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Welcome back to Chasing Eden, Natural Health, God's Way. I'm
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your host, Carolyn Thompson, and today we're diving into a
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mineral that has shaped civilizations, been traded like gold, preserved
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food for centuries, and is absolutely essential to human health.
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Yet it has been demonized and misunderstood for decades. I'm
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talking about salt. Now, if you grew up hearing the
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standard medical advice cut down on salt, avoid sodium. Sodium
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it causes high blood pressure, you may have a little
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alarm bell ringing in your head right now. They hang
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on with me, because that's exactly what we're going to
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unpack today. How salt got demonized, why that narrative isn't
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the full truth, and what leading voices in natural health
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are now saying about the vital role of salt in
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our bodies. Will cover the fascinating history of salt around
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the world, the many different types of salt Himalayan, Celtic, Baja, Red, Hawaiian,
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and more, the very real health benefits of salt, the
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deception and fear campaign that made salt the villain of
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our diets, and what health leaders like doctor Bergh, Dave Asbury,
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Gary Brecca, doctor artists and doctor Barbara O'Neil say about
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consuming salt, and yes, the new concerns about micro plastics
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in commercial sea salts and how to choose wisely. So
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grab your favorite mineral rich salt shaker and let's get
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into it. So let's talk about salt through the ages,
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the global history of it. Salt has been called the
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white gold. The entire economies and empires were built on
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salt roots. Roman soldiers were once paid in salt. The
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word salary actually comes from solarium, their salt allowance. From
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the ancient Egyptians using salt to preserve mummies, to the
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Celt's harvesting Celtic sea salt to Himalayan pink salt formed
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from ancient sea beds. Salt has always been recognized as
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both life sustaining and medicinal. Salt wasn't feared, it was revered,
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and only in the last sixty to seventy years has
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it been cast as the bad god. So where did
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this anti salt narrative come from? Well, in the mid
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twentieth century, as heart disease rates climbed, researchers began looking
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for dietary culprits. A man named Ansel Keys and you
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may know him from the infamous seven Cuntry Trees study
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linked saturated fat and cholesterol with heart disease. And around
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that same time, some studies suggested there was a correlation
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between high sodium and high blood pressure. Suddenly, salt became
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a scapegoat, and by the nineteen seventies and eighties, the
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low salt diet was being pushed by the American Heart Association,
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the USDA, and mainstream doctors. But here's the kicker. Those
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early studies were flawed. They often looked at processed table
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salt stripped of minerals, combined with diets full of refined
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carbs and processed foods. They ignored the fact that other
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factors like sugar, seed, oils, and environmental toxins also plate
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a role. Natural health leaders like doctor Eric Berg have
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repeatedly emphasized that salt doesn't cause high blood pressure. The
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real culprit is insulin resistance and sugar salt actually helps
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maintain fluid balance and cellular function. It's sugar that diamages
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the arteries unquote. So he's saying that sugar is the
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problem in not salt, and yet for decades millions of
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people were told to fear the very mineral that keeps
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our hearts pumping and our nerves firing. So let's clear
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the air. Salt is not optional for human life. It's essential.
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Sodium chloride and trace minerals and natural salts play critical
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roles in your electrolyte balance, which keeps nerves firing and
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muscles contracting, including your heartbeat, your hydration because without salt,
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water can't get into your cells effectively, and also your
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adrenal function. Salt supports cortisol balance and energy levels, as
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well as stomach acid production. Chloride is needed to make
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hydrochloric acid for digestion. Now, you may have done some
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research on digestion if you've had issues with your stomach,
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or if you've had IBS or a bal syndrome, and
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what you might have discovered is that there is actually
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supplements for hydrochloric acid out there on the market that
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a lot of people will go purchase and then take
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when they're having a heavy meal to help them to
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build up their stomach acid and break down the food
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in their stomach. What the problem is is there's a
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couple different problems. For one, if you don't have enough
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salt in your system, you're not going to make enough
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hydrochloric acid. And for another, if you're drinking too much
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fluid with your meals, you're going to water down the
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stomach acid as well. And Barbara O'Neil actually does have
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a video where she talks about how she doesn't even
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drink water while she's eating that when herner has been
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go to a restaurant, they just go ahead and let
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the server ser of water because that's what they automatically do.
