Critical Salt Information
Low-Salt Diet Ineffective, Study Finds. Disagreement Abounds.
By Gina Kolata
If for some reason you are skeptical, Search New York Times Salt We Misjudged You.
A new study found that low-salt diets increase the risk of death from heart attacks and strokes and do not prevent high blood pressure, but the research’s limitations mean the debate over the effects of salt in the diet is far from over.
Elena Elisseeva
Health Guide: High Blood Pressure
In fact, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention felt so strongly that the study was flawed that they criticized it in an interview, something they normally do not do.
Dr. Peter Briss, a medical director at the centers, said that the study was small; that its subjects were relatively young, with an average age of 40 at the start; and that with few cardiovascular events, it was hard to draw conclusions. And the study, Dr. Briss and others say, flies in the face of a body of evidence indicating that higher sodium consumption can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
“At the moment, this study might need to be taken with a grain of salt,” he said.
The study is published in the May 4 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. It involved only those without high blood pressure at the start, was observational, considered at best suggestive and not conclusive. It included 3,681 middle-aged Europeans who did not have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease and followed them for an average of 7.9 years.
The researchers assessed the participants’ sodium consumption at the study’s start and at its conclusion by measuring the amount of sodium excreted in urine over a 24-hour period. All the sodium that is consumed is excreted in urine within a day, so this method is the most precise way to determine sodium consumption.
The investigators found that the less salt people ate, the more likely they were to die of heart disease — 50 people in the lowest third of salt consumption (2.5 grams of sodium per day) died during the study as compared with 24 in the medium group (3.9 grams of sodium per day) and 10 in the highest salt consumption group (6.0 grams of sodium per day). And while those eating the most salt had, on average, a slight increase in systolic blood pressure — a 1.71-millimeter increase in pressure for each 2.5-gram increase in sodium per day — they were no more likely to develop hypertension.
“If the goal is to prevent hypertension” with lower sodium consumption, said the lead author, Dr. Jan A. Staessen, a professor of medicine at the University of Leuven, in Belgium, “this study shows it does not work.”
But among the study’s other problems, Dr. Briss said, its subjects who seemed to consume the smallest amount of sodium also provided less urine than those consuming more, an indication that they might not have collected all of their urine in an 24-hour period.
Dr. Frank Sacks of the Harvard School of Public Health agreed and also said the study was flawed.
“It’s a problematic study,” Dr. Sacks said. “We shouldn’t be guiding any kind of public health decisions on it.”
Dr. Michael Alderman, a blood pressure researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and editor of the American Journal of Hypertension, said medical literature on salt and health effects was inconsistent. But, Dr. Alderman said, the new study is not the only one to find adverse effects of low-sodium diets. His own study, with people who had high blood pressure, found that those who ate the least salt were most likely to die.
Dr. Alderman said that he once was an unpaid consultant for the Salt Institute but that he now did no consulting for it or for the food industry and did not receive any support or take any money from industry groups.
Lowering salt consumption, Dr. Alderman said, has consequences beyond blood pressure. It also, for example, increases insulin resistance, which can increase the risk of heart disease.
“Diet is a complicated business,” he said. “There are going to be unintended consequences.”
One problem with the salt debates, Dr. Alderman said, is that all the studies are inadequate. Either they are short-term intervention studies in which people are given huge amounts of salt and then deprived of salt to see effects on blood pressure or they are studies, like this one, that observe populations and ask if those who happen to consume less salt are healthier.
“Observational studies tell you what people will experience if they select a diet,” Dr. Alderman said. “They do not tell you what will happen if you change peoples’ sodium intake.”
What is needed, Dr. Alderman said, is a large study in which people are randomly assigned to follow a low-sodium diet or not and followed for years to see if eating less salt improves health and reduces the death rate from cardiovascular disease.
But that study, others say, will never happen.
“This is one of those really interesting situations,” said Dr. Lawrence Appel, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and international health at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. “You can say, ‘O.K., let’s dismiss the observational studies because they have all these problems.’ ” But, he said, despite the virtues of a randomized controlled clinical trial, such a study “will never ever be done.” It would be impossible to keep people on a low-sodium diet for years with so much sodium added to prepared foods.
Dr. Briss adds that it would not be prudent to defer public health actions while researchers wait for results of a clinical trial that might not even be feasible.
Dr. Alderman disagrees.
“The low-salt advocates suggest that all 300 million Americans be subjected to a low-salt diet. But if they can’t get people on a low-salt diet for a clinical trial, what are they talking about?”
Video Information:Dr. Carolyn Mein shows you how muscle testing can be used to find the appropriate salt for your diet. She indicates her testing points, showing where salt can weaken your energy field. Dr. Mein is dedicated to implementing the safest, most direct approach to long-term health and well-being. She maintains an active practice in Rancho Santa Fe, California. (Click to Watch Video)
Ted's Remedies... This is on earthclinic.com
08/05/2005: Ted from Bangkok, Thailand writes: "I am surprised you are not aware of the amazing sea salt! In Thailand I use Thai sea salt. So any local sea salt would do. But based on the Thai sea salt I used here, it is a very effective antibiotic!
