Salt! Is it good or bad?

Nowadays there seems to be a lot of speculation as to weather salt is good or not. It’s a subject that bewilders many people. Salt played a huge part in our ancestors food preparations. They would use salt to preserve foods like meat and fish. Salt would help to keep these ingredients fresh especially during winter.

In the last few decades salt has been made the into a bad guy. Over 200 years ago scientists thought they made a discovery. Doctors knew then that salt can help to maintain blood pressure. Then the scientists thought that eating to much could contribute to high blood pressure.

In recent years studies have suggested that the opposite is true. There is actually no link between salt intake and high blood pressure and heart disease. We used to think that our bodies weren’t very good at regulating salt levels. Also we tend to think that if you eat a lot of salt you will become very thirsty.

More studies are finding that salt has many benefits in the body. It can help to increase the body water conversation and it can make a person less thirsty. To stay better hydrated the body needs sodium and potassium. Water follows the sodium so if there is to much the water will stay in your system. Potassium works to help balance this out. It’s why salts such as sea salt and Himalayan pink salt are better. These salts contain both sodium and potassium which can help to balance the levels naturally.

Sadly table salt, unlike sea salt and Himalayan pink salt, is not great for the body. Table salt is not a natural salt like the other two. It will have been blench and heavily processed. Therefore the goodness from the salt will have been stripped away. That’s why natural salts are better for the body as they come in the natural form.

When discussing salt it’s important to specify which salt. Remember, if you can afford to, sea and Himalayan pink salts are the best. Natural salts are not the cheapest items in the shops but you can buy in bulk or look for specials offer in your supermarket. Salt can go bad but if you store it an airtight contain in a cool dark place it will keep for a very long time.