Your whole food, plant-based life.

Let’s Talk Salt

We can not live without salt. It is essential to many of our bodies functions. Did you know that along with water, the right kind of salt can actually help regulate your blood pressure? It helps promote a healthy ph balance in your cells and promotes bone strength. Salt has many other health benefits. But...all salt is not the same!

Your normal table salt (traditional iodized salt) is not the salt I am talking about. It has been cleaned with chemicals, heated at high temperatures and rendered into something that your body sees as a foreign substance. The big problem is that processed foods are loaded with this toxic salt. Your body doesn’t like this “industrial” salt. It can create a fluid imbalance that contributes to high blood pressure and other issues. The topper is that toxic chemicals such as aluminum hydroxide are used as preservatives in common table salt.

What salt is the best? I now only use Himalayan Salt in my raw food recipes. First, it is said to be the purest salt on earth. Second, the flavor is amazing. Nothing else comes close. And a tiny bit is all you need to add that special little touch.

Himalayan Salt contains 84 trace minerals. Mined at the foothills of the Himalayas, it comes from deep inside the earth from the largest salt range in the earth. Dating back to the Precambrian age, these salts are said to be pure and free from the polluting agents that are found in most of today’s environments. They are still mined by hand.

In raw food recipes, Himalayan salt can bring out flavor, balance flavors and add a greatly desired dimension to food. Using Himalayan salt can actually add health benefits, too. That said…a tiny bit is all you need. When I say a pinch of salt in the recipes here, I really mean a very small pinch. Literally about 1/16th of a teaspoon.

There are many topical uses for Himalayan salt, too. Rashes, bug bites, mouth rinses, nasal rinses…do a quick search on google and you will find some great tips.

Note: If you are on a salt-restricted diet for health reasons, I would consult with your doctor before adding any salt to your diet.

Share Via
Share on Pinterest
Share with your friends










Submit

28 Comments

  1. Brian wrote on September 8, 2014

    I am on a raw food diet and find that a bit of celtic salt on my salad adds the flavor needed to not make my food taste monotimous.

    Reply
  2. Anne wrote on October 21, 2012

    Just a note about the captcha codes–if you put in spaces that appear there, it will be rejected. It’s also tricky about whether or not it is a capital letter or lower case. I had to type mine four times before it was accepted.

    Reply
  3. Anne wrote on October 21, 2012

    I trust your (Susan’s) thoroughness but still do my own research. You are one of my trusted sources. Dr. Mercola is radical but he’s right on in most cases. As far as agave is concerned, it has recently been known as the equivalent of HFCS. If you know how it is processed, you will agree it’s far from natural. They don’t just stick a tap into the cactus. In fact, in its natural state, it’s inedible. You give us alternatives in your recipes. I like honey or maple syrup. Both are processed to some degree. Lately, we’ve been buying raw organic honey. The only inconvenience is that you have to dig it out with a spoon; it doesn’t slow pour at all. We are far too addicted to sugar and could do with much less in recipes. There is a list somewhere on the internet that lists which are natural sugars and which are not.

    Salt is controversial. I know that we need it for healthy fluid balance but not the industrial salt. We don’t cook with it but add a “pinch” afterwards in soups and stews, bean salads, etc. Sometimes we just flavor with herbs and spices. I read an article about fluid loss and dehydration. Sodium is one of the essential minerals that must be replaced or you could die. There’s more to be said. That’s all from me for now.

    Reply
  4. Angie wrote on August 13, 2010

    Hello Susan !
    First of all, thanks for the superb article. I am a salt fan myself 😉 (in tiny amounts though)
    But as much as I love Himalayan salt, I now prefer fleur de sel, Guérande salt and other “regional” alternatives…
    Did you know that the mining going on in the Himalayas is robbing quite a lot of salt and producing a lot of pollution and destruction along the way ? It has to come all the way to our countries and so, a lot of CO2 is produced in the process.
    Himalaya salt is not only famous for its purity in cooking, but also it is widely used to make “crystals” and lamps, as it gives off ions that are known to purify the atmosphere when the salt is slightly heated up. So, the drilling, mining etc etc, is very big around that salt, as there is a huge demand, ever growing as a matter of fact.
    The question I would like to raise here, is, can we afford, because something is labelled as “pure” and “healthy”, to overwork our resources ? Is this truly sustainable in the long run ?

    Reply
  5. Sharyn Cook wrote on July 26, 2010

    I am a big fan of the Himalayan Salt. I have been selling it for 5 years now after finding it as the solution I was looking for, for my clients. Specificially fibro myalgia sufferers. Taking the brine solution (sole) helps to fuel the electrolyte system and replenish mineral deficiencies in the cell.

    Reply
  6. Joyce Cherrier wrote on July 26, 2010

    Great post Susan. I have to admit that although I buy Hain’s sea salt, I didn’t know about Himalayan salt and why I should be using it. I also enjoyed the other comments and all the info. I really learned a lot about salt! 🙂

    Reply
  7. nakedjen wrote on July 25, 2010

    This is a truly fascinating conversation. I have actually been the victim of “too much water” and also suffered from “not enough salt” (although in the latter case I believe it was a real imbalance of essential minerals).

    Yesterday, my niece was at my house for dinner. She asked for salt. I handed her a mason jar from my cupboard that contained “salt” that I harvested from the Great Salt Lake myself. It is clearly not white and is quite chunky. I told her that just a tiny smidge of pinch was necessary.

    Because I am her “crazy hippie aunt” she just grinned and agreed to try it.

    I’ve used the Himalayan Salt for years, but now that I live here, in Salt Lake, have decided to go “local” and harvest from that resource instead. So far, so good.

    Reply
  8. Elizabeth wrote on July 25, 2010

    I am sad to say I have yet to buy the Himalayan salt. I use sea salt.
    Peace and Health,
    E

    Reply

Post a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.