Sea salt is the world's oldest antibiotic known to man. Somewhere along the way, history books have forgotten this great medicine that bacteria and viruses offered absolutely no resistance to it whatsoever. It is the simplest medicine I have ever known. For those people who want an even more powerful medicine, just add one whole lemon juice to sea salt and its antibiotic and antiviral capabilities is extended many times. For me in practice, just sea salt works wonders. No you don't need Himalyan sea salt, or Dead sea salt, for me local Thai sea salt works amazingly well anyway. Of course, I did not get a chance to try other sea salt, but I am certain thai sea salt works better than any antibiotics I am aware of, well at least for common ailments we experience everyday.
Sea salt does not raise blood pressure that much. What raises your blood pressure is usually the common salt you buy from supermarket. Cooked hot dogs with additives raises your blood pressure. Eating salted potato chips raises your blood pressure. Eating sugar PLUS salt raises your blood pressure. In fact I read a research which tested the effect of blood pressure on just sea salt alone - negligible increases. Apparently sodium gets the blame but in fact other additives were responsible for the sodium retention and absorption. For example, salt and monosodium glutamate taken together, and wow my blood pressure went skyrocketing. Eating french fries especially salted one skyrockets too, apparently it might be the cancer causing acrylamide when vegetable oils is heated at high temperatures and interferes with liver function.
Let me tell you briefly how well sea salt has worked. Benjamin Franklin mentioned in his bibliography that when he has a cold, he went to the sea and drank the water. The water was full of salt, so he was cured the next day. Yes, sea salt has antiviral properties.
Not convincing enough? Well some time ago, I KNOW colloidal silver works against urinary tract infections. Of course they are mild and takes weeks or days to cure using colloidal silver. But wow, last month I HAD a terrible urinary tract infection that lasted weeks. It was done on purpose as I was aware of sea salt effect. So I saved the best for the last and through using the process of elimination after trying antibiotics from A-Z, nothing worked, even the well-known erythromycin, ciproflaxin, and related antibiotics. Then I finally tested 2 teaspoons of sea salt and the pain subsided within minutes. Just one dose, seems to have a long term killing effect and it was completely gone without even the slightest pain within 7 days. Coincidence? My sister on 4 August 2005 had a stomach disorder AND urinary tract infection and she was on her second day. Again we tried all the usual antibiotics, and even some thai herbal medicine nothing worked. So I told my sister, if you want to go to work today you take sea salt or you do what mother tells you and go to the hospital, it is getting serious. So she decided to take 2 teaspoon of sea salt. Within 30 minutes the pain subsided greatly. Within 1.5 hours, my sister went to work.
Now colloidal silver has a competitor that works better: sea salt. In practice, synergism is the day. Mixing sea salt and colloidal silver works better too. Many people with lyme disease, lupus, stomach disorders, fibromyalgia, ec. told me their conditions were relieved just by taking sea salt. Of course there are variations, that worked better, such as sea salt + a couple of drops hydrogen peroxide, sea salt + vitamin C and lemon, sea salt plus apple cider vinegar, etc.
I am getting rave reviews and these variations works. Writing this single issue on sea salt could take me days, but the gist of the information, this is enough for you to begin trying them.""
Unconventional Wisdom
by Emma Ross, The Associated Press
Low-Salt Diet a Risk?
London, March 12 - A low-salt diet may not be so healthy after all. Defying a generation of health advice, a controversial new study concludes that the less salt people eat, the higher their risk of untimely death.
The study, led by Dr. Michael Alderman, chairman of epidemiology at Albert Einstein School; of Medicine in New York and president of the American Society of Hypertension, suggests the government should consider suspending it's recommendation that people restrict the amount of salt they eat.
"The lower the sodium, the worse off you are," Alderman said. "There's an association. Is it the cause? I don't know. Any way you slice it, that's not an argument for eating a low sodium diet.
SOME MYTHS ABOUT SALTS
We get too much salt in our foods today.
Too much salt will cause high blood pressure, water retention (swelling), kidney problems, heart problems and the list goes on.
We are told a low-salt or salt-free diet is best for good health.
SALT FACTS
In the middle ages no salt was so dangerous, criminals were often put to death by being put in a cell and given no salt. It caused a slow agonizing death.
2000 years ago salt was used as money. Gold and salt had the same value. The word salary comes from salt.
In the old days, salt was used to preserve foods. Today, we have refrigeration, so less salt is required except for maybe curing meats.
All warm blooded animals must have salt to live.
The human brain and spine is in a sac of salt water called CSF (cerebrospinal fluid). This liquid circulates throughout the brain and spinal cord.
We all spent approx 9 months in our mothers belly floating in salt water (amniotic fluid).
Our tears are salty and we sweat salt.
Our bones are hollow in the center (marrow) where blood cells are made. The marrow is covered with many strands of calcium salts, the way rope is woven together. Salt crystals are woven in with the calcium and these salt crystals are what make our bones hard, not the calcium.
27% of the body’s salt content is located in the bones. When the body requires more salt it can borrow it from the bones. When this happens, calcium is also removed with the salt making the bones thinner, softer and brittle. Sentences are too short and continue on the next line instead of bein extended.
