On Tue, 5 Feb 2002 12:56:52 -0400, matesz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Amadeus,eating salt (sodium chloride) will not decrease acidity.  Salt
>increases acid load by virtue of its chloride component, which is the
larger
>component(50% larger) by weight.
>
>The natural,  better way to reduce acidity is simply to eat large amounts
>of
>vegetables and fruits, which supply abundant essential alkaline potassium
>and bicarbonate.

To the latter I 100% agree.
The natural food must provide a natural acid balance.
It must be a long term sustainable regime.

For the first, I didn't assume that salt would decrease acidity.
But the Ca leaving the body because of the salt excretion.
That would be a power switch to dissolve bone to gain basic matter.

Now you have argued that the net pH gain would be zero because
the counterpart of Ca, Phosphor is as well taken out by the Na.
So far I would not longer suspect a connection.

I'm trying to find connections between cravings/longings/eating habits
and nutritional facts.
For example there you can notify appetite for apples in the case you are
low in vitamin C - provided your body has a good *experience* with apples.

Such connections might drive you in the wildest abnormalities, if not
understood well.
The worst of all is the appetite for "something sweet" (sugar) when the
energy level is low. Because the body generates sweet demand and doesn't
take into account that in the long term sugar without thiamin (plus more)
will result in a deficit (of energy).

The sensual capabilities of the body are limited.

In this way I'd suspect a lust for salt if it could *cause* lower acidity
by calcium loss.

Ok here's annother suggestion which looks more probable to me now.
Let's assume metal-ions were low. Easily possible for Mg, K
(Potassium) ,Zn, Cu. Secondly metal *detection* for the body is similar.
So, the attempt to get the missing Mg may result in a tendency toward
more salty food.
This even makes sense (evolutionary) as natural "salt" is always a complex
formed of a lot of different salts, not only NaCl, but MgCl and many more.

Excessive appetite for salt may display a defficiency in Magnesium or
potassium.

That's hypothesis of course.

Amadeus S.

btw: What confused me in you argumentation was:
I understand, that the plus or minus load of an ion like Na+ Cl-
isn't the same as the pH, which is defined by the presence of H+ (protons)
in the solution.