MINERALS ARE VITAL
Certain minerals need to pass through the acidic environment of the stomach before they can be absorbed through the mucosa of the intestine. They are zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium, iron, copper, chromium, and molybdenum. The list is in the order, in my view, of each element's importance to the human body. The
mineral elements that the body needs in largest quantities are sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
Sodium will enforce the osmotic needs and balance of the fluid environment outside and around the cells of the body, vitally important to brain function. If someone over-hydrates and forces salt out of the body without replacing it, the brain cells will gradually swell up; the person could suffer brain damage and die.
This happens from time to time if people exercise regularly, sweat profusely and lose salt, and then keep on drinking only water without replacing the lost salt. As I have said repeatedly, salt is not bad for you. It does not raise the blood pressure. It is the insufficiency of other minerals that normally hold on to and keep water inside the cells that causes a rise in blood pressure. Given in conjunction with other minerals, salt will actually lower blood pressure to normal levels.
Potassium, calcium, magnesium, and zinc are the main minerals that regulate the water levels inside the cells. These elements are needed to keep the interior of the cells in the body in osmotic balance and in good working order. These are the elements that
work with sodium to keep blood pressure in its normal range.
All one-a-day vitamin supplements are now composed in such a way that the daily requirements of the essential minerals—other than sodium, calcium, and potassium—are provided. The rest of the vital minerals are fully available in the variety of foods we eat. Vitamin and mineral supplements are thus recommended for insurance in case your daily diet is not high quality and contains insufficient fruits and vegetables.
The toxic mineral elements are mercury, lead, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, and, in large quantities, iron. These minerals should be avoided—they are absorbed better by the body if the stomach is less acidic than normal.
As we grow older, some of us manufacture less and less acid in our stomachs. The condition is called achlorhydria. People with achlorhydria can become deficient of vital minerals in their bodies. They also have difficulty in digesting meat.
In older cultures, eating pickles with food was a pre-cautionary measure to prevent this problem. The use of vinegar in salads eaten with meals has the same effect, if the salad dressing is sour in taste. If the meal contains a lot of meat, the stomach normally secretes plenty of acid to break down the meat into small digestible particles. These smaller particles are then further reduced to the size of their amino acid components in the intestines and get absorbed. People who have difficulty digesting food should get into the habit of taking some lemon or pickles with their food.
A good pickle for this purpose would be finely chopped cauliflower, green tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, eggplant, and cabbage, with salt and pepper. The ingredients should be put in a jar, covered with a good vinegar, and left for
a few days to season. When eaten, the small vinegar-soaked particles will mix with the food in the stomach and acidify their immediate vicinity for the enzymes to become activated for digestion. Middle Eastern food markets have these kinds of
pickled foods available for ready use.
SALT: THE ETERNAL MEDICATION
Salt is a vital substance for the survival of all living creatures, particularly humans, and especially people with asthma, allergies, and autoimmune disease.
Salt is a “medication” that has been used by healers throughout the ages. In certain cultures, it is worth its weight in gold and is, in fact, exchanged weight for weight for gold. In desert countries, people know that salt intake is their insurance for survival. To these people, salt mines are synonymous with gold mines.
After many years of salt being badmouthed by ignorant health professionals and their media parrots, the importance of salt as a dietary supplement is once again being acknowledged and recognized. I was one of the early voices bringing about this change.
Water, salt, and potassium together regulate the water content of the body. Water regulates the water content of the interior of the cell by working its way into all the cells it reaches. It has to get there to cleanse and extract the toxic waste of cell metabolism. Once water gets into the cells, the potassium content of the cells holds on to it and keeps it there—to the extent that potassium is available inside the cells. Even in the plant kingdom, it is potassium in the fruit that gives it firmness by holding water in the interior of the fruit. Our daily food contains ample potassium from its natural sources of fruits and vegetables, but not salt from its natural source. That is why we need to add salt to our daily diet. Note: Do not take too much potassium as a dietary supplement. It could cause trouble.
Salt forces some water to keep it company outside the cells (osmotic retention of water by salt). It balances the amount of water that is held outside the cells.
