What is it about human bureaucracies that causes them to “cherry-pick” whatever science suits them? Such seems to be the case with the FDA‘s latest recommendations on human salt intake – at least according to this blog entry on The Journal of Natural Food and Health. (Instead of its own photo of a salt shaker, I decided to use a photo from Wikipedia Commons (article, “Salt”), which you’ll find on the upper left.) I have to wonder if this is a temperamental thing – a matter of S_J culture using only whatever NT results make sense to it in terms of ensuring stability, ignoring the NT’s desire for competence, the S_P’s desire for freedom and the NF’s desire for authenticity in the process. (I’m using terms from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator grid, in the way Dr. David Keirsey does in his book Please Understand Me.)
According to the blog above, 1.5 teaspoons of table salt per diem for the normal person is the minimum – anything less leads to serious problems. The current FDA recommendation is only 1 teaspoon. While I think I ought to go to the local Burger King, get some salt packets and figure out how much salt is in one of them (in addition to how much salt they put on their food even before they serve it), really I have to agree with the blog: too little salt is no improvement over too much. There were historical problems, severe ones, in medieval Europe because people weren’t getting enough salt. (Much of that, as I recall, was due to the flooding of the Celtic salt pans during a phase of the changing weather patterns of the time.) And we have present studies confirming that severe problems can arise – making the arguments of some “natural food” proponents elsewhere who would claim that NaCl is a poison and unnecessary seem illogical. “Both sodium and chloride, the components of salt, are needed for digestion,” notes the blog. ”These elements form the basis of cellular metabolism and our only source of adequate intake is salt.”
As Jesus said, salt is good… as with everything else, of course, in moderation (meaning, within the design parameters of what the human person can take, no more, no less). And surely the individual appetite is the best judge in the long run of how much one needs – if it’s not been conditioned by hyperintake, of course!
- John Wheeler (יוחנן רכב הסופר)
2012-01-29 - P.S.: A friend sent along this WordPress link (which in turn includes this link to Salt Works, a sea salt company), which makes a very nice addition to this page!
I think this is a very good post. I tried to cut back on salt and I found out that it was not the salt causing the problem. I like salt on my food. It improves the taste. I think that it is like with everything else that they have downed one time and said something entirely different about the next. It is not our food that is the problem, it is all the stuff they add to our food that causes the problems. I believe you should not eat food that they have added things to you can not pronounce. Salt is good, necessary and improves the taste of food. I eat mine.
Well that was a mouthful. I almost drove right to Mc Donalds just to prove a ENFP point! Honestly I have heard that salt is bad for you, and coffee is good. Only to have them say next year that coffee is really bad and salt is better. Yes the S_J culture of what they think is good for me. I listen, but rarely heed.
It is my opinion that I’d lose my marbles if I changed tracks every time something new and improved or bad came out. I follow God’s health laws and listen to my body. Me – I have too much cardiovascular and hypertensive health risks in my family. I was recently healed from a serious heart condition I was told couldn’t heal. I love salt. I tend to want to add salt before tasting the food even. Now if I add salt to my food, it is Kosher salt. It has much less sodium which I am hoping will help keep my blood pressure in the norm. I figure I get enough salt in foods I don’t even salt. Interesting post. I had to chuckle cause the controversy about the salt made me think of a song from Mary Poppins called a “spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.”
Yisraela
A small percentage of people (most often African decent) have bodies that retain salt, probably from ancestors who lived in areas with little or no access to salt. For them, excess salt can cause fluid retention and high blood pressure. For most people, excess salt is flushed from the body in urine, perspiration, and tears. I find that salt and a large glass of water helps prevent a hangover before bed following an evening of over-indulgence. Salt tablets and water make hot summers tolerable and margaritas with salted rims make hot summers enjoyable (and come complete with the hangover fix.)
This was some time ago, and I don’t remember all the medical details now. But it runs something like this…
I do hard work outdoors, and temperatures can run about 100 degrees. Right? Anyway, I had this problem with being thirsty all the time. I’d get bloated water, yet I would still feel thirsty.
Turned out, I had a potassium deficiency. Sodium chloride and potassium are suppose to have a proper balance. One causes the body to absorb water. The other transfers the water to individual cells within the body. Your body might absorb water, but that doesn’t mean the individual cells are getting it. That explained why I felt thirsty even though I’d get bloated on water.
I started eating a lot more foods rich in potassium, like oranges, avocados, bananas, and so on. And it worked really good, too! As soon as I did that, the problem stopped.
Yes, salt is good, but don’t forget the potassium.