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But they never even take one sip about water during
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the meal because they want to make sure that their
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stomach acid stays. You know, that it's not watered down
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and it can actually break down their food. So salt
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also plays a role in our brain health. Sodium helps
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to transmit electrical signals. I also want to stop here
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and point out that you may have also seen that
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in science. If you've ever taken advanced science classes, you
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may have seen them do maybe in your lab, an
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experiment where they will actually show you how salt can
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the electrical charge in salt can light a light bulb.
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And you can look that up on YouTube or somewhere
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on social media and you can actually see that experiment
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if you're interested. Now. Gary Breca, he's a human biologists
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and I really enjoy his videos on Instagram. He's loaded
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with information. He's very passionate, and he's really really good
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at communicating information to you when you're listening. So I
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would highly recommend following him on social media. He's just
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a really great guy. But this is what he says. Quote,
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every single cell in your body is like a battery,
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and salt is what charges it. Without sodium, potassium, and magnesium,
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your cells can't regenerate the energy of life. Unquote. Dave Aspery,
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you may know who he is. He's the founder of
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Bulletproof and also the biohacking movement has also criticized the
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low salt narrative, and he says this quote one of
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the simplest performance hacks is just adding mineral rich salt
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back into your water. Your mitochondria depend on sodium and
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potassium gradients. If you cut salt, you cut energy unquote.
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So keep in mind, a lot of us like to
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use filters to filter our water, and that's a good
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thing because we do want to filter out the stuff
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that's in our tap water. And you might have a
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brit of picture in your fridge, and they're really having
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a field day right now with people who use brit
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pictures on social media because they're saying those really don't
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work that well and you're not getting out everything, and
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you really need to look into something a little more
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intense and of course more expensive, because they're trying to
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sell you they're water filters, and I'm not saying these
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aren't great water filters. I'm just saying that the Brita
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filter is probably not the best filter to be using
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to be filtering your water. Now that being said, you
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have now taken everything out of that water. And in nature,
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water has structure. So when you go drink spring water,
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you're actually drinking water that has been flowing over minerals
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and collecting minerals from different types of rocks. And by
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the time you get that spring water in your glass,
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you've got a water that's got a lot of minerals
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in it, and so it's a healthy water and it
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has structure. So when we drink water that's been filtered, oftentimes,
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if you're not familiar with the word adsorbent, but that's
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what water is. It's an adsorbent the water will go
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into our system and it will actually start pulling minerals
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out of our body because its tendency is to pull
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the minerals out of the rocks and stuff that it
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runs over. So when it goes into your body, it
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starts pulling minerals out. So if you want to make
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sure that you're getting hydrated properly, you're going to want
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to try to switch to spring water or do what
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Dave says, and that is by adding mineral rich salt
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back into your water. And I do that myself. I
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will not drink filtered water without putting a pinch of
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salt into it and stirring it up first, because I
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know otherwise you're going to be run into the bathroom.
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To be honest, you're just going to pee it all
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out because you don't have enough minerals in the body
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or salt to help you to hydrate those cells, to
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fill those cells up. So that being said, Doctor Artists,
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who speaks often on hidden medical deception, has said this quote.
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They told us to fear salt while pushing processed food
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and sugar. Salt was never the problem. It's the lack
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of nutrients and the toxins in our food supply unquote.
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Now there's a lot of salts around the world, too
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many to talk about, way too many. It's crazy how
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many salts there are. But not all salts are created equal.
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So let's explore some of the most popular and beneficial
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salts that we hear about around the world. I'm sure
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you've heard of Himalayan pink salt that is mine from
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ancient sea beds in Pakistan. I've also heard that there's
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some sea beds that we might not call sea beds.
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But I've heard of Himalay and pink salt being mined
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in other places. I want to say, Utah has A
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has some something. They call it a type of red salt.
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Himalayan salt. Now, Himalayan and pink salt is rich in
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over eighty trace minerals. It's known for its pink color hue,
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and that's due to the iron oxide in it. It's
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popular in natural health circles for balancing pH and supporting hydration.
