NaCl — Sodium Chloride: a white, crystalline substance with a characteristic taste.

• That which purifies, preserves, or corrects
• That which gives a tang or piquancy to anything
• Sharp, pungent humor or wit
• A veteran sailor; as, an old salt
• Taste; relish; smack
• To give artificial value to; specifically a) to alter books, prices etc b) to scatter minerals or ores in a mine to deceive perspective buyers etc.
• To give salt water to drink: a way of initiating formerly existing in English universities
• Covenant of salt: a covenant or compact entered into at a sacrificial ceremony in which salt was used as a necessary element
• Not worth one’s salt; not worth one’s wages, sustenance etc.
• Salt of the earth; any person or persons regarded as the finest noblest, etc
• Salt of Venus; in old chemistry, copper sulfate
• With a grain of salt (Latinized cum grano salis) with allowance or reserve; skeptically.

Salvation, Salzburg, Salaam, Salary, Salad, Salami, Sale, Salute, Salvage, Salve.

-Webster’s Dictionary Unabridged Edition

This last year salt seems to have kept popping up trying to grab my attention and finally it has. Now that I have sat down and done the research it is astonishing to me that it has taken this long for me to actually pay attention to this ingredient that I carelessly sprinkle into every dish, every day. Being a chef I have used Maldon salt, Celtic sea salt, smoked salt, kosher salt, rock salt, black salt, Hawaiian red salt, common, iodized salt and most recently Himalayan crystal salt. Perhaps more than an average amount of salt has passed through my hands and yet I have still not given it a second thought. It becomes even more surprising that salt has remained in my sub-consciousness, given my passion for researching into health and nutrition.

These days any discussion of salt will probably not get very far without the issue of hypertension springing up. It is a popular conception that low salt diets are useful in lowering blood-pressure given that there is a very strong relationship between sodium and cell osmosis — maintaining the proper fluid balance within and without of our cells’ membranes. As a result I have been astonished with the amount of people I have met, young and old, who are on low-salt diets. Interestingly, information I have found from research papers of long term studies from a variety of countries have come to the conclusion that there is no benefit in terms of cardio-health from consuming a low sodium diet.

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As we have all learned from having been subject to over thirty years or so of social and scientific experimentation with drug and health fads — there is much more to know about health and nutrition than we really understand. Our scientists keep finding out new things which then seem to contradict what they previously discovered. One year the most healthy thing to eat might be canola oil and the next year butter. We are constantly finding new levels of organization in the interactions of organisms. It has been a confusing few decades and most of us are fed up with the whole thing and annoyed to say the least.

I like the idea that we trust the Earth and the way she packages her products. They don’t need be refined. She knows exactly what she is doing. If we need sweet foods, which we do, stick to raw honey, maple syrup, unrefined palm sugar or something like that.

How many people do you know who have really lost tons of weight switching to sugar-free soda? This is not a good solution to weight issues. Your body is not satiated if it is not receiving the nutrients it needs and eating no-calorie foods will not help.

It is also interesting how much money is involved in this sweetly sugar-free industry. Perhaps if we can get these big businesses fighting amongst themselves over our money we might actually be able to hit them where it counts.

According to market research firm IRI, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, Splenda sold $212 million in 2006 in the US while Equal sold $48.7 million.

wikipedia

We sure are shelling out a lot of money to be poisoned, and our tax-supported organizations who are meant to keep this from happening are in bed with these big-money groups.

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