Salt is made up of sodium and chlorine. Together they are called Sodium chloride (Na Cl).
Sodium is a soft positive charged metal where chlorine is a negative charged gas that becomes a liquid when put under pressure.
Chlorine is a gas/liquid but somehow when the earth was formed the chlorine became a solid with the sodium and trace minerals.
You can crush the salt crystals into a powder and the chlorine stays with the sodium. Chlorine as a solid is called chloride.
The salt we use today comes from our oceans, lakes or salt mines. In addition to sodium and chlorine, all the salt on planet earth comes with many trace minerals mixed into it.
So we can assume that these trace minerals are very important or they would not be combined with the salt. Because of the commercial value of these minerals they are removed in order to make big profits.
The human body is able to split the chlorine from the sodium as needed. Our blood requires chlorine as do many of our organs. The stomach uses chlorine to make hydrochloric acid required so we can digest our food correctly.
Our body also uses the sodium chloride as salt to keep the brain, spine, tears, bones, sweat glands, organs and blood topped off with salt. The body benefits from the other trace minerals that help keep the body alkaline and healthy.
Just as drinking too much plain water can kill a person (hyponatremia). The same thing is true with taking too much salt, it can cause swelling, diarrhea, and death.
Table salt is purified by removing the trace minerals and heating the salt to 1200 degree Fahrenheit . Now all you have is 40% sodium and 60% chloride then an anti-caking agent is added so it won’t stick together.
Too much sodium can happen from eating too many food additives containing sodium as a binder (sort of a glue). Sodium is not salt. Salt is sodium chloride.
Sodium bicarbonate, sodium benzoate and MSG (mono sodium glutamate) are just a few of these additives.
Sodium, potassium and chloride are electrolytes (special minerals) that dissolve in water and carry electrical charges anywhere there is water in the body.
These electrically charged minerals can freely move into a cell and back out again carrying nutrients in and removing waste products and excess water as to keep the cell balanced.
At the same time as these electrolytes move in and out of the cells making their exchanges, a delicate balance of potassium inside the cell must be maintained with a special amount of sodium and chloride to hold the potassium in the center of the cell.
Electrolytes are found in all fluids of the body and carry impulses along your nerves. This helps your muscles, like the heart and diaphragm, contract and relax.
Electrolytes carry glucose (blood sugar) into the cell after insulin opens the door or gate for the sugar to be taken in.
Electrolytes also turn “cation pumps” that generate electricity which is stored in the Mg ATP and Mg GTP batteries of the body.
If a person loses too many of these electrolytes from having diarrhea or from taking a water pill (diuretic) they can become very sick and must go to the hospital and receive IVs of saline (salt water), dextrose (sugar water) and minerals.
Many of our beverages today contain caffeine that is a diuretic, acting as a water pill, causing a water shortage in the body. Nothing replaces plain water according to Dr Batmanghelidj.
Scientists and doctors still don’t know how salt dissolves in water or how it can
keep getting saltier and saltier. Scientists and chemists have some theories but can’t prove any of them.
What salt does for you
Salt has many other functions than just regulating the water content of the body.
Here are some of its additional important functions in the body according to Dr. Batmanghelidj in his book, ABC of Asthma, Allergies and Lupus on pages 144-150:
Salt is a powerful natural antihistamine. The next time you get a runny nose or watery eyes from allergies, try drinking a glass of plain water, then put a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and let it dissolve.
Asthma symptoms can be relieved by drinking one or two glasses of plain water, then putting a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and let it dissolve. Try it next time… before using your inhaler.
Salt helps relieve “stress” symptoms.
Salt is important for the removal of acidity from your brain cells.
Kidneys will not work correctly without salt.
Depression and emotional problems are greatly relieved by taking more salt, drinking plain water, eating correctly and walking.
Bladder control problems and unintentional urine leakage could be helped by adding more salt into your diet.
Diabetics can bring down their blood sugar levels and reduce their need for insulin by taking salt.
Irregular heartbeats may be stopped by putting a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and letting it dissolve.
Our digestive system requires salt to properly absorb the food we eat.
Asthma, emphysema and cystic fibrosis suffers can get rid of mucus and phlegm in the lungs by using salt and drinking plain water.
Gout symptoms can be prevented by using salt.
If you get muscle cramps (Charlie horses, etc.), salt may relieve them. Try putting a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and let it dissolve.
Bones get their hardness from salt, not calcium.
Osteoporosis is mainly caused by not taking enough salt and water everyday.
Salt is essential for preventing varicose and spider veins on the legs.
Are you having problems maintaining an erection, you need to eat more salt and drink more plain water.
Salt may help reduce a double chin. The salivary glands in your mouth sense your body is low on salt and produce more saliva. Over time, this increased production of saliva causes the saliva glands to “leak” in the area under your chin. One possible way to get rid of a double chin.
Taking salt and drinking plain water before exercising will help you to breathe better and sweat less.
Because there is potassium in almost everything we eat, salt needs to be added to our food. This will allow our body to maintain the proper balance of water between the inside and outside oceans of water in our cells.
In a study of almost 3,000 men that had high blood pressure, the men on a low-salt diet had a 430% increase in heart attacks when compared to the men who ate a high-salt diet.
