I asked Ken Morehead, my Dr. of Oriental Medicine, about his take on my
consumption of too much salt (see A
Salt on the Body), and he continues to be a patient teacher. I hope to be able
to put the pieces together without his help some day!
Here is what Ken said:
WHAT WE'RE
SEEING HERE IS THAT BAD QUALITY SALT IS HARMFUL, PARTICULARLY FOR SOME PEOPLE.
BOTH THESE PRODUCTS [guancile and cheese] WERE SALTED SOMEWHERE ELSE – SHE [the
farmer] DIDN'T SALT THEM. SO THE BALANCE OF MINERALS IN CELTIC SALT WASN'T
THERE. I SUSPECT THIS WAS THE ISSUE. "PURE" SALT IS LIKE
"PURE" SUGAR. . . NEITHER IS RECOMMENDED EXCEPT IN QUITE MODERATE
QUANTITIES.
Now it makes sense. Regular refined table salt is sodium chloride and
additives. Sea salt is completely natural and contains a lot of different
minerals. It is natural and consequently balanced. An internet search on the
Celtic Sea Salt that I purchased relieved me. I chose it because it is grey and
it is moist. Until now those were my only criteria. Here is some of what it
contains.
Elements in Light Grey Celtic Sea Salt®
in milligrams per 1/4 teaspoon (one
serving size):
Most
recent analysis demonstrated that Celtic Sea Salt® contained at least 75
minerals and trace elements. The following lists the most predominant elements
revealed by this analysis.
|
|
mg per 1/4 tsp |
% |
|
mg per 1/4 tsp |
% |
|
Chloride |
601.25 mg |
50.90% |
Zinc |
0.03 mg |
.00275% |
|
Sodium |
460 mg |
33.00% |
Copper |
0.02 mg |
.00195% |
|
Sulfur |
9.7 mg |
.820% |
Erbium |
0.02 mg |
.00195% |
|
Magnesium |
5.2 mg |
.441% |
Tin |
0.02 mg |
.00192% |
|
Potassium |
2.7 mg |
.227% |
Manganese |
0.02 mg |
.0018% |
|
Calcium |
1.5 mg |
.128% |
Cerium |
0.02 mg |
.00172% |
|
Silicon |
1.2 mg |
.052% |
Fluoride |
0.01 mg |
.00109% |
|
Carbon |
0.6 mg |
.049% |
Rubidium |
0.01 mg |
.00084% |
|
Iron |
0.14 mg |
.012% |
Gallium |
0.01 mg |
.00083% |
|
Aluminum |
0.11 mg |
.0095% |
Boron |
0.01 mg |
.00082% |
|
Praseodymium |
0.04 mg |
.0029% |
Titanium |
0.01 mg |
.00079% |
|
Strontium |
0.03 mg |
.00275% |
Bromine |
0.01 mg |
.00071% |
This is a partial analysis, if you are interested in the full analysis please
call.
Light Grey Celtic Sea Salt® contains 33% Sodium, 50.9% Chloride, 1.8% Minerals
and Trace Elements and 14.3% moisture.
Analysis
performed by Western Analysis, Inc. for The Grain & Salt Society®. For
verification: Western Analysis, Inc. 2417 South 2700 West Salt Lake City, UT
84119 (801)973-9238 Fax (801) 973-7635
This information and so much more about sea salt is provided on the Cure
Zone website: http://curezone.com/foods/saltcure.asp.
The Cure Zone does not sell salt but very thoroughly explains why unprocessed sea
salt is important and vastly superior to standard table salt. Several sources
for purchase are provided.
Final lesson learned – Always, always, always be a skeptic. The food
that I purchase is grown by a farmer I trust. Conditions are organic and the
animals are truly free range, enjoying the sun, the wind, the vegetation and
the bugs. I was lulled into security because she is an excellent farmer, and I
will continue to promote her far and wide.
She is not the processor of the bacon and sausages that I enjoy. I will
continue to buy some of her processed meats here and there (except the guancile.
– too much NaCl!). I wish that I could ask her to talk to the processor about the
kind of salt he uses, but that is not an option. I know this due to her efforts
to make sugar-free hot dogs for me; the processor cannot legally alter the
seasonings. The seasonings are government approved, and removing sugar or salt,
for example, would create an unapproved product that she could not sell.
Now off to learn how to make my own sausages and cheese! Ok…cheese will be a bit harder. I think I will start with sausage.
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