Written by Roy J Cruz

A person adrift on the ocean is advised by the experts not to drink the salt water. “Because,” they say, “the salt will dehydrate you and make you more thirsty.”

Should you find yourself, someday, in the middle of the Sahara Desert , the same experts prescribe salt tablets. “So you can retain water”, they incant innocently.

If you sprinkle salt (any kind of salt) on a slug it will burn, shrivel-up and die.

Salt will rust away your car.

I’ve heard it said that animals will walk miles for a lick on a salt block. Why then is not the Great Salt Lake an oasis for wildlife? Why is the Dead Sea dead?

Throughout history salt has been revered. Wars have been waged for it, and it has been used as a means of exchange.

People the world over cook their food with fire. Interesting though, that wild animals eat their food raw. The human alone cooks his food, and he alone dowses it with salt.

Salt is a stimulant, not unlike caffeine, nicotine, or cocaine. It stimulates the adrenal glands and raises blood pressure, creating a false sense of well-being. Like all stimulants, the body becomes addicted, and makes the necessary compensations. However, salt offers absolutely no nutritional benefit!

Salt has a corrosive burning effect upon the body. (Witness the slug.) When salt enters the body it causes an immediate thirst to offset the burning effect on its delicate tissues. Without fresh drinking water, a person will die if they persist in allowing salt to enter the body. (Witness the person in the life boat.)

The lure, the hook, is that it makes our food taste better. Ergo, begins the stimulant, addiction cycle.

In my youth and into my 30’s I suffered with springtime hay fever. Feeling hopeless, and feeling there was no cure, I was guided to a book called “Food is your Best Medicine” by Dr. Henry G. Bieler. This book pointed to salt as being the cause of hay fever. Immediately, cold turkey, I eliminated salt from my diet. 18 months later, in the springtime, I was walking down the 16th fairway of a local golf course, behind the mower, when my two partners began to sneeze. That’s how I learned the hay fever season had begun. I was euphoric!

I will disagree whole heartedly with the experts who say salt is a necessity to good health. I would ask them if they have gone without salt (zero tolerance) for any length of time longer than six months. Is their opinion based on objective rather than subjective experience?

Of all alkaline elements of the the body, sodium is the most important. It is the element found in greatest abundance. The richest source of organic sodium is found in fruits and vegetables, as well as raw meats. Sodium in this organic form is medicine to the body. Sodium derived from salt is harmful and potentially lethal. Especially if you're a slug.