Basically, there are two oceans of water in the body: One is held inside the cells of the body, and the other is held outside. Good health depends on a most delicate
balance between the volumes of these two oceans. This balance is achieved by the regular intake of water, potassium-rich fruits and vegetables that also contain the vitamins needed by the body, and salt. Unrefined sea salt, which contains some of the other minerals that the body needs, is preferable. Sea salt may not contain enough iodine to keep the thyroid gland working normally, and it may enlarge into a goiter. Regular intake of a multivitamin that contains iodine is essential. Another source of iodine is dried kelp capsules, which are available from vitamin shops.
When water is not available to get into the cells freely, it is filtered from the outside salty ocean and injected into cells that are being overworked despite their water shortage. This secondary and emergency means of supplying important cells with injected water is the reason, in severe dehydration, that we retain salt and de-
velop edema—to have more water available to draw from for filtration and injection into the cells.
The design of our bodies is such that the extent of the ocean of water outside the cells is expanded to have extra water in reserve for filtration and emergency injection into vital cells. To achieve this, the brain commands an increase in salt and water retention by the kidneys. This directive of the brain is the reason we get edema when we don't drink enough water.
When water shortage in the body reaches a more critical level, and delivery of water by its injection into the cells becomes the main route of supply to more and more cells, an associated rise in injection pressure becomes necessary. The significant rise in pressure needed to inject water into the cells becomes measurable and is labeled “hypertension,” or high blood pressure.
Initially, the process of water filtration and its delivery into the cells is more efficient at night when the body is horizontal. In this position, the collected water, which settles mostly in the legs during the day, does not have to fight the force of gravity to get into the blood circulation. If reliance on this process of emergency hydration of some cells continues for long, the lungs begin to get waterlogged at night, and breathing becomes difficult. The person needs more pillows to sit up-right to sleep. This condition is called cardiac asthma, and it is the consequence of dehydration. However, in this condition you must not over-load the system by drinking too much water at the beginning. Increases in water intake must be slow and spaced out—until urine production begins to increase at the same rate that you drink water.
When we drink enough water to pass clear urine, we also pass out a lot of the salt that was held back. This is how we can get rid of edema fluid from the body. Not by diuretics, but by more water! Water is the best natural diuretic that exists.
In a person who has extensive edema and whose heart sometimes beats irregularly or rapidly with little effort, the increase in water intake should be gradual and spaced out, but water should not be withheld from the body. Salt intake should be limited for two or three days because the body is still in an overdrive mode to retain it. Once the edema has cleared, salt should again be added to the diet. If there are irregular heartbeats, or the pulse is fast and furious but there is no edema, increased water, salt, and other minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and some potassium will alleviate the problem.
SALT: SOME OF ITS HIDDEN MIRACLES
Salt has many other important functions than just regulating the water content of the body.
• Salt is a strong natural antihistamine. It can be used to relieve asthma: Put it on the tongue after drinking a glass or two of water. It is as effective as an inhaler, without the toxicity. You should drink one or two glasses of water before putting salt on the tongue. This type of salt use is only for emergencies.
Normally you should add it to food or to water before drinking it.
• Salt is a strong antistress element for the body.
• Salt is vital for extracting excess acidity from inside the cells, particularly the brain cells. If you don't want Alzheimer's disease, don't go salt-free and don't let them put you on diuretic medications for long!
• Salt is vital for the kidneys to clear excess acidity and pass the acidity into the urine. Without sufficient salt in the body, the body will become more and more acidic.
• Salt is essential in the treatment of emotional and affective disorders. Lithium is a salt substitute that is used in the treatment of depression.
• Salt is essential for preserving the serotonin and melatonin levels in the brain. When water and salt perform their natural antioxidant duties and clear the toxic waste from the body, essential amino acids, such as tryptophan and tyrosine, will not be sacrificed as chemical antioxidants. In a well hydrated body, tryptophan is spared and gets into the brain tissue, where it is used to manufacture serotonin, melatonin, and tryptamine—essential antidepressant neurotransmitters.
