Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Salt can be good for your health

I know the hype is out there about how bad salt is for your health. But, if you look for the reason why our bodies need (and crave salt) you would understand the process. Salt used to be full of minerals. The average salt shaker has a scaled down, processed version of its former self. The salt we commonly consume does little to promote health and yes, should be used in moderation. However, using a Celtic sea salt with all the minerals that salt is supposed to have is actually very good for you. I even read a study that the reason children are drawn to salt is for the mineral content. Once you are using the proper type of salt, kids will stop craving the salty foods once they get the required minerals. Am I saying you should listen to every craving that your body has? No, especially in this day and age of all the forms of MSG which literally cause addiction in the body, along with other neurotoxins like aspartame, splenda, etc. that fool your brain. But, if we are eating primarily whole, unprocessed foods and are not used to those chemicals, our bodies can lead us in the direction that we need to go. We will crave the things we are deficient in and once we get that, the craving will be satisfied. But, if we grab that bag of chips and eat the thousands upon thousands of mgs of sodium, that won't be meeting our mineral needs. But, switching to sea salt with those minerals could put you on the path to 1) satisfying that salt craving and 2) giving your body the essential minerals we need but don't often get.

And if you want an even healthier snack, make your own "chips" using other veggies. You can use a vegetable peeler and peel carrots, zucchini, etc. and fry them up in coconut oil, add a little sea salt and have a yummy snack without as many of the negative health consequences as regular, processed potato chips. Or you can make your own potato chips. We used to but we've really tried to scale back our potato intake. Remember, they are still chips and still have fat from the grease but hey, you have to live a little. And the coconut oil is so much healthier for you than some of the other oils out there and the sea salt will be giving you some needed minerals. And if you switch out the potatoes with other veggies, you will get some small amount of nutrition to help offset the fried goodness a little, lol. There are so many ways to increase the nutrition of snacks. You have to be creative and work a little harder, but I think it is worth it!

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