Low-salt diets have also been shown to increase total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels and fasting insulin levels.
Question to think about:
It has been over thirty years since we were first told to eat a low salt diet in order to avoid having high blood pressure. Why then, do more citizens have high blood pressure today than they did thirty years ago?
Why do you get High Blood Pressure on a low-salt diet?
Our blood is 94% water Our brain is 85% water Our soft tissue is 75% water
Dr Batman says water, salt and potassium together regulate the water content of the body.
Basically, every cell in our body has an /ocean of fresh water/ inside the cell and an /ocean of salt water/ outside the cell. Good health depends on a most delicate balance of the water between these two oceans.
Salt forces water to stay in the outside /ocean of water/ of the cell (osmotic retention) and potassium holds water in the inside /ocean of water/ of the cell.
When the body is low on water (you are not drinking enough) it will increase the volume of salty water in the outside ocean of the cell.
Through a special mechanism, a hormone (vasopressin) is released that can filter out the salt from the outside ocean and inject some fresh water into the center ocean as needed to maintain the delicate balance.
For this method to work, the capillaries (blood vessels) must constrict by the use of vasopressin. This causes the capillaries to /tighten up,/ giving you high blood pressure, which is necessary in order to filter and inject water from the outside ocean of water into the inside ocean of water.
One cause of high blood pressure is a lack of fresh water for the inside ocean of the cell according to Dr Batman. We call it hypertension.
Dr Batmanghelidj says if a person will walk (exercise), drink more plain water (in the place of coffee, tea, soda) and add just a little more salt (not sodium) to their diet, their blood pressure will normalize again.
How much salt should you take?
Dr Batmanghelidj suggests we use…
1/8 tsp* (3/4 g) *of salt* (unrefined sea salt is best) *for every 16 oz *(half a liter) *of water we drink*… ½ tsp of salt for every half a gallon of water and a full tsp of salt for one gallon of water.
Note: If a person is not going to the bathroom at least three times per day, they should check with their doctor first before drinking more water and using more salt.
Your kidneys must be working properly. This means…the amount of liquid you drink should be almost equal to the amount of urine you are eliminating every day.
At the same time, going to the bathroom too frequently (too many trips) per day will pull very important vitamins, minerals and electrolytes out of your body and can cause more harm than good.
Salt can be very harmful to the human body… /_if the proper amount of plain water is not taken with it_/ to keep the proper balance of electrolytes.
You should be very careful when adding more plain water to your diet. Add it very slowly so that the water will not act as a diuretic causing you to lose your electrolytes and become ill (dehydrated).
The body must adjust to drinking plain water after drinking coffee, tea and soda containing caffeine, because they contain caffeine or other chemicals that cause the body to work in a different mode.
Just like you have to keep filling up the gas tank in a car or it stop’s running, the body works the same way. You must drink water at regular intervals throughout the day because our body does not have a “gas tank” to draw from.
When you drink plain water the body uses what it needs right away and what it doesn’t need goes to the kidneys and out of the body.
If a person has some swelling (edema) that is not from an injury or surgery and wants to get rid of it, Dr B says water can be used as a /natural diuretic/ providing their kidneys and heart are working ok.
When we drink enough water to pass clear urine, we also pass out a lot of the salt that was held in the body.
There are four suggested ways to take the salt.
1. The first way is to just coat the front part of your tongue with the salt, making sure that you taste the salt, and then drink the water over the salt, washing it down.
2. You could also just put the extra salt on your food. The only problem with that is acquiring a taste for very salty food.
3. If you are very salt-sensitive then you would get some empty capsules and put the amount of salt you require into the capsules and take it with food.
4. Mixing salt into the water for drinking is not a very good idea. Only young children and seniors that are having trouble remembering things should mix 1/8 tsp of salt into 16 oz of plain water and drink their water this way until they start remembering things again.
Another medical doctor’s point of view
Dr David Brownstein, in his book “Salt your way to health”, said he was taught in medical school that salt causes high blood pressure and everybody should be on a low-salt diet. While treating his patients, he started to notice the ones who had high blood pressure received very little benefit from a low-salt diet. Most of them were also low on minerals.
In his search for ways to help these patients he came across unrefined salt. By suggesting that his patients should use unrefined salt, which has over 80 trace minerals in it, he noticed something strange start to happen.
His patients with high blood pressure were finding that their blood pressure was actually coming down. To the point they could come off of their medications.
Dr Brownstein, MD has a current medical practice at Center for Holistic Medicine, West Bloomfield, MI 48323 (www.drbrownstein.com). Dr Brownstein’s book, “Salt your way to health” will show you how adding the right kind of salt to your diet can help: adrenal disorders, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, fatigue, headaches, immune system function and thyroid disorders.
Notes:
1 – Alderman, M. Low urinary sodium is associated with greater risk of myocardial infarction among treated hypertensive men. Hypertension. 1995;25:1144-1152
2 – Ruppert, M. et al. Short term dietary sodium restriction increases serum lipids and insulin in Salt-sensitive and salt resistant normotensive adults. Klin Wochenschr. 1991;69:(suppl. XXV):51-57)
3 – Am. J. of Hypertension. 1991;4:410-415
Low-Salt Diet Ineffective, Study Finds. Disagreement Abounds.
