Does salt belong in my diet?
Frequently asked: what is the difference between sea salt and table salt?
Table salt is typically mined from underground salt deposits. It is straight sodium chloride and heavily processed (even bleached) to remove minerals and usually contains additives to prevent clumping.
Sea salt contains a slightly lower amount of sodium than table salt. It is produced through the evaporation of ocean water and is minimally processed, leaving minerals intact such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, manganese, and zinc. These minerals give sea salt their different colors and flavors.
Adding a pinch of sea salt to my water daily is an inexpensive and easy way to add minerals to my diet. It's one of the first things I recommend to my clients because mineral deficiency is so common. Even though minerals only make up about 4% of our body, they are essential for a wide variety of processes. They play an integral role in the proper function of our hormones, in the transfer of nutrients across our cell membranes, and in critical chemical reactions throughout the body.
When the body is under stress, it uses up minerals at a faster rate, as it uses a variety of minerals to fuel the stress hormones. These hormones enable a person to push through real or perceived threats. If stress is very intense or chronic, minerals in the body are quickly depleted. The adrenal glands, which help with the stress response, essentially steal minerals that were meant for other parts of the body. Those adrenals figure that survival is the priority. This is why, in our modern, fast-paced world, it’s more important than ever that we consciously consume mineral-rich foods.
You drink water, but are you hydrated? Our bodies depend on salt in order to push the water to our cells so we actually absorb the water. If you are waking up in the middle of the night to urinate, it is often because your water isn’t getting absorbed properly. Therefore, the water is essentially going in your mouth and quickly out the other end without doing much good in between. Luckily, that problem is fixable, enabling better sleep!
Minerals enable the body to properly absorb and utilize water. When mental or physical stress is draining the body of minerals, there often aren’t enough minerals left over to help with water absorption.
Try adding a pinch of unrefined sea salt to your water. Some great brands are Celtic, Redmond’s, Himalayan, etc. The minerals in sea salt provide a quick and easy source of electrolytes. Athletes and those that exercise or train almost daily, need even more minerals than non-athletes, especially while training. Minerals are lost during exercise through increased metabolism and sweat. You MUST up your minerals during training - sea salt, trace minerals, magnesium and extra focus on potassium rich foods and beverages!
Furthermore, tap water is not as mineral rich as spring water. For this reason, it can be helpful to add minerals to drinking water. Adding a pinch of sea salt to water can increase water absorption as well as adding minerals. My favorite one is Carolyn Dean's ReMyte Mineral Solution. Use my code KARRIBALL to get 10% off your order.
Are you worried about consuming salt? Here's an interesting study that showed that consumption of natural sea salt induces less hypertension compared to refined salt in rats. Check out the study here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5328355/
Now you have the knowledge and motivation to make the switch to sea salt in your home.
Are you wondering what your body's status is on minerals? Getting data on your body gives you the ability to base your food decisions on your body's own truth (instead of delegating it to fad diet gurus), supporting a healthy relationship with your body. And data doesn't lie — it will show you if your current approach is actually working for you (or not) and what nutrients your body is actually asking for!
If you haven't already learned about the benefits of hair analysis and what an amazing tool this is, here's what you need to know....
Hair analysis...
...can tell you if your current supplement plan is messing you up (multivitamins included) so you can stop cycling through random supplements just hoping to "get lucky" from what worked for someone else (because we're all different)! This is especially important if you take vitamin D3 supplements regularly.
...tests for 35 elements including calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, iron, plus more!
...can identify if you have thyroid stress (fatigue, brain fog, sluggish digestion) or adrenal insufficiency (always tired, feel run down) as reflected by your mineral levels, so you can start supporting your body appropriately.
...helps you assess the accumulation of toxic heavy metals like uranium, arsenic, beryllium, mercury, cadmium, lead, and aluminum.
...tells you what your metabolic type is (fast or slow).
...exposes your mineral deficiencies and excesses, so you know what nutrients your body actually needs and can finally stop taking supplements that are just are the latest fad, trend, or available at your local drugstore and stop forcing things on your body that it doesn't need (saving you lots of $$ in the long run).
...gives you crystal ball like insight into your body's chemistry so you can start using real data to learn what your body actually needs while setting yourself up to get results much faster.
And so much more!
If you are ready to start making decisions on your health based on REAL DATA about YOUR body, nutritional therapy through a hair tissue mineral analysis is for you. Get started HERE.
Healthy Blessings,
Karri, FNTP