Anyone NOT use any salt?

[Raene]

I recently met a woman who owns a raw food bar company and she doesn't use salt...no, not even the Celtic sea salt...none whatsoever. She is the picture perfect image of health and recently had a baby (over 7 lbs and chubby), eating 100% raw. I know of only one other person, Jinjee, who has succeeded with this.

I'm just curious as to if anyone else says no to salt and WHY. I am one of those people who salts everything and have thought in the past that we need a little salt. But I know of certain raw food books in which they nix salt too. WHY?

[Revvell]

Now that you mention it, I've not used salt at all for awhile now. I never salt my foods and if/when I make a "gourmet" dish which is rare and only when others ask for it, do I "maybe" add salt.

There's really no reason to add it. If one is eating raw, all that's needed for our bodies is contained in our food.

Consider this ~ we can't drink ocean water. It would make us vomit. We didn't come from the ocean so why add ocean minerals to our food?

[jacsam]

Have you read Alissa's section in her book about salt? I got the idea that using the right type of salt gives your body minerals that it needs. Yeah, there's nothing like a garden fresh tomatoe lightly salted. I can't say I use alot of salt but I do use it here and there in a recipe and on a tomatoe.

[Moretta]

I never salt any of my food. The raw foods have enough flavour for me to enjoy them to the fullest. I was never a salt person to begin with when I was eating SAD.

[Raene]

I cannot imagine eating a kale salad without salt...you know, kale massaged with olive oil until it turns bright green...and then add tons of salt?

How do you get used to bitter greens?

[freespirit]

i add salt to everything- i love it and wouldnt want to go without. i guess its personal preference, but if you dont use salt i can see how that could be more beneficial. i dont think chimps are sitting in a jungle wishing for salt, and if we are trying to return to nature it makes sense to eliminate it.

[Revvell]

I cannot imagine eating a kale salad without salt...you know, kale massaged with olive oil until it turns bright green...and then add tons of salt?

No, can't imagine doing that. TONS of salt? seems like a lot. :p


How do you get used to bitter greens?

I don't perceive them as bitter.

[rawstrength]

I find that when I don't eat any salt, after a few weeks my body goes looking for it! I will get cravings for salty foods that I never liked, such as pretzels. Or I will keep eating and eating different foods, but none of them are satisfying or taste good, until I eat something salty. Or, I will go and eat a whole head (or two of celery). Or most recently, I will have non-stop cravings for miso soup. One time I really needed salt and I ate a whole bag of sundried tomatoes. My need for salt is most apparent when I am exercising a lot. I think that I am the type of person who loses a lot of salt through sweat.

I got my back of celtic salt from raw from the farm in the mail today, so now I'm happy :) . I had a salad with sea salt on it and my cravings for miso are over.

[oai]

I don't use any salt. No reason. :) Maybe b/c I don't like food prep. even if it is something simple like shaking a salt shaker. :rolleyes:

[chilove]

Hi there,

I don't use salt because I noticed that when I eliminated it my cooked food cravings went WAY down. It was amazing!

Blessings,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Inca_faerie]

I find that when my salt intake is too low I feel weak and tired. I use himalayan crystal salt.

[Ilse W.]

I'm like Rawstrength and sometimes crave miso soup. I dry celery and turn it into celery salt (grind it in my coffee grinder). That's what goes into pretty much all salads and such. I use Braggs liquid aminos in some things. I also have some Celtic Sea Salt, but don't use it much. I had made pickles and ate them all in the last 5 weeks. That was salt overload, and I didn't lose an ounce of weight. I'm glad they are gone, even though they were great! The way I understand it, you shouldn't have salt, because too much salt in the cells requires extra water, which is pulled from the blood. That makes your blood too sluggish and can cause those people with obstructed arteries (everybody who's every eaten SAD and cooked food and hasn't been on raw for too long) to have heart attacks or strokes. I'm reading an excellent book by Ross Horne: The Health Revolution, which explains it very well. The book is available free on line at www.soilandhealth.org.

[Ilse W.]

...and BTW we DO come from the ocean. All life originated there. The salt content of our bodies is the same as ocean water. If it doesn't stay that way, we die. That's why we hang on to all that water, if we overdo the salt.

[rawstrength]

I've been reading up on this salt stuff . . . about 1/3 of people are salty sweaters, and lose signicantly more salt through their sweat than your average person. Based on the description, I think I am definitely one of those people!
I would encourage those who go to a raw diet from a SAD processed food diet to consider boosting their salt intake if they find that they have trouble working out. I cannot do anything that makes me sweat if I have not had my salt fix!

[Ilse W.]

That would explain why I had to have tomato soup with miso every day for part of September (our only summer weather this year), but really don't want it right now.

[1bigfamily]

I don't usually eat salt in my raw foods. It makes my kidneys hurt, at least that is the area that hurts when I eat it.

[mongodelight]

Even organic food is deficient in minerals. Almost 100%. Everything. Try a nutrional calculator.

[freshlight]

I haven't been using salt for years, then I tried to eat some, but it doesn't feel right to me.

I increased the greens and feel much better than before. When you eat saltfree you can enjoy the taste of the raw food MUCH more, imho.

[souldanzer]

I haven't been using any salt anymore, either. It has been tasting toxic to me lately as I am eating more and more fresh, raw, whole foods.
I put my green smoothie into nutridiary the other day though and was surprised to find that 200g (a little less than half a pound) of chard has more than 500mg of (organically bound) sodium!

Souldanzer:)

[SamanthaMunster]

I never use salt .. probably for a little over 4 years now. I gradually stopped using it. It took awhile for my tastebuds to become accustomed to it, but once I did, I never got a craving for it:) and still to this day, I live fine without it!

[annavon]

I had stopped using salt for quite a few years because my parents had high blood pressure and didn't use it. I then had two doctors (one a naturopath and one conventional doctor) tell me that I wasn't getting enough salt in my diet. I have fairly low blood pressure and I was getting dehydrated easily. I was told to either add some sea salt to my diet or to consume naturally salty foods like celery, sea veggies and miso. I now use salt on occaision and eat some naturally salty foods. I don't overdo it. I let my body tell me when it needs it. I don't ususally crave salt and I find I only need a small about or things taste too salty.

[ArcturusXIV]

I have the opposite problem....low blood pressure, lol. Once it was so low that the doctor couldn't even detect my blood pressure... I eat celtic salt and REAL sea salt all the time. I think it depends on a person's system. Probably it's not necessary, but a little bit won't hurt.

[roseyonnex]

I just listened to this really informative podcast the other day about salt and water. The interview was of Daniel Vitalis. It can be found at www.WeLikeItRaw.com, or on the Itunes store under the "We Like it Raw" podcast.

It was a interview about water mostly, but he talked about "why we need salt" in our diet, the relationship of salt and water.

In sum, there is a delicate balance between too much salt intake and not enough salt intake. People have actually died from not enough salt and too much salt. When you body does not have enough salt, it does not absorb water, and if it has too much salt it retains water.

But, of course, we get a lot of salt from foods. But I wonder if you are eating all natural foods all the time, with no added salt, if your body is getting enough salt if you don't add some?

Anyway, something to think about, and something I will think more about! I am going to find out more information on Daniel Vitalis. I think he is associated with David Wolfe in some way.