By Gina Kolata
If for some reason you are skeptical, Search New York Times Salt We Misjudged You.
A new study found that low-salt diets increase the risk of death from heart attacks and strokes and do not prevent high blood pressure, but the research’s limitations mean the debate over the effects of salt in the diet is far from over.
Elena Elisseeva
Health Guide: High Blood Pressure
In fact, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention felt so strongly that the study was flawed that they criticized it in an interview, something they normally do not do.
Dr. Peter Briss, a medical director at the centers, said that the study was small; that its subjects were relatively young, with an average age of 40 at the start; and that with few cardiovascular events, it was hard to draw conclusions. And the study, Dr. Briss and others say, flies in the face of a body of evidence indicating that higher sodium consumption can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
“At the moment, this study might need to be taken with a grain of salt,” he said.
The study is published in the May 4 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. It involved only those without high blood pressure at the start, was observational, considered at best suggestive and not conclusive. It included 3,681 middle-aged Europeans who did not have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease and followed them for an average of 7.9 years.
The researchers assessed the participants’ sodium consumption at the study’s start and at its conclusion by measuring the amount of sodium excreted in urine over a 24-hour period. All the sodium that is consumed is excreted in urine within a day, so this method is the most precise way to determine sodium consumption.
The investigators found that the less salt people ate, the more likely they were to die of heart disease — 50 people in the lowest third of salt consumption (2.5 grams of sodium per day) died during the study as compared with 24 in the medium group (3.9 grams of sodium per day) and 10 in the highest salt consumption group (6.0 grams of sodium per day). And while those eating the most salt had, on average, a slight increase in systolic blood pressure — a 1.71-millimeter increase in pressure for each 2.5-gram increase in sodium per day — they were no more likely to develop hypertension.
“If the goal is to prevent hypertension” with lower sodium consumption, said the lead author, Dr. Jan A. Staessen, a professor of medicine at the University of Leuven, in Belgium, “this study shows it does not work.”
But among the study’s other problems, Dr. Briss said, its subjects who seemed to consume the smallest amount of sodium also provided less urine than those consuming more, an indication that they might not have collected all of their urine in an 24-hour period.
Dr. Frank Sacks of the Harvard School of Public Health agreed and also said the study was flawed.
“It’s a problematic study,” Dr. Sacks said. “We shouldn’t be guiding any kind of public health decisions on it.”
Dr. Michael Alderman, a blood pressure researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and editor of the American Journal of Hypertension, said medical literature on salt and health effects was inconsistent. But, Dr. Alderman said, the new study is not the only one to find adverse effects of low-sodium diets. His own study, with people who had high blood pressure, found that those who ate the least salt were most likely to die.
Dr. Alderman said that he once was an unpaid consultant for the Salt Institute but that he now did no consulting for it or for the food industry and did not receive any support or take any money from industry groups.
Lowering salt consumption, Dr. Alderman said, has consequences beyond blood pressure. It also, for example, increases insulin resistance, which can increase the risk of heart disease.
“Diet is a complicated business,” he said. “There are going to be unintended consequences.”
One problem with the salt debates, Dr. Alderman said, is that all the studies are inadequate. Either they are short-term intervention studies in which people are given huge amounts of salt and then deprived of salt to see effects on blood pressure or they are studies, like this one, that observe populations and ask if those who happen to consume less salt are healthier.
“Observational studies tell you what people will experience if they select a diet,” Dr. Alderman said. “They do not tell you what will happen if you change peoples’ sodium intake.”
What is needed, Dr. Alderman said, is a large study in which people are randomly assigned to follow a low-sodium diet or not and followed for years to see if eating less salt improves health and reduces the death rate from cardiovascular disease.
But that study, others say, will never happen.
“This is one of those really interesting situations,” said Dr. Lawrence Appel, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and international health at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. “You can say, ‘O.K., let’s dismiss the observational studies because they have all these problems.’ ” But, he said, despite the virtues of a randomized controlled clinical trial, such a study “will never ever be done.” It would be impossible to keep people on a low-sodium diet for years with so much sodium added to prepared foods.
Dr. Briss adds that it would not be prudent to defer public health actions while researchers wait for results of a clinical trial that might not even be feasible.
Dr. Alderman disagrees.
“The low-salt advocates suggest that all 300 million Americans be subjected to a low-salt diet. But if they can’t get people on a low-salt diet for a clinical trial, what are they talking about?”
Video Information:Dr. Carolyn Mein shows you how muscle testing can be used to find the appropriate salt for your diet. She indicates her testing points, showing where salt can weaken your energy field. Dr. Mein is dedicated to implementing the safest, most direct approach to long-term health and well-being. She maintains an active practice in Rancho Santa Fe, California. (Click to Watch Video)
Ted's Remedies... This is on earthclinic.com
08/05/2005: Ted from Bangkok, Thailand writes: "I am surprised you are not aware of the amazing sea salt! In Thailand I use Thai sea salt. So any local sea salt would do. But based on the Thai sea salt I used here, it is a very effective antibiotic!
