Holistic Health Thread

Thanks for the info on salt. :-D I found a source for the Himalayan salt with a quick google. V cool. I can't wait to try it. Is there a particular term I should google to find the sugar?

And where, if anywhere, does the boxed "sea salt" that you can buy at a regular grocery store fit in?

And, while I'm asking nosy questions, is the book Water And Salt: The Essence of Life: The Healing Power of Nature by Barbara Hendel and Peter Ferreira?
 
pygmalion said:
Thanks for the info on salt. :-D I found a source for the Himalayan salt with a quick google. V cool. I can't wait to try it. Is there a particular term I should google to find the sugar?
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you mean, to buy it? raw rapadura would be what to look for.

And where, if anywhere, does the boxed "sea salt" that you can buy at a regular grocery store fit in?
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i am always cautious when buying "sea salt" as i am not sure what kind of labeling restrictions are adhered to with the use of that term. "celtic sea salt" would be one thing to look for. there is also "redman's real salt", and actually many kinds of undenatured salts out there. i like himmy salt because it is allegedly mined from "primordial" sea salt crystals up in the himalayas where contamination is far less likely. but...ya never really know the full story with any consumable, unless you grow or handle it yourself.

And, while I'm asking nosy questions, is the book Water And Salt: The Essence of Life: The Healing Power of Nature by Barbara Hendel and Peter Ferreira?
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yes, that is the book. it also says how to make and use "sole", which is a salt-saturated solution you can add to your water first thing in the morning. i used to do that regularly, with positive results. have thought of adding that back into my regimen, but currently i am doing other things.
 
fwiw, P, i generally keep a large-ish container of inexpensive (white) french "sea salt" on hand as backup, and will use it to salt pasta water to save money rather than use my expensive regular salt (though i wouldn't do this if my pockets were deeper). the whiteness of that salt puts me off. i even chose not to buy some large-crystaled white "mediterranean sea salt" yesterday at the local greek grocers because i didn't know what its story was.

am def pretty selective when it comes to the salt and sugar i use in my own kitchen.
 
Thanks.

This whole salt conversation resonates very strongly with me and I am going to follow up. Until (yesterday?) I had no idea how much CRAP table salt goes through. No idea. When I consider the fact that the human body is basically skin wrapped around a saline solution, it only makes sense, to me, that what kind of salt and water we ingest can make a huge difference. And, when you add to the equation changes in the crystalline structure of salt, it seems intuitive to me that chemical reactions could be drastically different, from one type of salt to another. **

I just never knew. As always, I plan to do my due diligence (i.e. my own googling and my own reading.) But it just makes sense, to me.



** Maybe the crystalline thingie makes sense to me because I spent quite a bit of time in the semiconductor industry, where we "doped" one material with another, modifying its crystalline structure by very small amounts and completely changing the material's electrical properties. Small amount of doping. Drastic change.
 
btw, my online source for Himalayan salt also sells Himalayan bath salts. Any thoughts on bath salts and their efficacy or lack thereof?

I didn't think the "Chef's Jar" of salt was all that expensive -- $15 for an 8-ounce jar. I don't use all that much salt for cooking, so that would probably last me a good long time. Of course, the description also says, "use for sole" and, since I don't yet have any clue of what that means, I might be using more salt than I think. :oops: *grin*

Pink salt? Very cool. :-D
 
Larinda McRaven said:
Sodium chloride is naturally present in all foods, both elements are essential. Human use began in pre-history. It was used extensively by early humans as a food preservative because of its toxic effect on micro-organisms and drying properties.
...
Sodium chloride is a toxic agent but it does not ordinarily occur in natural foods nor in most inland waters at toxic levels. It would appear that toxic levels are usually added by human intervention...

http://www.springer.com/food+science/journal/11130
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I tried to follow that link, but I don't see how to get to the text you quoted.

In any case, in the sense of "toxic" employed above, just about anything qualifies. It's not toxic in the sense that, say, hemlock is toxic.

I don't see here a differentiation between health effects of consuming plain-old NaCl and those of consuming Himalayan Salt.

Larinda McRaven said:
I think in the end it comes down to... how much "tinkering around" are you able to condone happening to your food before you consume it?

If common table salt has additives, and has minerals removed, and is heat treated, and is bleached, and is tinkered with to no end..... vs .... Himalayan salt which is delivered in a closer to natural state, uncontaminated, unrefined (kinda like organic food vs pesticide ridden, pasteurized, and preservative laden food)... which one are you gonna bet on?

And why would you want to eat "salt" that has been stripped of all of it nutrients so completely... that manufactures have to artifically add back in iodine, which is essential to human thyroid function and hormone balance.
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This notion of a "natural state" for salt puzzles me. It seems unlikely to me that over time the human body adapted itself to a mineral mixture extracted from the Himalayas. Rock salt is mined in many places, with different mineral prevalence. For example, here's an MSU geology department page regarding the "natural" salt in the Detroit area:

http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/saltminingM.html

What makes Himalayan salt more "natural" than Detroit salt? I'm getting the sense that those Detroit folks are missing a marketing opportunity.

