sea salt

[Guest guest]

Hello again,

My wife and I have started to use sea salt. We live in the northern

great plains in an area that has a history of goiter. Do we need to be

concerned about supplementing our diet with additional iodine? The

table salt we used for years was iodized (Morton's table salt). Thanks.

Dale Miskimins

Elkton, SD

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the post . Bloody awesome. If we take data from people who are

eating a " salt " laden diet of junk food and then extrapolate that to consumption

of salt, what are we actually observing?... -D

Sea Salt

Here is alternate perspective on sea salt

Dr. Brownstein is a family physician and the Medical Director of the

Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloomfield, Michigan. He has

authored six books including Salt Your Way to Health.

by Dr. Brownstein, MD

Dietary Villain or Foundation of Health?

by Dr. Brownstein, MD

Dietary Villain or Foundation of Health?

Low-salt diets have been recommended for many years. It is not too

hard to find an article in a magazine or medical journal recommending

that the readers lower their salt intake. Like dietary fats, salt has

become a convenient boogeyman, responsible for all manner of health

ills. Government agencies, the American Medical Association, and many

dietary groups all recommend a low-salt diet.

Conventional wisdom holds that consuming less salt will lower your

blood pressure and reduce your chances of heart disease or a stroke.

By now, everyone knows that a low-salt diet is healthy, right? Wrong.

But unfortunately, this is another one of those cases where

conventional medical wisdom simply does not add up.

To develop an accurate understanding of the importance of salt in a

healthy diet, we must look beyond what passes for " conventional

wisdom. " A review of the research literature, as well as my own

clinical experiences have convinced me that unrefined salt is vital

to good health.

Hypertension and Salt

Early in my medical career, I accepted the " low salt = lowered blood

pressure " hypothesis unquestionably. My medical training was clear: A

low-salt diet was good and a high-salt diet was bad. In all

hypertensive cases, I was taught to promote a low-salt diet. In fact,

I was taught that in order to prevent people from becoming

hypertensive, it was better to encourage them to adopt a life-long

dietary plan of low-salt. However, my experience with promoting a low-

salt diet to treat hypertension was not successful. Not only did I

find a low-salt diet relatively ineffective at lowering blood

pressure, but I also found a low-salt diet made my patients miserable

due to the poor taste of their low-salt food.

It wasn't until I began to look at my patients in a more holistic

manner that I began to research the medical literature about salt.

What I found was astounding; there is little data to support low-salt

diets being effective at treating hypertension for the vast majority

of people. Also, none of the studies looked at the use of unrefined

sea salt, which contains many valuable vitamins and minerals such as

magnesium and potassium, which are vital to maintaining normal blood

pressure.

The conclusion that salt causes high blood pressure is based

primarily on a couple of studies; neither have conclusively

established a causal link between salt consumption and hypertension.

Although considered a part of medical orthodoxy, the idea that salt

consumption causes high blood pressure is relatively recent, and is,

in fact, based on questionable conclusions drawn from a handful of

studies.

The first report of a relationship between salt and high blood

pressure appeared in 1904. Two researchers, Armbard and Beujard,

asserted that salt deprivation was associated with lowered blood

pressure in hypertensive patients. Over the next 50 years, this

theory was tested in various studies, which usually involved giving

test animals huge amounts (10-20 times greater than normal) of

refined salt, to induce hypertension. As would be expected, when the

animals were no longer overdosed, the blood pressure levels returned

to normal.

Given the high amounts of salt being given to the animals, the

correlation to a human population should have been suspect, but that

did not stop medical researchers from erroneously extrapolating the

results to human salt consumption.

The most popular study cited to prove the " increased salt = elevated

blood pressure " link was the INTERSALT Trial. This study looked at

over 10,000 subjects aged 20-59 from 52 centers in 39 countries. The

authors of the study looked at the relationship between electrolyte

excretion (i.e. sodium in the urine) and blood pressure. A higher

salt intake will result in a larger amount of sodium excreted in the

urine. Although there was a slight relationship between blood

pressure and sodium excretion, a " smoking gun " could not be found.

This study showed only a mild decrease in blood pressure, even when

there was a dramatic decrease in salt excretion.

The results of this study did show that various indigenous groups in

South America and Africa did consume relatively little salt and had

low blood pressure. But these tribes were relatively untouched by

modern life as whole - they generally did not drink or smoke, they

were physically active and their diets consisted primarily of whole,

unprocessed foods. In all likelihood, these factors were more

significant in determining blood pressure levels than relative salt

intake.

Study after study has failed to establish a significant causal

relationship between salt intake and hypertension. In fact, there is

some research that would seem to point to a different conclusion.

Every 10 years, the government conducts the National Health and

Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This comprehensive analysis of

thousands of citizens looks at various markers of health, including

the relationship between inadequate mineral intake and hypertension.

After reviewing the data gathered from several surveys, researchers

concluded " Our analysis confirms once again that inadequate mineral

intake (calcium, potassium and magnesium) is the dietary pattern that

is the best predictor of elevated blood pressure in persons at

increased risk of cardiovascular disease. "

The Center for Disease Control's own data over the last 30 years

clearly shows little relationship between low-salt diets and

hypertension. This data unequivocally shows that ensuring adequate

mineral intake is much more important to maintaining low blood pressure.

Salt & Heart Disease

you can find the entire article here

http://www.celticseasalt.com/Salt_Your_Way_To_Health_W68C2.cfm<http://www.celtic\

seasalt.com/Salt_Your_Way_To_Health_W68C2.cfm>

On May 12, 2009, at 1:07 PM, Battaglia wrote:

>

>

> Real Salt- the brand name that this sea salt is sold under is very

> good for you and I would like to see the research that your osteopath

> is using to render this opinion. Very skeptical.

>

> FB

>

> On May 12, 2009, at 12:15 PM, fjnie1234 wrote:

>

> >

> >

> > Speaking of sea salt, my osteopathic doctor says to stay away from

> > it as it contains too many contaminates.

> >

> > Does anyone have any info on this or at least an opinion? Thanks.

> >

> >

> > > > >

> > > > > >

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Good morning,

> > > > > > I'm new to this, and need some help

> > > > > > I have read about AF Beta food, but on the Standard Process

> > > > website

> > > > > > I only find " Betafood " . Is that the same thing? I'm

> currently

> > > > using

> > > > > > Milk Thistle and Lecithin.

> > > > > > Any other things that could be of benefit?

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Thanks,

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Margo

> > > > > >

> > > > > >