Wally Ballou posted this:
>>I just can't accept this. Salt is one of the basic "flavors" that we can
taste, and while the natural desire for saltiness may not be as strong
and compelling as our natural desire for "sweet," it seems completely
bizarre to consider it dangerous or foreign to the human diet.
My reply:
The authors of THE SALT SOLUTION, say this, in their section entitled, *The
Paleolithic Hypothesis*: "Hunger gatherers had few sources of sodium, which
is needed in small amounts by the body. Thus, they most likely developed an
adaptive taste for salt--or more accurately, the sodium ion---and chose
foods high in sodium" NOTE: "foods high in sodium" on a primitive diet are
very different from foods with added salt in our modern diets.
The authors add, "Today, however... it's dangerous to crave salt in a socity
whre it's cheap, readily available, and added with little restraint....In
short, if our Paleolithic hypothesis is correct, our ancestors' logical
desire for sweet, slaty, or calorie-loaded foods nw leads us to make
completely illogical and unhelathful food choices.... Clearnly, taste alone
is a very poor criterion for choosing the foods we eat. To 'eat smart,' we
need to select foods in accordance with sound nutritional concepts,and rely
more on our brains than our taste buds!"
Salt is comprised of sodium and chloride. The bodies sodium needs can be
met from whole foods alone---eggs, fish, fowl, fruits, nuts, vegetables. The
WHO set no lower limit on salt. Their nutrition committee found no evidence
for any particular amount of sodium. The Canadian government set 150 mg/day
as a recommended minimum sodium intake. It is not difficult to ingest 500
to 1000 mg of sodium per day from whole foods, with no added salt, even for
a 120 pound woman, whose calorie needs are not "high."
Chloride is particularly damaging. (page 73) "...no natural substance of
biological origin contains chlorine: vitamins, enzymes, lipids, fats,
proteins, hormones, sugars, cellulose, alkaloids like morphene, cocain,
codeine, caffeine, and others. Not a single substance of the abve contains
a chlorine atom. Neither do bones or teeth."
Salt (sodium chloride) is a highly corrosive substance. If you live in a
snowy region you konw about how it damages car bodies and road surfaces.
"All organo-chlorine compounds contain the same chlorine atoms as sodium
chloride. Inside our bodies the chlorine atom that splits from the
organo-chlorien carcinogens is the same as the chlorine atom that splits
from ingested salt. Just as organo-chlorine compounds form hydrochloric
acid so does salt: exactly the same acids. As a matter of fact it [salt]
is t he souce of hydrochloric acid and chlorien in the chemical industry.
It's vaule as a commodity is mainly due to it's chlorine conents and not its
sodium. When any form of chlorine containing substance enters the living
body there is no difference as to whether it is organic or inorganic. Each
will produce the same irritating hydrochloric acid and each will lead to the
same health problems." (page 74)
From SALT AND THE SEVEN DEADLY ILLS, page 76:
"Recognizing how little of both sodium and chlorine there is in natural
foods, the proper recommendation should be no deliberate addtion of salt to
any food. Use of salt in foods should be considered as a true drug
addiction, similar in many respects to cocaine, in that is is primarily
pyschological rather than physical. In withdrawl from salt use there are no
physical withdrawl symptoms. However the individual misses for some time
the salty taste in foods which now appear bland an unappetizing. This of
course indirectly causes reduction in food intake and eventually loss of
weight, which in most cases is also a very welcome result."
I don't have time to explain everything, but I urge those who use salt and
those who think it harmless or necessary, read Sporek's book. It goes about
explaining the known physical characteristics of sodium, chloride, and other
compounds, in a very logical and methodical way.
Fascinating reading,
Rachel
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