CZ´s article on salt´s benefits. The truth about ANY salts!!

I will start with the most blatant error and also the contradiction in the author's statement.  First the author claims:

"The sodium and chloride in table salt are physically bonded in such a way that our digestive system and our liver cannot break them down. Thus our bodies cannot access the sodium or the chlorine. "

Then the author claims:

"The chloride in salt has an affinity for hydrogen ions, making corrosive, carcinogenic hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is used in the stomach but, when HCL is made outside of the digestive system it can eat away at everything it touches. Salt will tie to hydrogen ion out side of the stomach."

Do you see the contradiction?  In order for the chloride ion to bind with hydrogen to form hydrochloric acid the sodium chloride salt must first be broken down separating the sodium and the chloride.  But the author's first statement clearly states that sodium chloride is not broken down in the body.  So he is making opposite statements of fact.

I also find it interesting that he says chloride has a high affinity for hydrogen producing the hydrochloric acid. He also states:

"Chloride is found in the same three items, lettuce, tomatoes and celery. Though it is not bound with sodium."

So does the author also think that ingesting lettuce, tomatoes or celery will produce damaging hydrochloric acid in the blood?  After all chloride is chloride so it would react the same way as chloride from salt, that is assuming that the sodium chloride breaks down to provide chloride as the author first denies.

The author is also overlooking another basic fact.  The chloride ion has numerous effects in the body.  In order to do its jobs this requires the ability of the chloride to cross cell membranes.  But it does not cross cell membranes as hydrogen chloride, but as the chloride ion.  Yet there is plenty of available hydrogen in the body.  Therefore if the author's claim is correct that the chloride readily binds to hydrogen, including in the blood then the chloride would be unable to cross the cell membranes and we would basically die.

Unfortunately, table salt contains ingredients other than sodium and chlorine—aluminum, for one. Two of the most common anticaking agents used in salt production are sodium alumino-silicate and alumino-calcium silicate. Aluminum is a toxic metal that has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and in any case has no place in a healthy diet.

This is very misleading. First of all aluminum has NEVER been proven to cause Alzheimer's.  This assumption was made on the basis that high aluminum levels have been found in some Alzheimer patients.  Using this same reasoning we can say say that water or fatty acids cause Alzheimer's since 100% of Alzheimer's patients have high levels of these in their brains.

In addition aluminum is one of the most prevalent substances in the Earth's crust.  And it is is picked up by plants.  So every time we eat plants or animals that ate those plants we are ingesting aluminum.  So why doesn't everyone have Alzheimer's?  Here is a link with a chart of plant foods with aluminum contents listed as an example of my point:

http://www.longevinst.org/nlt/newsletter6.htm

"The Bad News Historically, salt was used as a food preservative and an embalming agent."

So what? Herbs and essential oils were also used as preservatives and used in embalming. Does this make them poisonous? 

Salt was used for the dehydration of meats since moisture is required for microbial growth.  Same principle used for Egyptian embalming.  But the author is apparently unaware that the salt used in Egyptian mummification was not sodium chloride but rather sodium carbonate, also known as natron.

"In a December 2002 article entitled in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , we see how salt creates urinary nitrogen and calcium loss and erodes muscle and bone."

Calcium loss is due to the higher reactivity of sodium to calcium, which causes the sodium to displace calcium.  Potassium, which is also vital to our survival is also more reactive than calcium.  All the author had to do was to look up the electromotive series of chemicals to see this.  But it is all about balance.  Too much sodium will displace calcium.  Too much potassium will displace sodium killing us.

"The July 2003 issue of Acupuncture Today states, ―Salt induced chloride acidosis "

Chloride acidosis can occur from too much sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, ammonium chloride, etc.  Even the cesium chloride you like.  But again is takes an excess of chloride to cause this problem.  Considering the average salt intake of people between the salts in their food already and the salt they add why don't we see widespread chloride acidosis?  Partially that a normally operating body regulates its chloride levels quite well.  So the author's claim is really nothing more than a misleading scare tactic.

"Excessive salt consumption is associated with stomach cancer, and chloride acid reflux into the esophagus initiates esophageal cancer."

Note he states "excessive".  Excessive anything can be dangerous or deadly, even oxygen and water.  But reflux is caused from a LACK of stomach acid, not excess.  And we need sodium chloride to maintain proper stomach acid levels.  So again the author's comments are very misleading.  The lack of stomach acid, which can occur in part from insufficient sodium chloride, leads to acid reflux. When the acid reflux occurs TRACES  of stomach acid enter the esophagus leading to esophageal irritation and the increased risk of esophageal cancer.  Therefore the increased risk of esophageal cancer IS NOT from excess sodium chloride to begin with.

" A January 7, 2004 report of the National Cancer Center Research Institute at Kashiwa, Japan entitled ―Salt and Stomach Cancer‖ again confirms this, stating that salt elevates—even doubles—the incidence of stomach cancer."

Doubles?  That is not what the conclusion of this study found:

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/5/1289

"Conclusion: The current findings suggest that salt preference has a marginal positive association with a risk of gastric cancer."

So the author exaggerated the the salt-stomach cancer claim by saying even double the risk when the study only found a marginal increase in the risk.  That is a major difference!!!

