On this topic, I want to address the following issues raised by Peter
Wendell and others:

1.  Chlorine and Chloride:  The chloride in salt (sodium chloride) is as
surely chlorine as the sodium in salt is sodium.  Chloride, Cl-,  is the
chlorine ion, just as Na+ (sodium ion) is sodium.  The chloride term is just
a short hand way of referring to the fact that the chlorine is in a binary
compound, and it is just a terminology convention, not indicative of a
change in the nature of the element. Since Webster's doesn't satisfy you,
how about the National Academy of Sciences RDA Handbook Ninth Edition, which
states "The body contains approximately 0.15 percent chlorine, present
almost exclusively as chloride."  p.174.

2.  Chloride is an acid by the traditional definition in inorganic
chemistry, which is def.= "any of a large class of subtances whose aqueous
solutions are capable of reacting with bases or alkalis to form salts."

As well, sodium is an alkali metal, as alkali is defined:  "any of a group
of highly reactive metallic elements, including lithium, sodium, potassium,
rubidium, cesium, and francium."

This is the way Sporek uses the terms and it is completely correct.

Chloride is one of the strongest mineral acids along with nitrate, sulfate,
bromate, etc.   In solution, i.e. in water, i.e. in our bodies, chloride
froms hydrochloric acid.  This is a poison to life.

3.  Wendell noted how weak the bonds of sodium chloride are, allowing
dissociation in water.  That reaction is:

Na.Cl + H.OH  =>   Na.OH  +  H.Cl

Thus salt in water forms sodium hydroxide (lye) and hydrochloric acid.
Neither of these is beneficial to life.

4.  I quoted Sporek as follows:

>In inorganic chemistry most chemical compounds (molecules) consist of
>combinations of acids and alkalies resulting in the formation of salts.
>Thus sodium chloride is the result of a combination of hydrochloric acid
>(acidic) and sodium hydroxide (alkaline).  The same molecule of sodium
>chloride can be obtained by the direct reaction of chlorine gas on sodium
>metal.  The latter reaction also results in the formation of a large amount
>of heat and can lead to fire or explostion.

And Wendel responded:

"I'm sorry, but this is simply incorrect. The vast majority of chemical
compounds are made up of covalently bound atoms, e.g water, celluolose, all
proteins, sugars and fatty acids (except for the hydrogen ion which is
ionically bonded), DNA, RNA, ATP, chlorophyl, diamonds, chlorine gas,
hydrogen gas, etc."


Apparently Wendell did not notice the second word in the quote, which is
"inorganic".  Sporek is talking about inorganic chemistry.  Cellulose,
proteins, sugars, fatty acids, DNA, RNA, ATP, chlorophyl, and diamond are
all organic compounds, so are not counterexamples to his statement (i.e that
most inorganic compounds are combinations of acids and alkalis).

Also, no where in the quoted passage, nor in his book, does Sporek "claim
that sodium chloride is a molecule" in the technical sense used by Wendell.
It is obvious in the above that he is simply using it as an alternative to
"compound."  Remember he is writing for the public, most of whom use the
term molecule in this sense, not the technical sense noted by Wendell.
Further, this hair-splitting attack does not in any way affect or contradict
Sporek's complete analysis of sodium chloride, because he does not assert
that sodium chloride is dangerous because it is a molecule.  He asserts that
it is dangerous because it is composed of sodium and chloride, both of which
are proven hazardous substances, esp. chloride.

5.  Whether chlorine is covalently bonded or ionic, it is highly reactive
and has the same basic elemental characteristics.  It is the high reactivity
of the chloride ion in solution that enables salt to corrode concrete and
metals, and enables hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid) to corrode and
kill.  Covalent bonds are not the villains; as Wendell noted, these are the
bonds that are present in substances essential to life (proteins, fats, DNA,
etc.) and the mitochondria are devoted to breaking covalent bonds to release
energy (Krebs cycle).    PCBs are dangerous, not because of their covalent
bonds, but because they contain chlorine.

5.  Chloride is not found in any organic compound of biological origin
(proteins, fats, DNA, cellulose, sugar, etc..)  The presence of chlorine in
the body is entirely due to its accidental presence in food, as with other
elements like lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.  Whether and exactly how much, if
any, chloride is essential or minimally required, has yet to be determined.
All current figures are based on customary intake.  However, it is clear
that added sodium chloride is not essential as there are many HGs who do not
add salt to their food and yet maintain health and reproduction.

6.  Without exception, all chlorine (or chloride) containing compounds are
toxic to life.  Chlorine is an established carcinogen.

Sodium chloride kills single cell microbes--that is why it is used as a food
preservative.  It is as efficient at killing any other single cell
(including those in our bodies).

Sodium chloride kills plants.  Top soils contain practically no salt
(fortunately).   If soils become saline, they are unable to support plant
life.  Soils flooded with sea water must be leached for 7 years with rain
water (distilled water) before becoming suitable for plant life.

All sea animals reject salt and chloride as far as possible.  A 100 gram
portion of ocean fish contains approximately 70 mg of chlorine (as
chloride).  In contrast, one teaspoon of salt contains 3000 mg of
chloride--over 40 times as much as in the fish.  As Sporek notes, the dose
makes the poison.

Salt water will also kill humans quickly in certain circumstances.  Perhaps
you remember that if you are stranded on the ocean with no fresh water, you
are not to drink the ocean water, as it will kill you faster than if you
abstain.    There are known cases of salt poisoning where babies were killed
when salt was accidentally put in baby formulas instead of lactose.

The body treats salt as a poison--it strives to dilute and remove ingested
sodium and chloride by increasing thirst and urination.  No such reaction
occurs when one consumes a natural food.

7.  Someone from the ER4YT list is unaware that there has been a very large
international study of sodium and health, the INTERSALT study, which among
other things found that wherever salt is used in food, blood pressure rises
with age, and wherever salt is not used (hunter-gatherers) blood pressure
does not rise with age.  In addition, it was found that among non-users of
salt (e.g Yanomamo, Papua New Guinea) blood pressures are like 100/60,
whereas among users, blood pressure is averaging 120/80.    This 20 to 30%
increased pressure translates to much greater lifetime stress on the
cardovascular tissues.

8.  The ER4YT guy also seems to think that attacks on salt are headed by the
medical profession and food industry.  Yet he quotes some medical guru as
saying that salt is harmless or even beneficial.   I've not seen any
concerted attack on salt by physicians; many erroneously believe that salt
is essential to nutrition.   How he figures that the food industry is
interested in attacking salt, I don't know--salt is critical to processed
food products as a preservative and a flavoring (since processing removes
natural flavors).

9.  The ER4YT guy also suggests that Americans have been on a low or no salt
diet for 25 years, unlike the Swiss and Japanese.  This simply is not true.
Americans currently eat 10 to 12 grams of salt daily, comparable to many
districts in Japan.  In Japan, efforts have been made to reduce salt intake
with the happy result of falling rates of stroke.  His error is like that of
those who claim that Americans have been on low fat diets (false) for years.

BTW, in the ER4YT book, D'Adamo makes many errors, including asserting that
sea salt is "low" in sodium compared to non-sea salt.  In fact, all sodium
chloride has the same concentration of sodium, regardless of sea or land
source.

That is enough for now.  There is no point in me adding any more as the
story is better told by Sporek with much more detail.  If you aren't willing
to read it, then you won't get the full picture because I don't have time to
give it to you.  Cordain's book also gives a number of references showing
the dangers of salt, especially chloride.   I cited one in my last post.

Don