Lets not fear salt, understand its benefits and if concerned seek individual help –
When reducing processed food, you will generally be reducing the amount of salt in your diet. A Diet lacking salt can lead to a range of health issues, similarly a diet to high in salt can lead to health issues also. The optimal amount of sea salt will be an individual requirement (come see us to learn more)
SODIUM IS A KEY MINERAL AND FOUND IN SEA SALT – MANY HEALTH BENEFITS OF SODIUM
Muscle cramp prevention
Body fluid balance
Maintain skin health
Supports brain health
Sea salt is mostly composed of sodium chloride, a compound that helps regulate fluid balance and blood pressure in the body. Since it’s minimally processed, it contains some minerals, including potassium, iron, and calcium. Table sea salt has had much of its nutrients removed therefore we suggest a good quality sea salt which will actually add nutritional value to our meal or drink.
Since sodium chloride has several important functions in the body, it’s necessary to consume it from foods to maintain optimal health.
Other benefits of Sea Salt…
Hydration
In general, salt can help you maintain adequate hydration and blood pressure levels. Since sodium plays a vital role in fluid balance, not getting enough of it can lead to dehydration, especially during high-intensity exercise.
Blood Pressure
Having proper fluid balance in the body is also important for maintaining healthy blood pressure levels (8Trusted Source).
Therefore, consuming either too little or too much sodium can lead to changes in blood pressure in those who are sensitive to dietary salt (9Trusted Source).
Eating sea salt can help you meet your sodium needs, but you can also get sodium from a variety of other foods.
Digestion
Some believe that consuming sea salt mixed with lukewarm water aids digestion.
Chloride is necessary to produce stomach acid, and sodium chloride (salt) facilitates the absorption and transportation of nutrients in the intestines after they have been broken down during digestion (10Trusted Source).
Therefore, consuming enough salt promotes optimal digestive health.
One study looked at the effects of drinking salt water in 54 adults preparing for a colonoscopy.
Those who performed certain yoga postures and drank 2 cups (480 ml) of water made with 4.5 grams of salt had bowel movements before the procedure (11Trusted Source).
However, it’s unclear to what extent salt water alone helps improve bowel health.
While drinking sea salt mixed with water may aid digestion in some instances, drinking too much salt water may lead you to consume too much salt. Getting adequate sodium from other sources is probably enough to support normal digestion.
Skin health and inflammation
Taking a sea salt bath is thought to decrease skin dryness and inflammation.
In fact, the National Eczema Foundation recommends adding 1 cup of salt to bathwater to help relieve irritation from eczema, a condition marked by red, itchy skin (12).
However, it’s unclear how and whether salt baths help decrease skin inflammation, as well as whether sea salt, in particular, exerts any specific effects.
One study in people with dry skin found that bathing in a salt solution obtained from the Dead Sea helped increase skin hydration and decrease roughness, compared with bathing in tap water (13Trusted Source).
That said, the researchers attributed the positive results to the amount of magnesium in the Dead Sea solution — not the salt content (13Trusted Source).
What’s more, another study found that higher concentrations of sodium chloride in the body and skin may increase the number of immune cells that lead to the inflammatory reactions associated with dry and itchy skin (14Trusted Source).
These contradicting findings suggest that the ability of sea salt baths to improve skin irritation may largely depend on the salt’s mineral composition.
Sea salts that have a high magnesium content may be the best types to add to baths for those with skin issues.
Our favourite sea salt – Tasman Sea Salt – is harvested from the Southern Ocean, the cleanest ocean in the world, Tasman Sea Salt contains an abundance of naturally occurring trace minerals derived from these pristine nutrient-rich waters. Rich in potassium with lower levels of sodium than many other salts, Tasman Sea Salt contains all the goodness that nature intended.
Any questions reach out to our clinic on
info@nutritionforlifehealthcare.com.au or 63019096
