Thursday, June 16, 2011

Salt of the Earth

Sugar is to live for and salt ..apparently to fight over.

Salt crystal formations,  Dead Sea

For centuries mankind fought battles, traded and valued salt and it infiltrated every civilisation across the globe. Ancient Egypt, Rome, China, France and Greece all have history in the control and distribution of it and virtually every culture has customs relating to salt. Salt has been mentioned in folktales and myth, used in many ritualistic traditions and in the arts. 

"Such was the importance of salt that the words, 'war' and 'peace' originate from the word for salt & bread in Ancient Hebrew and Arabic" according to salt org 

Yet the stuff we call table salt is also known as sodium chloride and manufacturers use a chemical extracting method to refine it this way. Salt is simply not found in nature in this isolated form. In nature it is found with an abundance of naturally occurring trace minerals and elements such as Sulphur, Calcium, Magnesium, Boron, Zinc, Silicon, and Iron.

How does this affect our body??

Our bodies are essentially made up of millions of living cells. Cells are composed of molecules such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus, water molecules, proteins, DNA, polysaccharides (sugars), lipids (fats), and MINERALS.
We need minerals in our diet to stay healthy and build tissue, the building blocks so to speak. But we can only absorb these minerals when they are in their organic whole form as nature intended, like in the fruits and vegetables we eat. Plants absorb the nutrition from the soil, creating a biologically available form of minerals and our bodies assimilate it to perfection. However, this all depends on the quality of the soil. Modern farming methods such as chemical fertilisers and mono-crops have made the soils deplete of these minerals. But nature does her best, she uses what she has because that's her style.

I heard a wise person say once, Women are as fertile as the Earth is. In other words, as nutrient rich the soil is as healthy and fertile the woman. Minerals! This is where the quality of salt comes in. Consuming sodium chloride has negative health effects as our body strives to balance it's isolated form. . .

"For every gram of sodium chloride that your body cannot get rid of, your body uses 23 times the amount of cell water to neutralize the salt. Eating common table salt causes excess fluid in your body tissue" Mercola.com

Which doesn't seem like a big deal until we mention cellulite, kidney issue, fluid retention, electrolyte and fluid imbalances, arthritis and high blood pressure.
Minerals are found with other minerals on purpose. It's natures way of providing us with a "supplement" and still buffer its concentrated effects on the body. A pinch of salt is all you need. When you don't have enough salt, issues like low blood pressure and dehydration occur, however, this is not the norm. Considering most processed foods some healthy, some not so healthy all contain excessive salt as a taste enhancer... amongst other things.


Traditional Chinese Medicine regards the kidneys as one of the most important organs. The kidneys are associated with the water element, and most susceptible to the cold and are stimulated by the taste salt. Energetically, the kidneys store the body's vital Essence- inherited from our parents. Essence is what forms the basis for growth cycles, development, reproduction and determines our constitution. How resilient or weak we are health wise and how long our life "battery" will last for.


Himalayan Salt
Beautiful pink salt from the Himalayan region. I question the ethicality of how this salt is mined because it is sourced from deep within the Earth, which seems like a great idea except in theory. However, it conjures up images of big destructive mines. It is however an Earth salt, hard and dry but contains around 84 trace minerals.


Celtic Sea Salt
Is my favourite salt, harvested by hand and evaporated by the sun and wind. It is a pleasure to pay good money for an artisan product like this. Salt is something we season food lightly, paying decent money for something that will last a long time in your kitchen cupboard.


Macrobiotic Sea Salt
Produced in a similar manner to the Celtic salt as it's a sea salt. This salt is the preferred salt for the macrobiotic diet, a Japanese dietary system based on the principle of balance.

Make your own season-all salt using your choice of high quality salt, dried herbs, and favourite spices. I love to mix a curry powder with dried parsley and mustard. I consider it the secret ingredient in my veggie dishes...

Salt lamps are pretty cool. I keep one in my bedroom, it casts a beautiful glow. Salt crystal is an ideal source of negative ions due to its chemical composition. Ideal to place anywhere in the home where you want to improve air quality and create a nice environment. 





Love
Ulyana...

5 comments:

  1. all that salt talk makes me want some pickles

    btw is your salt lamp crystal goes a bit yukky from time to time?

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  2. Yes, I must do a pickle recipe at some point. Good idea! Will bring you a jar if they're successful :p
    No, my salt lamp is fine. They apparently sweat with temperature extremes... That seems to be a normal reaction considering they're natural BUT if you keep it switched on during odd weather it adjusts the humidity/ temperature enough to stay nice and dry. I want to get a beautiful pyramid shaped one :))

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  3. they are pretty cheap on ebay... different shapes and size

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  4. you and ebay love affair :p thanks for the tip... tomatoe in fruit salad is going to happen btw

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  5. bartholomew whilloughbyAugust 13, 2011 at 11:04 AM

    we are indeed as fertile as the earth. support the soil. a broad spectrum of organic minerals as a foundation for health from the ground up. electrolytes for our crystal temples. celtic sea salt is my favorite too. there is a remote place in southern arizona called eden hot springs where i sometimes go for a soak and to harvest wild salt.

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