• Salt, in my opinion, is vital for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Cancer cells are killed by oxygen; they are anaerobic organisms. They must live in a low-oxygen environment. When the body is well hydrated and salt expands the volume of blood circulation to reach all parts of the body, the oxygen and the active and motivated immune cells in the blood reach the cancerous tissue and destroy it. As I have explained, dehydration— shortage of water and salt—suppresses the immune system and the activity of its disease-fight-ing cells in the body.
• Salt is vital for maintaining muscle tone and strength. Lack of bladder control and involuntary leakage of urine could be a consequence of low salt intake. The following letter from Dottlee Reid, in her sixties, speaks volumes. It reveals how salt intake helped her get over a knee problem as well as constant involuntaiy leakage of urine. I have chosen to print this letter here to share with millions of senior citizens in America—who might be on diuretics—the good news that adequate salt intake can possibly save them from the embarrassment of having to constantly wear pads.
Dear Doctor Batmanghelidj:
June 25, 1999, I had to go home from work because the pain in my knee became unbearable. (This was an old wound, years ago caused by a chiropractor, that had been bruised again.) I was staying in bed a lot as it was too painful to try to walk.
I got your book and tapes (Your Body's Many Cries for Water). By July 3, 1999, I decided to try to walk around the block. I made it and July 4, 1999, I walked six blocks to church. On July 5, 1999, I rode in the car for seven hours, only stopping twice to use the rest room. I have a very weak bladder and had even taken spare clothing as I was sure they would be needed. I arrived with not a drop of anything on my clothing, and for the first time in my life was not tired and I even took a walk before I went to bed.
I was very thin and was limited on what I could eat. Suddenly I find I am eating things I have not been able to eat in years—peaches, cantaloupe, water-melon, tomatoes, pineapple, and even sweets—and I was enjoying them with no side effects.
I had not been drinking anything but water for years, but I had talked myself off salt. A bad mistake! My muscles were really screaming as well as many parts of my body. I still have problems to be worked out, but I'm learning how to listen to my own body and I hope to see the day I won't have any more problems with gas, digestion, circulation, and allergies. I can truthfully say most days I do feel better than I have in many years, and I can never thank you enough for your help.
• Salt can be very effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and, contrary to will not stay in the blood circulation adequately to completely fill all the blood vessels. In some, this will cause fainting; in others, it will cause tightening of the arteries to the point of registering a rise in blood pressure.
One or two glasses of water and some salt—a little of it on the tongue—will quickly and efficiently quiet a racing and “thumping” heart and, in the long run, will reduce the blood pressure. Talk with your doctor about the right balance of water and salt for your diet.
• Salt is vital for sleep regulation. It is a natural hypnotic. If you drink a full glass of water, then put a few grains of salt on your tongue and let it stay there, you will fall into a natural, deep sleep. Don't use salt on your tongue unless you also drink water. Repeated use of salt by itself might cause nose-bleeds. Routine intake of water and the addition of some salt to the diet will regulate the sleep pattern.
• Salt is a vitally needed element for diabetics. It helps balance the sugar levels in the blood and reduces the need for insulin in those who have to inject it to regulate their blood sugar levels. Water and salt can reduce the extent of secondary damage to the eyes and the blood vessels associated with diabetes.
• Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in all of the cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy need by the cells.
• Salt is vital to the communication and information processing of nerve cells the entire time that the brain cells work—from the moment of conception to death.
• Salt is vital for the absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract.
• Salt is vital for clearing the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma, emphysema, and cystic fibrosis sufferers.
• Salt on the tongue can help stop persistent dry coughs.
• Salt is vital for clearing up catarrh and sinus congestion.
• Salt can help in the prevention of gout and gouty arthritis.
• Salt is essential for preventing muscle cramps.
• Salt is vital in preventing excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates a salt shortage.
• Osteoporosis may be the result of a salt and water shortage in the body.
• Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm.
• Salt can help you maintain self-confidence and a positive self-image—a serotonin- and melatonin-controlled personality output.
• Salt can help maintain libido.
