Whats up with pink Himalyan sea salt???

There are lots of small ways to improve what we keep in our kitchen. There are the obvious things- shop only in the outer aisles of the super market, buy local, eliminate processed foods- all of this very pertinent and valuable. But I also like the small steps that don't necessarily require an upheaval of one's lifestyle. Wait- I take that back. I love upheaval. I am here to promote upheaval and a completely radical departure from a lifestyle of processed foods, fast food, allowing convenience to dictate what food you put in your body, and the obsessive investigation of anything and everything one puts into their mouth, body, and mind. Having said that, I will tell you why switching your salt is an awesome idea.

First, but not terribly important in the scheme of things- Himalayan Sea Salt is pink! Not baby girl pink, but a chthonian, primal pink. Like a tongue. Like salmon. Like something that is rich in good things. It looks deeply and intrinsically good.

Himalayan Sea Salt chunks

Now on to the importance of switching from processed table salt to a "full spectrum" salt.

  Himalayan Sea Salt contains a full spectrum of 84 minerals and trace elements. It is an unrefined, unprocessed "raw" salt that's hand-mined from abundant salt caves that were formed 250 million years ago as ocean salt settled in certain geologic pockets around the earth- basically, these were sea caves millions of years ago, so this is salt from an ancient sea.

Most of the western world thinks of salt as sodium chloride -- a highly refined, processed white substance that's devoid of nutrients. Salt is so completely devoid of nutrients, in fact, that in the early 20th century, doctors noticed that people who ate white table salt started to suffer chronic degenerative diseases such as goiter. This was caused by the lack of iodine in the salt. In addition to goiter, there is a not so lovely condition called cretinism-

Iodine deficiency is one of the leading causes of preventable mental handicaps worldwide, producing typical reductions in IQ of 10 to 15 IQ points. It has been speculated that deficiency of iodine and other micronutrients may be a possible factor in observed differences in IQ between ethnic groups: see race and intelligence for a further discussion of this controversial issue.

Cretinism is a condition associated with iodine deficiency and goiter, commonly characterised by mental deficiency, deaf-mutism, squint, disorders of stance and gait, stunted growth and hypothyroidism. Paracelsus was the first to point out the relation between goitrous parents and mentally retarded children.^{[5]-Wikipedia}

Regular processed table salt is missing over 80 minerals. 80!!!! But they only put ONE mineral back  , and that's the iodine. Hence- iodized salt. Like the one with the sweet girl on the side, with her umbrella- so well branded to us Americans, we almost feel like we know her.

Morton Salt is owned by K+S AG, a German chemical and salt company.

 Why would you want to eat salt that's been artificially enriched with ONE mineral when you could be eating salt that contains 84 minerals?  Well, probably you didn't know. But you do now! 

Lots of salt companies now are cashing in on the term 'sea salt'. Don't be fooled. If your salt is white, its processed. Like your sugar- if its white, its bleached and processed. (I'll get to alternatives to white sugar in another blog- but trust me, its not Splenda or Equal or Sweet n Low!)

You can get Himalayan Sea Salt at lots of health food stores, or you can order it from amazon.com. Do it. Occupy yourself means you re-appropriate all that has been claimed by anything or anyone other than you. Choose to dismantle your programming, question all that you think you know (I say start with your attitude about food- and the rest will follow naturally) and wage a full on revolution in the neighborhood that is YOU. Vive la resistance!!!!



If I can do this, you can too

xoxo,

Ashley Dane