Unrefined Salt Or Refined Salt?
Once I tasted unrefined salt, I never bought refined salt again! Refined salt--that's the table salt sold in the supermarket--now tastes thin to me and causes raging thirst.
Salt is necessary to human health.
And the kind of salt that people used for nearly all of human history was unrefined.
Unrefined salt
Unrefined salt--unlike refined salt--rehydrates and restores fluid balance.
It contributes dozens of macrominerals and trace minerals to the body--minerals that aren't necessarily available from other sources.
The body uses the salt along with the other minerals to transport nutrients into the cells and move toxins out of the cells, all while maintaining the body's fluid balance.
Refined Salt
It's refined salt that causes water retention and dehydration.
That's the salt that you buy in the supermarket, and the salt that food manufacturers use in fast food and processed food.
It's refined in an industrial process to sodium chloride. Chemicals and high temperatures remover all other minerals and bleach it white. The nature of the salt is fundamentally altered.
Chemicals are added, including anticaking agents, inorganic iodine, and dextrose (refined sugar). The anticaking agents prevent the refined salt from clumping, but also prevent the salt from working properly with the water in the body.
In the body, cells retain refined salt because it lacks trace minerals. Electrolyte balance is disturbed. The ultimate result is dehydration, edema, and high blood pressure. Insulin and blood sugar levels are also disrupted. Read about: Salt and high blood pressure
How To Buy
Fortunately, unrefined sea salt is available in natural food stores and online. But beware! Some brands have misleading labels. Anything labeled simply "sea salt," even in natural food stores, is almost certainly refined. Read the label carefully!
The following brands, however, are unrefined:
Celtic Sea Salt, described as "whole salt," is sun-dried from sea water with traditional methods. The natural organic matter of the sea contributes additional organic iodine.
I particularly value this salt for its ability to bring out the flavor of meat. It is relatively expensive.
Redmond Real Salt, "gourmet all natural sea salt," is mined in Utah from prehistoric sea beds. It is "not bleached, kiln dried, heated, or altered with chemicals and pollutants."
This is my everyday salt, and I find it perfect for popcorn, rice, and vegetables. It is relatively less expensive and is available more finely ground.
More Information
A Pillar of Salt, by Jon Barron, is a straightforward, knowledgeable article that describes what salt accomplishes in the body (so much more than what I've mentioned here) and compares the use of salt refined and unrefined.
In Unrefined Salt vs. Industrial Grade Sodium Chloride, V. Bradshaw-Black, in The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, calls the use of refined salt "the foundation of nutritional deficiency" because the body's cells become too dehydrated to absorb nutrition and expel toxins. In contrast, unrefined salt, the author says, is absolutely necessary to cellular nutrition and cellular detoxification.