• Salt may help reduce a double chin. When the body is short of salt, it means the body really is short of water. The salivary glands sense the salt shortage and are obliged to produce more saliva to lubricate the act of chewing and swallowing and also to supply the stomach with the water that it needs for breaking down foods. Circulation to the salivary glands increases, and the blood vessels become “leaky” in order to supply the glands with more water to manufacture saliva. This leakiness spills to areas beyond the glands themselves, causing increased bulk under the skin of the chin and the cheeks and into the neck.
• Salt may help prevent varicose veins and spider veins on the legs and thighs.
• Sea salt contains about eighty mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts. Unrefined sea salt is a better choice than other types of salt on the market. Ordinary bleached white table salt that is bought in the supermarkets has been stripped of its companion elements and might contain additive elements such as aluminum silicate to keep it powdery and porous. Aluminum is a very toxic element in our nervous system. It has been implicated as one of the primary causes of Alzheimer's disease. Sea salt is not rich in iodine, which needs to be taken as a supplement.
As much as salt is good for the body in asthma, excess potassium is bad for it. Too much orange juice, too many bananas, or any sports drink containing too much potassium might help precipitate an asthma attack, particularly if too much of the drink or too many bananas are taken before exercising. It can cause an exercise-induced asthma attack. To prevent such attacks, some salt intake before exercise will increase the lungs' capacity for air exchange. It will also decrease excess sweating.
It is a good policy to add some salt to orange juice to balance the actions of sodium and potassium in maintaining the required volume of water inside and outside the cells. In some cultures, salt is added to melon and other fruits to accentuate their sweetness. In effect, these fruits contain mostly potassium. By adding
salt to them before eating, a balance between the intake of sodium and potassium results. The same should be done to other juices.
I received a call one day from one of my readers to tell me how he had unwittingly hurt his son. Knowing that orange juice was full of vitamin C, he forced his son to drink several glasses of it every day. The boy developed breathing problems and had a number of asthma attacks until he reached college and moved out of the sphere of influence of his father. His asthma then cleared and his breathing became normal. The father told me he had to call his son and apologize for having given him such a hard time when he was younger. The more the son had rebelled against orange juice, the more the father had insisted he should take it, convinced a large amount was good for him.
As a rough rule of thumb, you need about 3 to 4 grams of salt a day for every ten glasses of water you drink. Three grams is about a half teaspoon. An easier calculation is a quarter teaspoon of salt per quart of water (I know someone who takes more than a tea-spoon of salt every day to control his asthma). You should take salt throughout the day. If you exercise and sweat, you need more salt. In hot climates, when you lose water from the surface of the skin without realizing it, you need to take even more salt. In these climates, salt can make the difference between survival and better health and heat exhaustion and death.
Warning! At the same time, you must not overdo salt. You must observe the ratio of salt and water needs of the body. Always make sure you drink enough water to wash the excess salt out of the body. If your weight suddenly goes up in one day when you have not consumed too much food, you have taken too much salt. Hold back on salt intake for one day and drink plenty of water to increase your urine output and get rid of your swelling. Consult your doctor to determine the correct balance of salt and water for your diet.
If you begin to drink water according to my protocol, you might also benefit from taking a one-a-day vitamin tablet daily, particularly if you do not exercise or eat hearty portions of vegetables and fruits. Meat and fish proteins are good sources of selenium and zinc. If you are under stress, and until it is over, you might consider adding some vitamin B6 and zinc to your diet in addition to what is available in the vitamin tablets.
If you suffer from cold sores (herpes simplex virus on the lips and even in the eyes) or genital herpes, make sure you add zinc and vitamin B6 to your diet. Your viral sores might very well be the result of zinc deficiency and its associated complications.
OTHER ESSENTIALS FOR HEALTH AND HEALING
While water, salt, and minerals are vital for optimal health, the nutrients we receive from the foods we eat are also important, as is the need to stay fit through regular exercise. In this chapter, I will give a brief overview of the other essentials— proteins, fats, fruits, vegetables, sunlight, and exercise—needed for optimal health and healing.
CHAPTER 14; Conclusion. Click here.