"Salt affects the arteries, compressing them and elevating blood pressure"

Again misleading. Only about 10% of hypertensive patients are sodium sensitive and therefore sodium will raise their blood pressure.  It has been shown though that restricting sodium intake in the remainder of the population can actually raise blood pressure.  I have not heard of a mechanism to this but it likely goes back to the calcium.  Calcium is a muscle contractor and therefore raises blood pressure by constricting the blood vessels.  Since sodium displaces calcium it could be considered a natural calcium channel blocker, which lower blood pressure in cases of calcium induced hypertension.

"Animals in nature do not consume salt; domestic cows and other animals are taught to eat it. Humans are the only primates who eat salt."

Again not true.  Just because animals in nature do not have salt shakers this does not mean they are not ingesting salts.  Predatory animals in particular get their salts from the animal's tissues they consume.  Meats are actually quite high in salts.

"It is said that salt is in our blood. Well, yes…it is. But it has existed in human blood only since we started eating it—some 8,000 years ago"

I don't know where he got that load of garbage from.  We need salt for a number of reasons as even his article pointed out early on:

"Sodium stabilizes water balance in our bodies, plays an intricate role in nervous system function, and is a component of several chemicals in our bodies, such as our gastric juices. Natural sodium occurs in many vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, and especially celery.

Chloride helps heart function, is of key importance in maintaining the body‘s acid-alkaline balance, and aids in digestion and elimination."

The properties go well beyond these.  But common sense tells us how did we ever survive without salt until we started eating it considering how essential it is to so many functions in our body? That includes regulating our heartbeat.  So does the author really think that humans did not have a heart beat until we figured out how to start eating salt?!!!

"Anthropology has found no sodium-chloride deposits in early bones of human remains, though you can find it in most anyone of western civilization today. "

LOL!!!  Did the author ever consider the fact that sodium chloride is highly water soluble and would have leached out of the bones over the thousands of years?

"People say that salt makes food taste better. In truth, salt irritates our taste buds, actually killing many cells on the tongue."

I would like to see proof of this claim.

"Others claim that salt aids digestion. In reality, salt inhibits absorption through intestinal membranes. "

Again misleading.  First of all we need sodium chloride to produce stomach acid, which is essential for digestion and absorption.  Secondly the only way salt would inhibit the absorption of anything would again be if it was HIGHLY concentrated in the intestines.  This is from the movement of water, which is needed to move nutrients across the membranes.  If the salt concentration in the intestinal water is highly concentrated then it will inhibit the movement of water across the capillary walls so the nutrients can be carried to the rest of the body.  Instead water will be pulled from the capillaries in to the intestines.  It is the same principle as when someone drowns in fresh water and water enters the lungs the water will cross in to the bloodstream hyperdiluting their electrolytes.  If they drown in saltwater though and water enters the lungs the higher salt concentration in the lungs pull water/blood from the bloodstream in to the lungs and the person basically drowns on their own fluids.  It all boils down to osmosis.  So again the author was being very misleading.

"Albuminuria, a presence of protein in the urine, occurs when all of the components of blood are expeditiously possessed by the kidneys, taking out needed nutrients in the blood with the poisons. This disturbs water balance in the body causing dehydration, causing low gastric juices which affect digestion."

Albuminuria is a loss of the protein albumin in the urine.  It can result from kidney damage or even heavy exercise.

"The more salt we consume, the more we destroy and deteriorate our cells. In edema, the circulatory system keeps more fluid with the blood to keep the salt in the blood away from the cells."

Edema has nothing to do with this.  Edema results from hormones known as prostaglandins dilating blood vessels to INCREASE blood flow, and thus oxygen and nutrients, to the damaged tissues. Dilation of the blood vessels makes them permeable though causing fluid to leak though the capillary walls leading to the edema.

"Diabetics who lower their salt intake also have lower glucose readings and need less insulin (Diabetes, March 2001)."

http://www.drmirkin.com/diabetes/9349.html

SEVERE SALT RESTRICTION MAY CAUSE DIABETES IN SUSCEPTIBLE PEOPLE

http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.aspx?Id=3215

Salt Restriction May Aggravate Type II Diabetes

"In ancient Japan, the Samurai committed hari-kari to eliminate dishonor. Many of us have read how they stabbed themselves with a knife in this ritual suicide. There were other ways; one of them was a long and agonizing death, for those with the greatest dishonor. It was to take a sack of sea salt, just less than a pound, and a small amount of water, around a liter, and to consume both as quickly as possible. The result was destruction of the body from the inside, as well as dehydration."

Again this goes back to the movement of fluid depending on purity of the water.  But really who is going to eat a pound a salt rapidly and only drink a tiny amount of water?  I guess the author also thinks water is a poison because if you drink a gallon rapidly it can kill you?

 "Don‘t forget that seaweed contains all the pollutants in the ocean, as well as heavy metals."

Heavy metals bound tightly to algins making them unavailable to the body.  I am beginning to think that the author lives in a plastic bubble to protect himself from everything in the world since anything can be potentially toxic.

"Celtic Sea Salt has more minerals than table salt, but it is still mostly sodium chloride and thus acidic. The minerals are inorganic and unusable and really poison."

LOL!!!  Inorganic does not mean unusable nor poisonous.  When we drink spring water it contains all sorts of inorganic minerals that are not only absorbed, but also beneficial to the body.  The whole claim the body cannot utilize inorganic minerals is just another persistent internet myth.

I won't bother addressing his second article in the post since it looks like it is pretty much a repeat of the initial misinformation posted.

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