Table Salt

"The greatest harm done by the presence of salt in the body is to the cardiovascular system.  A severe enough potassium deficiency caused by excessive salt intake will shrink, calcify, scar and destroy the muscles, valves and arteries along the entire coronary route.  This finally culminates in congestive heart failure.  It is no wonder succumbing to heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States today."  Andrew & Cheryl Zuppo, from "The Hazards of Salt," in the May/June 1984 issue of Healthful Living.

Is is important to remember that sodium and salt are not synonymous, as there are many kinds of sodium.

Sodium is a required ingredient in our body chemistry.  It is natural for a 154 pound (70 kilogram) person to contain 83 to 97 grams of sodium.  A normal saline solution is 0.9 to 1 teaspoon per quart of liquid.  But table salt (sodium chloride) contains 60 percent chloride and 40 percent sodium.

Sodium is one of the nutritional needs of the human body, and we can obtain all the sodium we need on a diet of raw fruits and vegetables.  For example, celery is an excellent source of sodium in a form the body can utilize.  When table salt is eliminated from the diet, the body's sodium level will usually normalize and excess fluid will be released.

Americans consume far more salt than they realize because salt is added to most processed foods.  The body struggles constantly to remove this toxic substance.  The body deposits salt in the tissue fluids in an attempt to dilute this toxicity.  When a person goes on a juice fast, the body immediately starts releasing the excess fluid it has retained to neutralize the salt.

Salt is used as a preservative because it kills bacteria.  Salt also kills the life force in foods, which is bad news for the consumer of the food, but good news for the manufacturer and retailer, because killing this life force is the only way to keep foods on a grocery shelf for months or years at a time without decay.  In the body, salt destroys the living cells and wreaks havoc with our immune system.  Salt is an addictive substance that most people have become "hooked on," and it should be removed from the diet as quickly as possible.

(Quoted from Recipes for Life from God's Garden by Rhonda Malkmus)