Certain minerals need to pass through the acidic environment of the stomach before they can be absorbed through the mucosa of the intestine. They are zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium, iron, copper, chromium, and molybdenum. The list is in the order, in my view, of each element's importance to the human body. The
mineral elements that the body needs in largest quantities are sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
Sodium will enforce the osmotic needs and balance of the fluid environment outside and around the cells of the body, vitally important to brain function. If someone over-hydrates and forces salt out of the body without replacing it, the brain cells will gradually swell up; the person could suffer brain damage and die.
This happens from time to time if people exercise regularly, sweat profusely and lose salt, and then keep on drinking only water without replacing the lost salt. As I have said repeatedly, salt is not bad for you. It does not raise the blood pressure. It is the insufficiency of other minerals that normally hold on to and keep water inside the cells that causes a rise in blood pressure. Given in conjunction with other minerals, salt will actually lower blood pressure to normal levels.
Potassium, calcium, magnesium, and zinc are the main minerals that regulate the water levels inside the cells. These elements are needed to keep the interior of the cells in the body in osmotic balance and in good working order. These are the elements that
work with sodium to keep blood pressure in its normal range.
All one-a-day vitamin supplements are now composed in such a way that the daily requirements of the essential minerals—other than sodium, calcium, and potassium—are provided. The rest of the vital minerals are fully available in the variety of foods we eat. Vitamin and mineral supplements are thus recommended for insurance in case your daily diet is not high quality and contains insufficient fruits and vegetables.
The toxic mineral elements are mercury, lead, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, and, in large quantities, iron. These minerals should be avoided—they are absorbed better by the body if the stomach is less acidic than normal.
As we grow older, some of us manufacture less and less acid in our stomachs. The condition is called achlorhydria. People with achlorhydria can become deficient of vital minerals in their bodies. They also have difficulty in digesting meat.
In older cultures, eating pickles with food was a pre-cautionary measure to prevent this problem. The use of vinegar in salads eaten with meals has the same effect, if the salad dressing is sour in taste. If the meal contains a lot of meat, the stomach normally secretes plenty of acid to break down the meat into small digestible particles. These smaller particles are then further reduced to the size of their amino acid components in the intestines and get absorbed. People who have difficulty digesting food should get into the habit of taking some lemon or pickles with their food.
A good pickle for this purpose would be finely chopped cauliflower, green tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, eggplant, and cabbage, with salt and pepper. The ingredients should be put in a jar, covered with a good vinegar, and left for
a few days to season. When eaten, the small vinegar-soaked particles will mix with the food in the stomach and acidify their immediate vicinity for the enzymes to become activated for digestion. Middle Eastern food markets have these kinds of
pickled foods available for ready use.
SALT: THE ETERNAL MEDICATION
Salt is a vital substance for the survival of all living creatures, particularly humans, and especially people with asthma, allergies, and autoimmune disease.
Salt is a “medication” that has been used by healers throughout the ages. In certain cultures, it is worth its weight in gold and is, in fact, exchanged weight for weight for gold. In desert countries, people know that salt intake is their insurance for survival. To these people, salt mines are synonymous with gold mines.
After many years of salt being badmouthed by ignorant health professionals and their media parrots, the importance of salt as a dietary supplement is once again being acknowledged and recognized. I was one of the early voices bringing about this change.
Water, salt, and potassium together regulate the water content of the body. Water regulates the water content of the interior of the cell by working its way into all the cells it reaches. It has to get there to cleanse and extract the toxic waste of cell metabolism. Once water gets into the cells, the potassium content of the cells holds on to it and keeps it there—to the extent that potassium is available inside the cells. Even in the plant kingdom, it is potassium in the fruit that gives it firmness by holding water in the interior of the fruit. Our daily food contains ample potassium from its natural sources of fruits and vegetables, but not salt from its natural source. That is why we need to add salt to our daily diet. Note: Do not take too much potassium as a dietary supplement. It could cause trouble.
Salt forces some water to keep it company outside the cells (osmotic retention of water by salt). It balances the amount of water that is held outside the cells.
