Article for 07-2000
Celtic Sea Salt vs. Table Salt What’s the Difference?
By Wendy Wilson Cheslak
O.K., isn’t all salt the same? If it isn’t, then what are the differences? Right off the bat there are three main differences: color, taste and content. Celtic Sea Salt is gray, has a taste that doesn’t numb your taste buds, and contains unaltered nutrients.
Let’s take a step back in time and learn what our ancestors knew about salt and why the right salt is so significant to your overall health. Over two hundred years ago, the North Carolina settlers harvested their salt like the Celtics (French). They used the evaporation technique. The French knew that by sun drying the salt it would retain all of the minerals and produce a ‘whole salt.’ The French were given royalty status by kings and queens for producing a superior salt. Our natural instincts will lead us to salt and our ancestors were not adversely affected by using this natural salt. Actually, history shows that wars were fought over a country’s ability to get salt. It is said that the Roman Emperor, Titus, waged war in the Holy Land to maintain control over the salt farms near the Dead Sea.
So, why are we told that salt is so bad for us and to limit our salt intake? Most studies are done on commercial salt (regular table salt) and not on Celtic Sea Salt. The Dutch changed how the Americans perceived salt and how we harvest it today. When the Dutch settlers came to America, they convinced the Americans that their salt was better simply because it was whiter. The Dutch didn’t have the sunny days like the French, so they had to boil their seawater to harvest their salt. When you boil seawater it turns the salt white. It also removes essential minerals such as magnesium.
So, how does the right salt promote good health? The amount of magnesium, sodium and other trace minerals in natural salt is in perfect balance and mimics our cell chemistry. Celtic Sea Salt helps our body maintain the right amount of salt in our cell fluid and blood. Think about it a minute. As a fetus, you floated in a salty amniotic fluid. Your tears are salty, and if you remove all the water from your body you are reduced to a pile of salt plus other minerals. Every cell in our body needs salt to function properly. According to doctors John A. Laragh and Mark S. Pecker, if we significantly reduce our salt intake, we can experience medical complications. These complications can be loss of appetite, nausea, fainting, weakness, muscle twitching, abdominal cramps and anorexia. Severe salt depletion can also produce profuse sweating. The body needs salt in the cells because it converts sodium to potassium to cool the body.
Another reason salt is so valuable to your health is that it is a brain food. Without sodium you can’t think, focus or concentrate. Why? Because sodium regenerates the brain cells. The proper salt will: recharge the cells of the body like a battery. You energize the body, help the cells produce minerals, enrich your saliva and improve digestion when you use natural salt. With the proper salt, your body will be able to assimilate seven times more nutrition out of your food. How? Salt breaks down into sodium and chlorine and these elements are needed to produce hydrochloric acid for the digestive system. Without hydrochloric acid, your body’s ability to break down proteins into amino acids is significantly reduced.
Also, did you know that salt is your longevity mineral? A low-salt diet promotes aging because the cells need salt to regenerate. Salt feeds the heart muscle, assists liver function and helps your adrenal glands remove toxins. Your system functions better when you maintain the proper electrolyte balance in the blood to feed the cells.
Celtic Sea Salt is not just sodium chloride. It has 84 essential elements. Refined commercial salt doesn’t have these elements because they have been removed to sell to the industrial companies for profit. These 84 elements are buffers to soften the harshness of sodium chloride, to assist your digestion and to help eliminate residues completely through your kidneys. This is a perfect example that Nature knows what is best.
What is the best way to use your Celtic Sea Salt? You definitely don’t want to boil it. So, if you must cook with salt, add it at the end of your cooking on a low temperature. You will also want to keep it covered so that no dust will get in it. The container should allow the salt to breathe. Use a salt box or a covered sugar bowl and apply your salt with a spoon. You will notice that you will use one third less salt, and it will bring out the true flavor of your food. Rule of thumb: ½ tsp. of salt for every 8 glasses of water. Water and salt need each other to properly aid the body.
Where can I get Celtic Sea Salt? The best source that I know of is from the Grain & Salt Society. They import their Celtic Sea Salt from, where else, France. You can call them toll free at 800-867-7258. Enjoy!
Next Issue: The Healing Power of Water
Wendy Cheslak is author of "The Power Herbs: Thirteen Herbs Every Medicine Cabinet Should Have" (Morris Publishing) and an herbalist for Apothecary Herbs, Inc.
Sources: How to Heal Disease With Salt: the Forgotten Wisdom of the Ancient Mariners
Scientific American, The Social Influence of Salt, 1963.
The information contained herein is not intended to diagnosis, treat, prevent or cure any disease. Please seek medical advice from a licensed medical physician before using any herbal products or natural therapies. The information contained herein is copyrighted by Apothecary Herbs, Inc.
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