Does natural salt always occur with iodine? Not where it's most abundant, in our oceans. According to the US Geological Survey (https://www.google.com/url?q=http:/...ds-cse&usg=AFQjCNFaP-KGfoULOJCQl-qdbzNcwpxoEQ), sea water is only .05 parts per million iodine. However, at 35g salt/kg water, (a ballpark figure; apparently it varies) sea water is 35,000 parts per million salt.

As for bleach -- where do you see that? It's naturally white, from what I can see in my reading. Different colors occur when it's mixed with different mineral deposits -- which even in nature it isn't always.

As for heat treatment, I'm not sure where you see that either, but I don't see how it matters. I remember learning back in 8th grade that NaCl's ionic bond was quite strong and more or less indifferent to any amount of heat any of us ever encounter (even in the broiler). If you'll accept data from "the salt institute" at http://web.archive.org/web/20132520...tinstitute.org/About-salt/Physical-properties (it's a materials information sheet; there are many other sources), it melts at 1,473.4° F.

As for salt's "nutrients" -- it *is* a nutrient. Certain levels of consumption are necessary; others are harmful.

In the midst of all this, I don't see any evidence that consuming quantity X of NaCl from a Himalyan salt container will have a different health effect than consuming the same quantity of NaCl from an iodized Morton's salt box.
 
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P, years back, i used to buy himmy bath salts in bulk and do very saline bath soaks. i missed the aegean and the way i felt floating in its super-salinated water in the sunlight...felt like a human photovoltaic cell. :)

there are less expensive sources of himmy salt...check out the san fransisco salt company. although himalayancrystalsalt dot com has great packaging (the salt comes in re-useable cotton sacks you can hang in your pantry) and cheap shipping.
 
samina said:
P, years back, i used to buy himmy bath salts in bulk and do very saline bath soaks. i missed the aegean and the way i felt floating in its super-salinated water in the sunlight...felt like a human photovoltaic cell. :)

there are less expensive sources of himmy salt...check out the san fransisco salt company. although himalayancrystalsalt dot com has great packaging (the salt comes in re-useable cotton sacks you can hang in your pantry) and cheap shipping.
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Thanks. I'll check it out. :-D
 
pygmalion said:
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Two: There was an interesting story on All Things Considered today regarding parasites that live in humans. According to this study, women infected with toxoplasma, a very common parasite among humans*, are 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than woman who are not infected. This is based on a study of thousands of Danish women that spanned several years. (A decade is the figure I THINK I remember from listening to the story. ) The authors of the study think that its results suggest that parasites may change the brains of the people they infect. Interesting stuff.

*toxoplasma = the parasite you can contact if you clean cat litter boxes. It's in cat feces; cats often get it from eating mice. Hmm.
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There have been studies linking toxoplasmosis to other psychiatric issues such as schizophrenia as well and very devestating problems occur when babies are infected in utero. It is a very important parasite to consider.

That being said, I want to caution people regarding the statement on cats. it is true that cats are one of the major carriers of toxoplasmosis. However your own personal cat, especially if kept strictly indoors is very unlikely to transmit it to you. in the united states we are much more likely to become infected with toxoplasmosis through eating of undercooked meat or not throughly washing our fruits and vegetables. Cats get it from hunting infected animals (birds, mice etc) and then will shed oocysts in their feces for a brief period after infection. these oocysts will not be infective to us until they sporulate which at a typical household temperature will take 24 to 48 hours. So- if you clean the litter box daily it would never even have a chance to become infectious. One more reason to keep the litter box clean. If you keep your cat indoors they hopefully cant hunt (i guess some of us have indoor mouse problems)
however there are likely stray cats defecating in your garden, your child's uncovered sand box, possibly the soil at your local organic farmer etc. if your cat goes outside it can track in contaminated soil on their feet and if they walk on your kitchen counters possibly infect you.
Sorry about the rant but I have seen so many families giving up their cat when they become pregnant that it is a very touchy subject for me.
 
Thanks for the clarification, latervet1. :cool: The NPR story was careful to make similar statements. It said something like, "Don't get rid of your cat. Take good care of it and keep it away from potential sources of contamination."
 
pygmalion said:
And, while I'm asking nosy questions, is the book Water And Salt: The Essence of Life: The Healing Power of Nature by Barbara Hendel and Peter Ferreira?
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I just checked online, and my local library doesn't carry this book. Their search engine kicked out a number of interesting selections, though. I'm not sure if some or any of them are worth reading. It is helpful when someone recommends a specific title and/or author.
 
Purr said:
I just checked online, and my local library doesn't carry this book. Their search engine kicked out a number of interesting selections, though. I'm not sure if some or any of them are worth reading. It is helpful when someone recommends a specific title and/or author.
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just checked my library and i do still have the book -- i'd be happy to lend it out. if Pyg hasn't ordered hers first, i could send to her first, then on to you when she has finished it...
 
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