Basically, there are two oceans of water in the body: One is held inside the cells of the body, and the other is held outside. Good health depends on a most delicate
balance between the volumes of these two oceans. This balance is achieved by the regular intake of water, potassium-rich fruits and vegetables that also contain the vitamins needed by the body, and salt. Unrefined sea salt, which contains some of the other minerals that the body needs, is preferable. Sea salt may not contain enough iodine to keep the thyroid gland working normally, and it may enlarge into a goiter. Regular intake of a multivitamin that contains iodine is essential. Another source of iodine is dried kelp capsules, which are available from vitamin shops.
When water is not available to get into the cells freely, it is filtered from the outside salty ocean and injected into cells that are being overworked despite their water shortage. This secondary and emergency means of supplying important cells with injected water is the reason, in severe dehydration, that we retain salt and de-
velop edema—to have more water available to draw from for filtration and injection into the cells.
The design of our bodies is such that the extent of the ocean of water outside the cells is expanded to have extra water in reserve for filtration and emergency injection into vital cells. To achieve this, the brain commands an increase in salt and water retention by the kidneys. This directive of the brain is the reason we get edema when we don't drink enough water.
When water shortage in the body reaches a more critical level, and delivery of water by its injection into the cells becomes the main route of supply to more and more cells, an associated rise in injection pressure becomes necessary. The significant rise in pressure needed to inject water into the cells becomes measurable and is labeled “hypertension,” or high blood pressure.
Initially, the process of water filtration and its delivery into the cells is more efficient at night when the body is horizontal. In this position, the collected water, which settles mostly in the legs during the day, does not have to fight the force of gravity to get into the blood circulation. If reliance on this process of emergency hydration of some cells continues for long, the lungs begin to get waterlogged at night, and breathing becomes difficult. The person needs more pillows to sit up-right to sleep. This condition is called cardiac asthma, and it is the consequence of dehydration. However, in this condition you must not over-load the system by drinking too much water at the beginning. Increases in water intake must be slow and spaced out—until urine production begins to increase at the same rate that you drink water.
When we drink enough water to pass clear urine, we also pass out a lot of the salt that was held back. This is how we can get rid of edema fluid from the body. Not by diuretics, but by more water! Water is the best natural diuretic that exists.
In a person who has extensive edema and whose heart sometimes beats irregularly or rapidly with little effort, the increase in water intake should be gradual and spaced out, but water should not be withheld from the body. Salt intake should be limited for two or three days because the body is still in an overdrive mode to retain it. Once the edema has cleared, salt should again be added to the diet. If there are irregular heartbeats, or the pulse is fast and furious but there is no edema, increased water, salt, and other minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and some potassium will alleviate the problem.
SALT: SOME OF ITS HIDDEN MIRACLES
Salt has many other important functions than just regulating the water content of the body.
• Salt is a strong natural antihistamine. It can be used to relieve asthma: Put it on the tongue after drinking a glass or two of water. It is as effective as an inhaler, without the toxicity. You should drink one or two glasses of water before putting salt on the tongue. This type of salt use is only for emergencies.
Normally you should add it to food or to water before drinking it.
• Salt is a strong antistress element for the body.
• Salt is vital for extracting excess acidity from inside the cells, particularly the brain cells. If you don't want Alzheimer's disease, don't go salt-free and don't let them put you on diuretic medications for long!
• Salt is vital for the kidneys to clear excess acidity and pass the acidity into the urine. Without sufficient salt in the body, the body will become more and more acidic.
• Salt is essential in the treatment of emotional and affective disorders. Lithium is a salt substitute that is used in the treatment of depression.
• Salt is essential for preserving the serotonin and melatonin levels in the brain. When water and salt perform their natural antioxidant duties and clear the toxic waste from the body, essential amino acids, such as tryptophan and tyrosine, will not be sacrificed as chemical antioxidants. In a well hydrated body, tryptophan is spared and gets into the brain tissue, where it is used to manufacture serotonin, melatonin, and tryptamine—essential antidepressant neurotransmitters.