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I have a Himalayan pink salt in my cupboard and
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the next salt. I also have Celtic sea salt. It's
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harvested from tidal ponds off the coast of France. It's
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grayish in color due to its mineral rich clay. It
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has a moist texture and full spectrum spectrum of minerals,
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and it's recommended by many nature paths for adrenal support. Now,
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this third salt, Baja gold Sea salt, I just startart
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keeping in my cupboard a couple of months ago because
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I heard doctor Barbara O'Neill recommend it, because she believes
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it to be pretty pure compared to some of the
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other salts. She says this quote, Baja salt is harvested
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from the Sea of Cortes and contains the highest concentration
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of minerals with the lowest contamination. If you want a
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truly safe, nutrient rich salt, Baja salt is the gold
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standard unquote. Another salt which I've never used is red
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Hawaiian salt. It's mixed with volcanic red clay, so it's
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rich in iron oxide and it's traditionally used in Hawaiian
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rituals and cooking. It's mineral dense and has a unique
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earthy flavor. This next salt, black Lava salt, I have
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had up until a few months ago. I actually ran
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out of it it's infused with activated charcoal, and it
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has strong detoxifying properties and it adds a dramatic finish
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to foods, which is kind of hilarious because the times
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that I've used the salt, it is so strong. You
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have to be really really careful using black lava salt,
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and you definitely don't want to put it like directly
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on your tongue. It's just super duper intense. I actually
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used to sprinkle black lava salt when I had it
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into my bone broth. When I would be boiling the
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chicken bones to make my bone broth, I would add
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this salt because I knew it would add a nice
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flavor to my bone broth. So that one's a nice one.
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I wouldn't mind getting myself some more of that. There's
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also kosher salt, and that's named for its role in
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koshering meat. Larger crystals, less process than table salt. It
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lacks the mineral profile of Himalayan or Celtics, so it
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doesn't have a lot of minerals, but it has its
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benefits to We also know of table salt, which is
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refined salt. Now this is the bad guy. It's been
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stripped of its minerals bleached, refined, and it's often laced
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with anti caking agents or even microplastics. It's associated with
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the negative health effects that gave salt its bad reputation.
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So table salt I haven't had for many, many years,
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and that's something I wouldn't purchase at all now. Doctor
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Berg he advocates mineral rich salts for electrolyte balance, especially
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on ketogenic diets. He warns that low salt diets can
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cause fatigue and muscle cramps. You may have already experienced that.
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I know I have. Salt helps our bodies to hold hydration,
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so make sure that you are incorporating some type of
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mineral rich salt into your daily life. Dave Asprey also
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recommends high mineral salts in water for energy and mitochondrial health.
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Gary Brecatt emphasizes the electrical balance electrolyte balance as foundational
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for longevity and cellular performance. Doctor Artists warns against processed
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table salt and highlights the deception of low salt guidelines,
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and doctor Barbara O'Neal strongly endorses the Baja Gold salt
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as the purest and safest choice today. One of today's
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biggest concerns is the discovery of microplastic particles in sea salt,
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and this is one of the reasons why I kind
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of panic bought some of that Baja salt after I
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watch Barbara O'Neill talk about it not having the contaminants
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in it as the other salts. Studies have found that
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many commercial sea salts, especially from polluted waters, contain microscopic
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plastic fragments from ocean waste. This raises a valid concern
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are we trading minerals for microplastics? And this is why
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many health experts recommend sourcing our salt from ancient protected
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sea beds like Himalayan or carefully tested sources like Baja goal.
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These salts avoid the tamination found in modern ocean harvested salts.
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Now you will see there are people demonizing Himalayan salt
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as well, and then you have your other side saying, hey,
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it's actually not that contaminated. It's really one of those
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things where you just have to go gather your information
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and then make the best educated decision that you can.
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I decided to switch to the Baja salt. I do
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use the flaky, the flaked Malden salt sea salt oftentimes
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in my cooking and different things. But you educate yourself
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and figure out what the best salt is for you