“Ye are the salt of the earth:”
We can’t grow salt on our farm as it is an accumulation of chemicals from the sea. Unless our farm is close enough to the sea to have very soft water, we will need to buy our salt from somewhere.
Salt's (sodium-chloride) main function in the body is to help the nervous system transmit nerve impulses from nerve cell to nerve cell. It also helps in the production of the hydrochloric acid that is produced in the stomach and dissolves the protein in your food, absorbs some minerals (such as iron), and prevents stomach infections from bacteria and other microorganisms that you take in with your food.
Salt is a known anti-bacterial. Human blood contains 0.9% salt; the same concentration as found in the saline solution commonly used to cleanse wounds. It also maintains the electrolyte balance inside and outside of cells.
Expectant mothers are advised to get enough salt to protect their babies ("Salt to Taste") from electrolyte imbalance and bacteria.
Increased salt intakes have been used successfully to treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the unique microclimate of salt mines is a popular way to treat asthma.
You would, in fact, die if you did not take in enough salt.
Americans do not generally have a problem with too little salt intake, though. Most of our salt comes from foods, some from water, especially if you live near the ocean.
The National Academy of Sciences recommends that Americans consume a minimum of 500 mg/day of sodium to maintain good health. Most Americans consume about 3,500 mg/day of sodium, (seven times the recommended amount); men more than women.
Processed foods are very high in salt (a preservative- remember it kills bacteria) giving the average American way more salt than he needs for maintenance every day (A can of soup for example, has three or more times the RDA of salt). Individual needs, however, vary enormously based on genetic make-up and the way people live their lives. The kidneys generally efficiently process this "excess" sodium in healthy people, especially those who drink plenty of water.
For healthy people, too high of salt intake is not a problem. Some recent studies have even shown that a low salt diet may increase the risk for heart attacks in otherwise healthy people.
When you work hard enough to sweat or stay in a hot climate long enough, you loose a lot of salt through perspiration. You should replace this loss with water in most situations. Since water has salt as well as other minerals, it does a great job of replacing your losses. That is what God designed it for.
If you exercise like a marathon runner, an Olympic athlete, or work in a hot climate in an un-air-conditioned environment, (such as an enclosed warehouse in the south), you may need a little more than water can provide for you. That is when most people turn to sports drinks, but studies have shown that chocolate milk does a much better job of replenishing those lost minerals with fewer calories and excess salt.
Wilderness hikers use salt tablets to combat hyperthermia along with plenty of water. This works great.
For 4,000 years, we have known that salt intakes can affect blood pressure through signals to the blood vessels that maintain blood pressure within a proper range. Some have suggested that since salt intakes are related to blood pressure, and since cardiovascular risks are also related to blood pressure, that salt intake levels are related to cardiovascular risk. This is the "Salt Hypothesis." We know that a minority of the population can lower blood pressure by restricting dietary salt.
Reducing blood pressure can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke in people with chronic high blood pressure.
Blood pressure is a sign. When it goes up (or down) it indicates an underlying health concern.
Changes result from many variables, though, which are often still poorly-understood.
So if you do not have high blood pressure and are not at risk for high blood pressure don’t worry too much about how much salt you eat. If you do have high blood pressure or if it runs high in your family, you are a man, smoke, or are obese (since high blood pressure has no symptoms and you won't know when you get it) you may try limiting your salt intake.
Buy an inexpensive blood-pressure monitor at any drug store or Walmart and see what happens to your blood pressure when you change your diet (make sure you get an extra large cuff if you are fat since too-small a cuff will give you a false high reading) . If you see a positive response to limiting your salt intake, make some permanent changes. It will take about three months for most people's taste buds to adjust to the lower salt levels, but once they do, anything "normal" will taste nasty to you. If you don’t see a difference in your blood pressure, don’t worry about your salt intake.
Salt substitutes vary in their composition, but their main ingredient is always potassium-chloride with a little bit of sodium-chloride for taste. Potassium is a mineral that is found naturally in foods (bananas, orange juice, etc.) and is necessary for many normal functions of the body, especially the beating of the heart. The amounts of potassium-chloride most people get in salt substitutes are actually good for you. I seriously doubt you could possibly take enough to harm you through your salt shaker. However, don't take it intravenously in high doses. That is what a Lethal Injection used by the government in executions is made from. More is NOT better.
Iodine is required as a trace element for most living organisms. In areas where there is little iodine in the diet—typically inland areas where no marine foods are eaten—iodine deficiency gives rise to Goiter.
Iodine deficiency is also the leading cause of preventable mental retardation. This is caused by lack of thyroid hormone in the infant.
Iodine deficiency remains a serious problem that affects people around the globe.
In America, this is now combated by the addition of small amounts of iodine to table salt. This product is known as “Iodized Salt.” Iodine compounds have also been added to other foodstuffs, such as flour.
I know many people with under-active thyroids. This doesn't make sense when you consider that everyone in America gets plenty of iodine in their salt. That is, it didn't make sense until I found out that fluoride (commonly added to city water to prevent cavities), bad diets (white sugar and flour, low vitamins and minerals), many of the chemicals in our foods, pesticides, alcohol, drugs and radiation from x-rays interfere with the absorption of iodine.
If you have low thyroid function, you may consider taking a seaweed or black walnut shell supplement to increase your iodine intake as well as eliminating sugar, alcohol, and other toxins from your diet and environment and adding more fruits and veggies. This just might spur your thyroid on to make more of its own hormones and reduce your reliance on synthetic thyroid medicines.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
Salt is necessary for life. Without it we die. It also makes life more interesting by adding flavor.
Jesus said that we are the Salt of the Earth. Without us, this world dies and has no "flavor." If we loose our "saltiness," (the light of Jesus' love shinning out of us to others), we aren't good for anything but gravel in the road, something for people to walk on.
We must each make sure we have enough Jesus in our day through prayer and Bible reading to keep our "Jesus' Blood” pressure up where it needs to be. Unlike in the physical body, our spiritual body can only have too low "Blood pressure;" Never too high. Take time everyday to add some more of the Salt of God's Word to your life so you can share it with others and keep them from dying of a "heart-ache attack."
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