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
researchs 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
studys 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 studys 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.
Its a problematic study, Dr. Sacks said. We shouldnt 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., lets 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 cant get people on a low-salt diet for a clinical
trial, what are they talking about?
Muscle Testing for Dietary Salt - Carolyn Mein - NaturalNews.tv
Google: People and pets cured with sea salt and water. (See how many get
well for pennies.)
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.
SALT MYTHS
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 bodys 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^o F. Now all you have is 40% sodium and 60% chloride then an anticaking agent is added so it wont 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 Batman.
Scientists and doctors still dont know how salt dissolves in water or how it
can
keep getting saltier and saltier. Scientists and chemists have some theories
but cant 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.
Batman 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 Americans
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 Batman 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 Batman 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* 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 meansthe 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 stops 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 doesnt 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 doctors 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 lowsalt 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
Brownsteins 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