Sea salt is the world's oldest antibiotic known to man. Somewhere along the way, history books have forgotten this great medicine that bacteria and viruses offered absolutely no resistance to it whatsoever. It is the simplest medicine I have ever known. For those people who want an even more powerful medicine, just add one whole lemon juice to sea salt and its antibiotic and antiviral capabilities is extended many times. For me in practice, just sea salt works wonders. No you don't need Himalyan sea salt, or Dead sea salt, for me local Thai sea salt works amazingly well anyway. Of course, I did not get a chance to try other sea salt, but I am certain thai sea salt works better than any antibiotics I am aware of, well at least for common ailments we experience everyday.
Sea salt does not raise blood pressure that much. What raises your blood pressure is usually the common salt you buy from supermarket. Cooked hot dogs with additives raises your blood pressure. Eating salted potato chips raises your blood pressure. Eating sugar PLUS salt raises your blood pressure. In fact I read a research which tested the effect of blood pressure on just sea salt alone - negligible increases. Apparently sodium gets the blame but in fact other additives were responsible for the sodium retention and absorption. For example, salt and monosodium glutamate taken together, and wow my blood pressure went skyrocketing. Eating french fries especially salted one skyrockets too, apparently it might be the cancer causing acrylamide when vegetable oils is heated at high temperatures and interferes with liver function.
Let me tell you briefly how well sea salt has worked. Benjamin Franklin mentioned in his bibliography that when he has a cold, he went to the sea and drank the water. The water was full of salt, so he was cured the next day. Yes, sea salt has antiviral properties.
Not convincing enough? Well some time ago, I KNOW colloidal silver works against urinary tract infections. Of course they are mild and takes weeks or days to cure using colloidal silver. But wow, last month I HAD a terrible urinary tract infection that lasted weeks. It was done on purpose as I was aware of sea salt effect. So I saved the best for the last and through using the process of elimination after trying antibiotics from A-Z, nothing worked, even the well-known erythromycin, ciproflaxin, and related antibiotics. Then I finally tested 2 teaspoons of sea salt and the pain subsided within minutes. Just one dose, seems to have a long term killing effect and it was completely gone without even the slightest pain within 7 days. Coincidence? My sister on 4 August 2005 had a stomach disorder AND urinary tract infection and she was on her second day. Again we tried all the usual antibiotics, and even some thai herbal medicine nothing worked. So I told my sister, if you want to go to work today you take sea salt or you do what mother tells you and go to the hospital, it is getting serious. So she decided to take 2 teaspoon of sea salt. Within 30 minutes the pain subsided greatly. Within 1.5 hours, my sister went to work.
Now colloidal silver has a competitor that works better: sea salt. In practice, synergism is the day. Mixing sea salt and colloidal silver works better too. Many people with lyme disease, lupus, stomach disorders, fibromyalgia, ec. told me their conditions were relieved just by taking sea salt. Of course there are variations, that worked better, such as sea salt + a couple of drops hydrogen peroxide, sea salt + vitamin C and lemon, sea salt plus apple cider vinegar, etc.
I am getting rave reviews and these variations works. Writing this single issue on sea salt could take me days, but the gist of the information, this is enough for you to begin trying them.""
Unconventional Wisdom
by Emma Ross, The Associated Press
Low-Salt Diet a Risk?
London, March 12 - A low-salt diet may not be so healthy after all. Defying a generation of health advice, a controversial new study concludes that the less salt people eat, the higher their risk of untimely death.
The study, led by Dr. Michael Alderman, chairman of epidemiology at Albert Einstein School; of Medicine in New York and president of the American Society of Hypertension, suggests the government should consider suspending it's recommendation that people restrict the amount of salt they eat.
"The lower the sodium, the worse off you are," Alderman said. "There's an association. Is it the cause? I don't know. Any way you slice it, that's not an argument for eating a low sodium diet.
SOME MYTHS ABOUT SALTS
We get too much salt in our foods today.
Too much salt will cause high blood pressure, water retention (swelling), kidney problems, heart problems and the list goes on.
We are told a low-salt or salt-free diet is best for good health.
SALT FACTS
In the middle ages no salt was so dangerous, criminals were often put to death by being put in a cell and given no salt. It caused a slow agonizing death.
2000 years ago salt was used as money. Gold and salt had the same value. The word salary comes from salt.
In the old days, salt was used to preserve foods. Today, we have refrigeration, so less salt is required except for maybe curing meats.
All warm blooded animals must have salt to live.
The human brain and spine is in a sac of salt water called CSF (cerebrospinal fluid). This liquid circulates throughout the brain and spinal cord.
We all spent approx 9 months in our mothers belly floating in salt water (amniotic fluid).
Our tears are salty and we sweat salt.
Our bones are hollow in the center (marrow) where blood cells are made. The marrow is covered with many strands of calcium salts, the way rope is woven together. Salt crystals are woven in with the calcium and these salt crystals are what make our bones hard, not the calcium.
27% of the body’s salt content is located in the bones. When the body requires more salt it can borrow it from the bones. When this happens, calcium is also removed with the salt making the bones thinner, softer and brittle. Sentences are too short and continue on the next line instead of bein extended.
Salt is made up of sodium and chlorine. Together they are called Sodium chloride (Na Cl).
