The processing to create table salt strips it of natural minerals & adds toxic substances. In contrast, “Natural salt contains a vast array of essential minerals & is incredibly valuable for health."
Verifiable facts on table salt, natural salt, and sodium, with research-proven health consequences of each. Plus, propaganda examined so that you can more easily identify and correct it for yourself.
Natural, real salt is not at all equal to processed table salt. Table salt is stripped of minerals & toxins are added.
Sea salt is left behind after seawater evaporates. This salt usually is not processed, or is lightly processed. It may retain an uneven or darker color and contain trace levels of minerals including magnesium, potassium and calcium… Table salt is mined from salt deposits. It is processed to a fine texture… This processing strips table salt of other minerals. Also, additives may be used to prevent clumping.
Contents
Essential, Verifiable Facts
Vocabulary
Digging Deeper
Common Falsehoods
Watch Out for Propaganda Like This
More
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Essential, Verifiable Facts
Table salt (including iodized salt*) is not at all the same as the real salt that nature provides. Table salt is “hazardous for human consumption.” [source]
To create table salt, toxic substances are added. [source and source]
The processing used to create table salt strips the natural salt of its balanced mineral composition. [source]
Real salt retains its natural composition of trace minerals and electrolytes, which humans need for bone health, fluid balancing, muscle functioning and nerve signaling. [source and source]
“Natural salt contains a vast array of essential minerals and [is] incredibly valuable for health.” [source]
The term “sodium” refers to an element that occurs abundantly in nature. It never exists alone; it is always part of compounds. [source]
Natural salt contains sodium in balance with other minerals.
Sodium that is not in natural balance with other minerals, particularly potassium, harms health. [source]
Sodium is not the same as salt. [source] While it is a component of natural salt, sodium (not natural salt) is also added to processed foods such as canned soups, lunch meats and packaged foods, and is also in medications. [source]
One can have excess sodium or an improper sodium-potassium balance from eating processed foods. [source] One may also get low blood sodium due to eating insufficient amounts of natural salt, which research shows is fairly common and causes serious health issues including heart disruption. [source and source]
*Iodized salt is table salt that has added iodine compounds.
Vocabulary
CELTIC SEA SALT – “With a grayish hue, it is naturally harvested in Brittany, France, near the Celtic Sea, using a 2,000-year-old Celtic method” [source]
HIMALAYAN SEA SALT / HIMALAYAN PINK SALT – “With a history dating back to Earth’s creation, it’s believed to be composed of dried remnants of the original, primal sea; known as ‘pink gold’ or ‘pink sea salt’, it is translucent pink… contains all of the elements found in your body [and has an] amazing nutrient load” [source]
IODIZED SALT – Table salt that has added iodine compounds
KOSHER SALT – A salt defined by the crystal size (coarse texture); while many brands will not have added iodine and some may be without other additives, this is not universal [source]; “it gets its name from… its traditional use in the koshering process—removing blood from meat according to Jewish dietary laws” [source]
NATURAL SALT – “Unrefined, mineral-rich varieties like sea salt” in contrast to salt that has been heavily processed and stripped of other nutrients [source]
… continues here.
Digging Deeper
Real salt retains its natural composition of trace minerals, which are vital for human health.
When you eat a sea salt that has experienced very little processing, you have a salt that contains health-promoting trace minerals… Table salt is mainly mined from underground salt deposits. It’s heavily processed… and heated to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. During this extreme process, the chemical composition is completely altered, destroying many of its potential health-promoting properties. Although the salt chemical formula for both table salt and sea salt alike is mostly sodium chloride, the sea salt composition also contains more trace minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium.
Table salt contains hazardous molecules and toxic substances.
Typical table salt is composed of 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals such as anti-flow and anti-caking agents. Table salt is bleached and processed with excessive heat that alters the natural chemical structure and destroys essential trace minerals. Hazardous molecules such as iodine and fluoride are added along with toxic substances like aluminum* hydroxide (used as an anti-moisture additive). This processing takes the “life” out of the salt making the unnatural sodium chloride and chemical fillers more challenging to metabolize. The body must sacrifice tremendous amounts of energy and up to 23 times the cell water to neutralize the damaging effects of the salt.
*Aluminum is a heavy metal that should not be in the human body and causes harm. “It accumulates in the kidneys, brain, lungs, liver and thyroid where it competes with calcium for absorption and can affect skeletal mineralization. In infants, this can slow growth. Animal models have linked aluminum exposure to mental impairments.” [source] “Aluminum has the ability to produce neurotoxicity by many mechanisms. Excess, insoluble amyloid beta protein (A beta) contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. Aluminum promotes formation and accumulation of insoluble A beta and hyperphosphorylated tau. To some extent, aluminum mimics the deficit of cortical cholinergic neurotransmission seen in Alzheimer’s disease.” [source]
The logic behind — and the poor health outcomes from — a low-salt diet.
Excessive sodium causes these exacerbations because an excess amount of fluid accumulates in the body (e.g., because the weakened heart can’t move enough blood to the kidneys to eliminate it), which then overloads other parts of the body (e.g., causing swelling and edema, which, if in the lungs, can be life threatening). Because of these two things, many in the medical field assume that salt must be bad for you and hence strongly urge patients to avoid it… A corner stone of cementing the blood pressure market has been to make everyone terrified of salt (much in the same way making people terrified of the sun is a cornerstone of the lucrative skin cancer treatment market—despite the fact the deadly skin cancers are actually due to a lack of sunlight). Remarkably… the link between blood pressure and salt consumption is actually quite tenuous… A study of 181 countries found countries with lower salt consumption have shorter life expectancies... Many have reported discovering low salt consumption was the cause of their fatigue and lightheadedness (which has also been proven in a clinical trial which treated postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome with increasing dietary sodium)... Chronically low blood pressure (e.g., POTS) has been shown to be one cause of chronic fatigue syndrome,1,2 and POTS is often treated with increased dietary sodium. Chronic sodium depletion has been linked to fatigue and insomnia.