• Salt, in my opinion, is vital for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Cancer cells are killed by oxygen; they are anaerobic organisms. They must live in a low-oxygen environment. When the body is well hydrated and salt expands the volume of blood circulation to reach all parts of the body, the oxygen and the active and motivated immune cells in the blood reach the cancerous tissue and destroy it. As I have explained, dehydration— shortage of water and salt—suppresses the immune system and the activity of its disease-fight-ing cells in the body.
• Salt is vital for maintaining muscle tone and strength. Lack of bladder control and involuntary leakage of urine could be a consequence of low salt intake. The following letter from Dottlee Reid, in her sixties, speaks volumes. It reveals how salt intake helped her get over a knee problem as well as constant involuntaiy leakage of urine. I have chosen to print this letter here to share with millions of senior citizens in America—who might be on diuretics—the good news that adequate salt intake can possibly save them from the embarrassment of having to constantly wear pads.
Dear Doctor Batmanghelidj:
June 25, 1999, I had to go home from work because the pain in my knee became unbearable. (This was an old wound, years ago caused by a chiropractor, that had been bruised again.) I was staying in bed a lot as it was too painful to try to walk.
I got your book and tapes (Your Body's Many Cries for Water). By July 3, 1999, I decided to try to walk around the block. I made it and July 4, 1999, I walked six blocks to church. On July 5, 1999, I rode in the car for seven hours, only stopping twice to use the rest room. I have a very weak bladder and had even taken spare clothing as I was sure they would be needed. I arrived with not a drop of anything on my clothing, and for the first time in my life was not tired and I even took a walk before I went to bed.
I was very thin and was limited on what I could eat. Suddenly I find I am eating things I have not been able to eat in years—peaches, cantaloupe, water-melon, tomatoes, pineapple, and even sweets—and I was enjoying them with no side effects.
I had not been drinking anything but water for years, but I had talked myself off salt. A bad mistake! My muscles were really screaming as well as many parts of my body. I still have problems to be worked out, but I'm learning how to listen to my own body and I hope to see the day I won't have any more problems with gas, digestion, circulation, and allergies. I can truthfully say most days I do feel better than I have in many years, and I can never thank you enough for your help.
• Salt can be very effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and, contrary to will not stay in the blood circulation adequately to completely fill all the blood vessels. In some, this will cause fainting; in others, it will cause tightening of the arteries to the point of registering a rise in blood pressure.
One or two glasses of water and some salt—a little of it on the tongue—will quickly and efficiently quiet a racing and “thumping” heart and, in the long run, will reduce the blood pressure. Talk with your doctor about the right balance of water and salt for your diet.
• Salt is vital for sleep regulation. It is a natural hypnotic. If you drink a full glass of water, then put a few grains of salt on your tongue and let it stay there, you will fall into a natural, deep sleep. Don't use salt on your tongue unless you also drink water. Repeated use of salt by itself might cause nose-bleeds. Routine intake of water and the addition of some salt to the diet will regulate the sleep pattern.
• Salt is a vitally needed element for diabetics. It helps balance the sugar levels in the blood and reduces the need for insulin in those who have to inject it to regulate their blood sugar levels. Water and salt can reduce the extent of secondary damage to the eyes and the blood vessels associated with diabetes.
• Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in all of the cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy need by the cells.
• Salt is vital to the communication and information processing of nerve cells the entire time that the brain cells work—from the moment of conception to death.
• Salt is vital for the absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract.
• Salt is vital for clearing the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma, emphysema, and cystic fibrosis sufferers.
• Salt on the tongue can help stop persistent dry coughs.
• Salt is vital for clearing up catarrh and sinus congestion.
• Salt can help in the prevention of gout and gouty arthritis.
• Salt is essential for preventing muscle cramps.
• Salt is vital in preventing excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates a salt shortage.
• Osteoporosis may be the result of a salt and water shortage in the body.
• Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm.
• Salt can help you maintain self-confidence and a positive self-image—a serotonin- and melatonin-controlled personality output.
• Salt can help maintain libido.