Sodium is a soft positive charged metal where chlorine is a negative charged gas that becomes a liquid when put under pressure.
Chlorine is a gas/liquid but somehow when the earth was formed the chlorine became a solid with the sodium and trace minerals.
You can crush the salt crystals into a powder and the chlorine stays with the sodium. Chlorine as a solid is called chloride.
The salt we use today comes from our oceans, lakes or salt mines. In addition to sodium and chlorine, all the salt on planet earth comes with many trace minerals mixed into it.
So we can assume that these trace minerals are very important or they would not be combined with the salt. Because of the commercial value of these minerals they are removed in order to make big profits.
The human body is able to split the chlorine from the sodium as needed. Our blood requires chlorine as do many of our organs. The stomach uses chlorine to make hydrochloric acid required so we can digest our food correctly.
Our body also uses the sodium chloride as salt to keep the brain, spine, tears, bones, sweat glands, organs and blood topped off with salt. The body benefits from the other trace minerals that help keep the body alkaline and healthy.
Just as drinking too much plain water can kill a person (hyponatremia). The same thing is true with taking too much salt, it can cause swelling, diarrhea, and death.
Table salt is purified by removing the trace minerals and heating the salt to 1200 degree Fahrenheit . Now all you have is 40% sodium and 60% chloride then an anti-caking agent is added so it won’t stick together.
Too much sodium can happen from eating too many food additives containing sodium as a binder (sort of a glue). Sodium is not salt. Salt is sodium chloride.
Sodium bicarbonate, sodium benzoate and MSG (mono sodium glutamate) are just a few of these additives.
Sodium, potassium and chloride are electrolytes (special minerals) that dissolve in water and carry electrical charges anywhere there is water in the body.
These electrically charged minerals can freely move into a cell and back out again carrying nutrients in and removing waste products and excess water as to keep the cell balanced.
At the same time as these electrolytes move in and out of the cells making their exchanges, a delicate balance of potassium inside the cell must be maintained with a special amount of sodium and chloride to hold the potassium in the center of the cell.
Electrolytes are found in all fluids of the body and carry impulses along your nerves. This helps your muscles, like the heart and diaphragm, contract and relax.
Electrolytes carry glucose (blood sugar) into the cell after insulin opens the door or gate for the sugar to be taken in.
Electrolytes also turn “cation pumps” that generate electricity which is stored in the Mg ATP and Mg GTP batteries of the body.
If a person loses too many of these electrolytes from having diarrhea or from taking a water pill (diuretic) they can become very sick and must go to the hospital and receive IVs of saline (salt water), dextrose (sugar water) and minerals.
Many of our beverages today contain caffeine that is a diuretic, acting as a water pill, causing a water shortage in the body. Nothing replaces plain water according to Dr Batmanghelidj.
Scientists and doctors still don’t know how salt dissolves in water or how it can
keep getting saltier and saltier. Scientists and chemists have some theories but can’t prove any of them.
What salt does for you
Salt has many other functions than just regulating the water content of the body.
Here are some of its additional important functions in the body according to Dr. Batmanghelidj in his book, ABC of Asthma, Allergies and Lupus on pages 144-150:
Salt is a powerful natural antihistamine. The next time you get a runny nose or watery eyes from allergies, try drinking a glass of plain water, then put a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and let it dissolve.
Asthma symptoms can be relieved by drinking one or two glasses of plain water, then putting a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and let it dissolve. Try it next time… before using your inhaler.
Salt helps relieve “stress” symptoms.
Salt is important for the removal of acidity from your brain cells.
Kidneys will not work correctly without salt.
Depression and emotional problems are greatly relieved by taking more salt, drinking plain water, eating correctly and walking.
Bladder control problems and unintentional urine leakage could be helped by adding more salt into your diet.
Diabetics can bring down their blood sugar levels and reduce their need for insulin by taking salt.
Irregular heartbeats may be stopped by putting a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and letting it dissolve.
Our digestive system requires salt to properly absorb the food we eat.
Asthma, emphysema and cystic fibrosis suffers can get rid of mucus and phlegm in the lungs by using salt and drinking plain water.
Gout symptoms can be prevented by using salt.
If you get muscle cramps (Charlie horses, etc.), salt may relieve them. Try putting a pinch of salt on the end of your tongue and let it dissolve.
Bones get their hardness from salt, not calcium.
Osteoporosis is mainly caused by not taking enough salt and water everyday.
Salt is essential for preventing varicose and spider veins on the legs.
Are you having problems maintaining an erection, you need to eat more salt and drink more plain water.
Salt may help reduce a double chin. The salivary glands in your mouth sense your body is low on salt and produce more saliva. Over time, this increased production of saliva causes the saliva glands to “leak” in the area under your chin. One possible way to get rid of a double chin.
Taking salt and drinking plain water before exercising will help you to breathe better and sweat less.
Because there is potassium in almost everything we eat, salt needs to be added to our food. This will allow our body to maintain the proper balance of water between the inside and outside oceans of water in our cells.
In a study of almost 3,000 men that had high blood pressure, the men on a low-salt diet had a 430% increase in heart attacks when compared to the men who ate a high-salt diet.
