We are all told not to eat salt, because it has a direct effect on your blood pressure. It causes you to store water, causing you to put strain on your kidneys. It is also linked to dementia, heart attacks and stroke.

But the truth of the matter is, salt in its true form is VERY good for you. NOT the unnatural form of salt that we know as table salt, or the one we find in most processed foods.

But REAL natural sea or Himalayan salt is essential for all of our cellular functions. Not whitened sea salt, or anything which is refined or bleached, which is what we generally find in the supermarket.

Real unrefined high mineral salt is pinkish or greyish in colour and the sea salt variety is very moist, not dry and smooth flowing as the normal salt we use. Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan salt is full of important minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium, sulphur, iron, zinc, copper etc. It’s a natural source of 21 essential minerals and many more elements. This makes natural mineral salt much better for you than regular “table” salt. We need salt (real salt) to make hydrochloric acid, which helps you digest proteins.

Linus Pauling, Ph.D. (Two time Nobel Prize Winner) once said: “You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency”

Your body can not make minerals therefore it’s important to get your mineral needs met in some other way. We need to be taking minerals in a form that our body can use or assimilate. Unfortunately taking minerals in a vitamin tablet, according to the research, is quite useless. Our body not only has to produce excessive amounts of acid to break down the pill, the minerals cannot be absorbed into the body unless they are in a liquid form. Using natural salt is just one tool to help you meet this need. Natural salt also raises your body’s pH making the body more alkaline, but this is another blog.

The known benefits and use of natural salt have been around for thousands of years and many cultures of the past have viewed it as a very precious commodity…as precious and as valuable as money itself. The Himalayans still to this day mine the salt by hand in the Himalayan mountains, which they used to transport for miles to trade for other goods. Salt was used for preserving foods before refrigeration.

Here are some of the more vital functions of salt in the body taken from Dr. Batmanghelidj’s book, “Water: Rx for a Healthier Pain-Free Life”.

1. Salt is most effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and, contrary to the misconception that it causes high blood pressure, it is actually essential for the regulation of blood pressure – in conjunction with water. Naturally the proportions are critical.

2. Salt is vital to the extraction of excess acidity from the cells in the body, particularly the brain cells.

3. Salt is vital for balancing the sugar levels in the blood; a needed element in diabetics.

4. Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy need by the cells.

5. Salt is vital to the nerve cells’ communication and information processing all the time that the brain cells work, from the moment of conception to death.

6. Salt is vital for absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract.

7. Salt is vital for the clearance of the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma and cystic fibrosis.

8. Salt is vital for clearing up catarrh and congestion of the sinuses.

9. Salt is a strong natural antihistamine.

10. Salt is essential for the prevention of muscle cramps.

11. Salt is vital to prevent excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates salt shortage.

12. Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm. Osteoporosis, in a major way, is a result of salt and water shortage in the body.

13. Salt is vital for sleep regulation. It is a natural hypnotic.

14. Salt is a vitally needed element in the treatment of diabetics.

15. Salt on the tongue will stop persistent dry coughs.

16. Salt is vital for the prevention of gout and gouty arthritis.

17. Salt is vital for maintaining sexuality and libido.

18. Salt is vital for preventing varicose veins and spider veins on the legs and thighs.

19. Salt is vital to the communication and information processing nerve cells the entire time that the brain cells work – from the moment of conception to death.

20. Salt is vital for reducing a double chin. When the body is short of salt, it means the body really is short of water. The salivary glands sense the salt shortage and are obliged to produce more saliva to lubricate the act of chewing and swallowing and also to supply the stomach with water that it needs for breaking down foods. Circulation to the salivary glands increases and the blood vessels become “leaky” in order to supply the glands with water to manufacture saliva. The “leakiness” spills beyond the area of the glands themselves, causing increased bulk under the skin of the chin, the cheeks and into the neck.

21. Sea salt contains about 80 mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts. Unrefined sea salt is a better choice of salt than other types of salt on the market. Ordinary table salt that is bought in the super markets has been stripped of its companion elements and contains additive elements such as aluminium silicate to keep it powdery and porous. Aluminium is a very toxic element in our nervous system. It is implicated as one of the primary causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

22. Twenty-seven percent of the body’s salt is in the bones. Osteoporosis results when the body needs more salt and takes it from the body. Bones are twenty-two percent water. Is it not obvious what happens to the bones when we’re deficient in salt or water or both.

So bring on yummy salt – I personally love the taste of Himalayan Natural Pink Rock salt, tastiest when ground in a grinder – yum!