Trojan Wurst II: SALT

salt pyramids

Salt is salt is salt: it's all sodium chloride, some say.  But in my experience (from an energetic point of view), this is not so. Culinary wise, there is also a big difference between gray sea salt, Himalayan (pink) salt and regular processed table (rock) salt and how they each impact the foods we use them in.  Seasoning wise, brand-named table salt and all other white salts require a heavier use then either the gray or pink. What is the scientific explanation regarding the differences in salts and the biologic evidence in our organism's need for salt?

Salt is a trace mineral required for our body's optimal health.The ions in trace minerals function by maintaining the body system at a cellular level. They promote balanced electrolytes, maintain your body in homeostasis, maintain fluids, and replenish your supply of electrolytes when you perspire excessively. These trace minerals perform a number of other important functions: they help regulate body water content, absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract, assisting in the generation of hydroelectric energy in the cells of your body, promoting vascular health, regulating your sleep, and promoting a healthy pH balance in your cells, mainly your brain cells. Along with water, salt is essential for the regulation of your blood pressure.

Table Salt (rock or white)
Salt has gotten a bad rap for several reasons, probably because the salts we mostly consume are chemically treated and processed, have little nutrtional value and burden our body systems (causing edema and cardiac muscle and vessel strain). For example, typical table salt crystals are totally isolated from each other. In order for your body to try to metabolize table salt crystals, it must sacrifice tremendous amounts of energy. Inorganic sodium chloride can keep the body from establishing an ideal fluid balance and can overburden your elimination systems. When your body tries to isolate the excess salt, water molecules must surround the sodium chloride to break them up into sodium and chloride ions in order to help your body neutralize them. To accomplish this, water is taken from your cells in order to neutralize the unnatural sodium chloride. This results in a less-than-ideal fluid balance in the cells. In addition, today's chemically treated/processed table and cooking salt is void of vital trace minerals.

Mined salt, or rock salt, is a poor substitute for the more natural salts available. While natural rock salt comes close to being intact and is more valuable than industrial table salt, from a biophysical as well as bio-chemical perspective, it holds little value. The elements contained in rock salt lack sufficient compression to be included in the crystal web, but are only attached to the surface and in the gaps of the crystalline structure. It is the considerable pressure that brings the elements to a colloidal state - where your cells can readily absorb them. The valuable elements found in rock salt are useless because your body cannot absorb and metabolize them.

Gray (Sea) Salt

Most gray sea salt comes from the Brittany region on the Atlantic coast of France. It is gray because it absorbs minerals from clay that lines the salt ponds. Neither gray sea salt nor Himalayan pink salt goes through the extensive refining process that ordinary table salt does before being sold in U.S. markets. As a result, both types of salt are coarser, more natural and more flavorful than traditional U.S. table salt. Both salts are harvested by hand using traditional methods, rather than by industrial machinery. Grey sea salt is obtained from the evaporation of seawater and used for culinary purposes only.

Many people believe sea salt is a healthy alternative to table salt, but this is no longer the case. The oceans are being used as dumping grounds for harmful toxic poisons like mercury, PCBs and dioxin. Reports of oil spills polluting the sea are becoming more frequent. With some 89% of all the sea salt producers now refining their salt.  Between the over processing and pollutants, today's sea salt simply isn't as healthy as it used to be.

Sea salt's molecular structure isn't conducive for elemental collaboration. If you were to look into a microscope at sea salt, you would see it has irregular and isolated crystalline structures disconnected from the natural elements surrounding them. Thus, however many vital minerals it may contain, they cannot be absorbed by your body unless the body expends tremendous energy to vitalize them. Your body's net gain is small compared to the great loss of energy.

Pink Salt (Himalayan or Crystal)
This salt, harvested in the salt mines in Tibet and what is now Pakistan, is rich in minerals such as calcium, potassium and iron. The high iron content is what gives this salt its pink color. Himalayan Pink Salt is "an exceptionally mineral-rich whole food that is 100 percent natural, unprocessed, unrefined and unpolluted. Because nothing is added - no anti-caking agents, no chemical cleaners or other ingredients.  Whereas Gray sea salt is for seasoning only, Pink salt can be used to great effect in baths.  The harmonious nature of Himalayan sea salt helps support the immune system and is considered heart healthy.

Under an electron microscope, pink salt has a perfect crystalline structure and is immune to electromagnetic fields (hence the popularity of putting "pink salt lamps besides computer stations- they ionize the immediate field you are working in, decreasing the electromagnetic impact you are exposed to). Crystal Salt contains no environmental pollutants. This salt's unique cell structure is energetically vibrational and its minerals and trace elements are so small your cells can easily absorb them. Pink salt's assortment of elements form a compound in which each molecule is inter-connected. This allows the vibration component of the 84 trace elements in the salt to be in sync with each other and can be easily metabolized by your body. When you use this salt it has a vital energetic effect. Your body gets an ample net gain with little energy loss.

Pink salt has spent over 250 million years maturing under extreme tectonic pressure, far away from exposure to impurities. The salt's unique structure also stores vibrational energy. All of the crystal salt's inherent minerals and trace elements are available in colloidal form -- meaning they are so small your cells can readily absorb them.This salt does not burden your body as other salts do for this reason. It is very difficult for your body to absorb too much since there are efficient and effective feedback loops that regulate this process in the body.

Both Gray and Himalayan salts are more costly than rock/white salt.  Possibly, this fact is relative considering their superior health benefits and less amount needed when seasoning. For cardiac patients who have been told to eliminate their salt intake, the fact that pink salt is a heart healthy version that not only supports the immune system but cardiac health, is a welcomed fact.

So, salt isn't just sodium chloride. It's not a negligible food item, but is supposed to contain vital trace minerals and energetic properties (related to its cellular structure), that depending on how it's processed, makes a difference to seasoning and your health.  When considering the type of salt needed, read labels like you read labels for food.  There are other sea salts from Spain and other countries, which are not always readily available in US markets; check how they are processed if you are considering a purchase.  There are some resources below for buying pink Himalayan sea salt in bulk; great for the bath (as well as seasoning) because of it's uniquely balanced cellular structure.  

Most of the above information was gleaned from:
http://products.mercola.com/himalayan-salt
http://www.livestrong.com/article/535896-grey-sea-salt-vs-himalayan-pink-salt/#ixzz2DKsJEAmZ 
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

Himalayan Pink - Bath Salt - 5 lb. Bag (Fine)
Saltworks Himalayan Pink - Gourmet Salt - 5 lbs. (fine), Minerals Salts