Low-salt diets have also been shown to increase total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels and fasting insulin levels.
Question to think about:
It has been over thirty years since we were first told to eat a low salt diet in order to avoid having high blood pressure. Why then, do more citizens have high blood pressure today than they did thirty years ago?
Why do you get High Blood Pressure on a low-salt diet?
Our blood is 94% water Our brain is 85% water Our soft tissue is 75% water
Dr Batman says water, salt and potassium together regulate the water content of the body.
Basically, every cell in our body has an /ocean of fresh water/ inside the cell and an /ocean of salt water/ outside the cell. Good health depends on a most delicate balance of the water between these two oceans.
Salt forces water to stay in the outside /ocean of water/ of the cell (osmotic retention) and potassium holds water in the inside /ocean of water/ of the cell.
When the body is low on water (you are not drinking enough) it will increase the volume of salty water in the outside ocean of the cell.
Through a special mechanism, a hormone (vasopressin) is released that can filter out the salt from the outside ocean and inject some fresh water into the center ocean as needed to maintain the delicate balance.
For this method to work, the capillaries (blood vessels) must constrict by the use of vasopressin. This causes the capillaries to /tighten up,/ giving you high blood pressure, which is necessary in order to filter and inject water from the outside ocean of water into the inside ocean of water.
One cause of high blood pressure is a lack of fresh water for the inside ocean of the cell according to Dr Batman. We call it hypertension.
Dr Batmanghelidj says if a person will walk (exercise), drink more plain water (in the place of coffee, tea, soda) and add just a little more salt (not sodium) to their diet, their blood pressure will normalize again.
How much salt should you take?
Dr Batmanghelidj suggests we use…
1/8 tsp* (3/4 g) *of salt* (unrefined sea salt is best) *for every 16 oz *(half a liter) *of water we drink*… ½ tsp of salt for every half a gallon of water and a full tsp of salt for one gallon of water.
Note: If a person is not going to the bathroom at least three times per day, they should check with their doctor first before drinking more water and using more salt.
Your kidneys must be working properly. This means…the amount of liquid you drink should be almost equal to the amount of urine you are eliminating every day.
At the same time, going to the bathroom too frequently (too many trips) per day will pull very important vitamins, minerals and electrolytes out of your body and can cause more harm than good.
Salt can be very harmful to the human body… /_if the proper amount of plain water is not taken with it_/ to keep the proper balance of electrolytes.
You should be very careful when adding more plain water to your diet. Add it very slowly so that the water will not act as a diuretic causing you to lose your electrolytes and become ill (dehydrated).
The body must adjust to drinking plain water after drinking coffee, tea and soda containing caffeine, because they contain caffeine or other chemicals that cause the body to work in a different mode.
Just like you have to keep filling up the gas tank in a car or it stop’s running, the body works the same way. You must drink water at regular intervals throughout the day because our body does not have a “gas tank” to draw from.
When you drink plain water the body uses what it needs right away and what it doesn’t need goes to the kidneys and out of the body.
If a person has some swelling (edema) that is not from an injury or surgery and wants to get rid of it, Dr B says water can be used as a /natural diuretic/ providing their kidneys and heart are working ok.
When we drink enough water to pass clear urine, we also pass out a lot of the salt that was held in the body.
There are four suggested ways to take the salt.
1. The first way is to just coat the front part of your tongue with the salt, making sure that you taste the salt, and then drink the water over the salt, washing it down.
2. You could also just put the extra salt on your food. The only problem with that is acquiring a taste for very salty food.
3. If you are very salt-sensitive then you would get some empty capsules and put the amount of salt you require into the capsules and take it with food.
4. Mixing salt into the water for drinking is not a very good idea. Only young children and seniors that are having trouble remembering things should mix 1/8 tsp of salt into 16 oz of plain water and drink their water this way until they start remembering things again.
Another medical doctor’s point of view
Dr David Brownstein, in his book “Salt your way to health”, said he was taught in medical school that salt causes high blood pressure and everybody should be on a low-salt diet. While treating his patients, he started to notice the ones who had high blood pressure received very little benefit from a low-salt diet. Most of them were also low on minerals.
In his search for ways to help these patients he came across unrefined salt. By suggesting that his patients should use unrefined salt, which has over 80 trace minerals in it, he noticed something strange start to happen.
His patients with high blood pressure were finding that their blood pressure was actually coming down. To the point they could come off of their medications.
Dr Brownstein, MD has a current medical practice at Center for Holistic Medicine, West Bloomfield, MI 48323 (www.drbrownstein.com). Dr Brownstein’s book, “Salt your way to health” will show you how adding the right kind of salt to your diet can help: adrenal disorders, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, fatigue, headaches, immune system function and thyroid disorders.
Notes:
1 – Alderman, M. Low urinary sodium is associated with greater risk of myocardial infarction among treated hypertensive men. Hypertension. 1995;25:1144-1152
2 – Ruppert, M. et al. Short term dietary sodium restriction increases serum lipids and insulin in Salt-sensitive and salt resistant normotensive adults. Klin Wochenschr. 1991;69:(suppl. XXV):51-57)
3 – Am. J. of Hypertension. 1991;4:410-415
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