• Salt may help reduce a double chin. When the body is short of salt, it means the body really is short of water. The salivary glands sense the salt shortage and are obliged to produce more saliva to lubricate the act of chewing and swallowing and also to supply the stomach with the water that it needs for breaking down foods. Circulation to the salivary glands increases, and the blood vessels become “leaky” in order to supply the glands with more water to manufacture saliva. This leakiness spills to areas beyond the glands themselves, causing increased bulk under the skin of the chin and the cheeks and into the neck.
• Salt may help prevent varicose veins and spider veins on the legs and thighs.
• Sea salt contains about eighty mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts. Unrefined sea salt is a better choice than other types of salt on the market. Ordinary bleached white table salt that is bought in the supermarkets has been stripped of its companion elements and might contain additive elements such as aluminum silicate to keep it powdery and porous. Aluminum is a very toxic element in our nervous system. It has been implicated as one of the primary causes of Alzheimer's disease. Sea salt is not rich in iodine, which needs to be taken as a supplement.
As much as salt is good for the body in asthma, excess potassium is bad for it. Too much orange juice, too many bananas, or any sports drink containing too much potassium might help precipitate an asthma attack, particularly if too much of the drink or too many bananas are taken before exercising. It can cause an exercise-induced asthma attack. To prevent such attacks, some salt intake before exercise will increase the lungs' capacity for air exchange. It will also decrease excess sweating.
It is a good policy to add some salt to orange juice to balance the actions of sodium and potassium in maintaining the required volume of water inside and outside the cells. In some cultures, salt is added to melon and other fruits to accentuate their sweetness. In effect, these fruits contain mostly potassium. By adding
salt to them before eating, a balance between the intake of sodium and potassium results. The same should be done to other juices.
I received a call one day from one of my readers to tell me how he had unwittingly hurt his son. Knowing that orange juice was full of vitamin C, he forced his son to drink several glasses of it every day. The boy developed breathing problems and had a number of asthma attacks until he reached college and moved out of the sphere of influence of his father. His asthma then cleared and his breathing became normal. The father told me he had to call his son and apologize for having given him such a hard time when he was younger. The more the son had rebelled against orange juice, the more the father had insisted he should take it, convinced a large amount was good for him.
As a rough rule of thumb, you need about 3 to 4 grams of salt a day for every ten glasses of water you drink. Three grams is about a half teaspoon. An easier calculation is a quarter teaspoon of salt per quart of water (I know someone who takes more than a tea-spoon of salt every day to control his asthma). You should take salt throughout the day. If you exercise and sweat, you need more salt. In hot climates, when you lose water from the surface of the skin without realizing it, you need to take even more salt. In these climates, salt can make the difference between survival and better health and heat exhaustion and death.
Warning! At the same time, you must not overdo salt. You must observe the ratio of salt and water needs of the body. Always make sure you drink enough water to wash the excess salt out of the body. If your weight suddenly goes up in one day when you have not consumed too much food, you have taken too much salt. Hold back on salt intake for one day and drink plenty of water to increase your urine output and get rid of your swelling. Consult your doctor to determine the correct balance of salt and water for your diet.
If you begin to drink water according to my protocol, you might also benefit from taking a one-a-day vitamin tablet daily, particularly if you do not exercise or eat hearty portions of vegetables and fruits. Meat and fish proteins are good sources of selenium and zinc. If you are under stress, and until it is over, you might consider adding some vitamin B6 and zinc to your diet in addition to what is available in the vitamin tablets.
If you suffer from cold sores (herpes simplex virus on the lips and even in the eyes) or genital herpes, make sure you add zinc and vitamin B6 to your diet. Your viral sores might very well be the result of zinc deficiency and its associated complications.
OTHER ESSENTIALS FOR HEALTH AND HEALING
While water, salt, and minerals are vital for optimal health, the nutrients we receive from the foods we eat are also important, as is the need to stay fit through regular exercise. In this chapter, I will give a brief overview of the other essentials— proteins, fats, fruits, vegetables, sunlight, and exercise—needed for optimal health and healing.
CHAPTER 14; Conclusion. Click here.
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