Most of us have been taught that all salt is bad for us, and I used to believe it. The more I learn though, the more I realize that chemical laden, processed salt is harmful, but natural salt like Celtic, Himalayan, and Real Salt are good and necessary. The salt that most of us are familiar with (white table salt) has been stripped of most of its minerals (besides sodium and chloride). One of the minerals that is removed is potassium, which can protect our bodies from potentially negative effects of excess sodium by helping the kidneys process it more efficiently. White table salt also contains unhealthy additives like sugary dextrose, anti-caking agents, and bleaching compounds.

When I sat through my first Nourishing Traditions class back in 2008, I remember thinking that the information presented to us made a lot of sense, but it was overwhelming to think of changing our diet completely. The instructor said this, “Get your salt right and then move on to the next thing.” And that was exactly what we did. I learned that salt was essential for good health, but using the wrong kind of salt (the highly processed salt that most of us use) could actually cause health problems. We changed our salt and then slowly converted the rest of our diet.

I will admit that I was scared of salt because my husband had high blood pressure at the time, and I had been taught that eating salt would only cause more problems with his blood pressure. My blood pressure was fine, besides at the end of my second pregnancy. In the past my hands would swell when I ate a lot of salt, to the point that my wedding ring wouldn’t fit.  Today we are following the principles of the Weston Price Foundation, and to be completely honest, we eat all the salt we want. Cory’s blood pressure is normal, and I haven’t had any blood pressure issues with my last six pregnancies. I also notice that my hands never swell like they used to.

I have heard several natural practitioners state that Americans are not getting enough iodine. One might assume that buying natural salt that has not been iodized could be detrimental to their health. While this does contain some naturally occurring iodine, it’s not enough to meet the RDA. After my research though, I’m now convinced that the iodine in salt is not only unnatural, but it’s not “bioavailable.” According to the Real Salt Website, “Dr. David Brownstein, a board-certified family physician and an expert in thyroid disease and iodine, as well as other doctors and scientists, have discovered that the iodine added to salt is at best about 10% bioavailable- which means that if you consume 100 micrograms, your body will only be able to use 10 micrograms. Iodine that occurs naturally in food is almost 100% bioavailable.”

Since our family strives to get our nutrients from food, we have added bladderwrack daily, and we include plenty of other natural sources of iodine like pastured eggs and salmon. Other natural sources are oysters and kelp to name a few. We also feed all of our animals kelp, so I would guess this benefits the person consuming them. I have heard of people eating kelp too, but haven’t tried it myself. One needs to be careful when adding something like bladderwrack or kelp, because it’s a really good source of iodine and as it pulls toxins, it can give one a headache.

Are you eating natural salt that has not been stripped of it’s natural minerals or filled with additives and anticaking agents? We love to hear from you!

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert on this issue, and there are a very small percentage of Americans that will benefit from a low salt diet. If you would like to learn more about this issue, I highly recommend the link below.