“Your body requires healthy salt to function properly.” Low-salt diets have failed and caused harm.
There are different types of salt — some healthy, some not. Your body requires healthy salt to function properly. If you get too little, you’ll increase your risk of heart problems, not lower it… A New England Journal of Medicine study found those with the lowest risk for heart problems or death from any cause were consuming three to six grams of sodium a day — far more than U.S. daily recommended limits… Low-salt recommendations parallel the rise in high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and heart disease, which may be related to the vilification of salt while the food industry liberally added sugar to processed foods… DiNicolantonio first became interested in salt when he was working as a community pharmacist. His patients were complaining of new symptoms after their physician put them on a low-salt diet for their high blood pressure. The symptoms included muscle fatigue, heart palpitations, muscle spasms and cramps. He advised his patients to talk with their doctors and ask more questions about the necessity for using a low-salt diet. He also encouraged them to request a serum sodium blood test to determine if they had low salt levels. His patients found that after adding salt back into their diet the symptoms disappeared. DiNicolantonio believed this was a real indication that low salt diets were not “panning out in the real world.”
Research of 181 countries confirms it.
We considered global health estimates as provided by World Health Organization. Among the 181 countries included in this analysis, we found a positive correlation between sodium intake and healthy life expectancy at birth as well as healthy life expectancy at age 60.
Salt and stress: “Salt plays an important role in helping flush cortisol from the body.”
There is a link between salt intake and stress, and it’s probably not what you think. While we are well aware of the purported dangers associated with a high-sodium diet, many of us are not aware that too little sodium comes with its own set of issues. When it comes to stress, salt plays an important role in helping flush cortisol from the body.
Common Falsehoods
Identifying Falsehoods
Due to propaganda from the food and medicine industries, these falsehoods have been widely distributed:
“Salt” equals all types of salt.
“Sodium” equals salt.
“Salt” is unhealthy.
Correcting Falsehoods
When the word “salt” is used without distinguishing between table salt and natural salt, the material needs to be rejected on the basis of foundational inaccuracy. No conclusion can be drawn if these two products are lumped together as they are completely different.
Total sodium content does not determine the health implications of a food. The actual concern is whether or not sodium is in natural balance with other minerals. [source]
Natural salt is not the same as “sodium.” Excess sodium (i.e. disproportional from other minerals) occurs in table salt and processed foods, but not in natural salt.
Processed foods, including table salt, have toxic ingredients and unnatural, harmful proportions of minerals.
Thus, no conclusion can be drawn from research and health recommendations that speak of salt or sodium without distinguishing natural salt and table salt.
Research has proven that too little sodium is as harmful as too much. It also showed that heart issues and death stem from an imbalance of the natural sodium-potassium proportions.
Higher potassium excretion was associated with a lower risk of death and cardiovascular events… Sodium is known to play a critical role in normal human physiology, and activation of the [system that regulates blood pressure and volume] occurs when sodium intake falls below approximately 3.0 g per day. A J-shaped association* between sodium intake and cardiovascular disease or death has been shown in previous studies [and was confirmed in this paper].
*A J-shaped association (also called a U-shaped curve) describes this relationship:
At low levels of exposure, the outcome (e.g., disease or death rate) is relatively high.
At moderate levels, the risk decreases, reaching a low point.
At high levels, the risk increases again, often surpassing the risk at low levels.
Watch Out for Propaganda Like This
Propaganda Watch
Table salt is refined, fine-textured and often fortified with iodine and anti-caking agents. Sea salt is less processed, coarser and contains trace minerals that add flavor and texture. Both salts have equal sodium by weight—use whichever suits your taste, diet and recipe best. source
Correcting Falsehoods
The issue is not sodium itself. That’s incorrect and incomplete.
The issues are 1) sodium in natural balance with other minerals, and 2) toxic additives in table salt.
Propaganda Watch
The AHA notes, “Because sea salt is not processed, it may contain some impurities found in the ocean such as lead.” And when it comes to sodium content, sea salt and table salt are the same. Another big thing to consider when deciding which salt to use is iodine content. Many table salts are fortified with the mineral, however Kosher salt and sea salt are not… Doctors are concerned that iodine deficiency is becoming more common in the U.S. This can lead to thyroid problems, including goiters. source
Getting Perspective
There is a spotlight put on “impurities” in the ocean, but there is no mention of the man-made toxins (poisons) added to processed foods, including table salt.
Iodine naturally occurs in seafood, milk products, eggs, potato skins and other foods. Why don’t doctors recommend natural forms of iodine that are guaranteed to be in proper proportion?
How do doctors know who is deficient in iodine and who is not? Why don’t they recommend supplemental form only for those individuals who are verifiably low as opposed to population-wide when individuals are all unique?
Instead, this recommendation is for an ultra-processed food (table salt) that contains yet another additive that was produced by isolating and removing a component in other foods and adding it to this one.
Poor Scholarship
At the end of the day, salt is largely the same across the board. As with every other food, the least processed the salt is, the better it is for you. source
Correcting Falsehood
This seems not to be propaganda but the result of propaganda. When factually incorrect statements are published by “reputable” organizations, then others may mimic the statements without verifying them.
If the first sentence had been cut, this would be a true statement. But the first sentence is provably false and is the exact same as the first propaganda example above where all salts are said to be equal.
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