.

You need to reduce salt, or even stop taking salt temporarily, if you:

• Eat a lot of meat, or had eaten lot of meat in the past. This is because meat contains high levels of sodium, the main component of salt.
  
  
• Eat or had eaten a lot of fatty and high cholesterol foods. If you have fat deposits in your blood vessels, your blood cannot flow smoothly. Salt thickens the blood and will worsen this situation.
  
  
• Have high blood pressure, kidney failure and other diseases associated with the over-consumption of refined salt and meat.
  
  
• Eat a lot of canned, packaged and other processed foods. These foods often contain “hidden” salt. Canned vegetables, for example, may contain up to several hundred times as much salt as fresh vegetables.

You may need to take more salt if you:

• Are vegetarian or nearly vegetarian, especially if you had been vegetarian for many years.
  
  
• Eat mainly fresh foods.
  
  
• Feel low in energy and have little will power to continue working; feel weakness in your muscles; or tend to be introverted, docile and alienated from society. These are common symptoms of inadequate salt intake.

In Natural Immunity, Noboru Muramoto advises: “The best way to determine the right amount (of salt) is to chew your food very well and to try to achieve the best taste possible with minor adjustments of salt. If you chew well, your tongue can determine this for you.”