A Grain of Advice on Salt

You might think of “salt” as a dirty word – the stuff that spikes your blood pressure and increases your risk of heart disease.

But your heart, adrenals, liver and kidneys need salt to function, and you can’t digest food without it. What’s more, salt:

• Carries nutrients across cell membranes into your cell;
• Keeps calcium and other minerals soluble in your blood;
• Maintains your body’s balance of fluids;
• Regulates blood pressure.

In my 20 years as an alternative-health physician, I’ve found that most of my patients don’t need less salt. What they need is the right kind of salt, and more potassium. That’s because potassium helps to keep sodium levels in check and optimize blood pressure.

A study published in Kidney International found that potassium deficiencies increase blood pressure and induce salt sensitivity.1

Another study published in the Journal of Hypertension examined 150 Chinese men and women who ate diets high in salt and low in potassium. Half took a placebo, and the other half took a potassium supplement. After 12 weeks, the systolic blood pressure of the potassium group significantly decreased.2

But most Americans eat too much processed salt and don’t get nearly enough potassium. In fact, the FDA estimates that about 75 percent of our salt intake comes from processed foods and from table salt added to food.3

How does that affect you?

Table salt is processed at temperatures over 1,000 degrees. This processing changes its chemical structure and strips it of its natural nutrients. In addition, salt producers add anti-caking ingredients and bleach it.

By the time it gets to your dinner table, it’s mostly sodium and additives – no nutrients whatsoever.

A healthier kind of salt is sea salt. It’s formed by the evaporation of sea water in sunlight. As a result, it retains up to 82 vital trace minerals, including potassium, magnesium and calcium.

You can lower your blood pressure and improve your health by consuming the right kind of salt and boosting your potassium. Here’s a three-step plan you can use to help you get healthy salts and more potassium:

1. Know how much salt is in your food. Each teaspoon of salt is equal to 2,325 mg of sodium. Does that sound like a lot? Well the truth is, most processed foods have many times that amount. One packet of dry onion soup mix contains over 3,000 mg of sodium.

Even sweet foods which may seem like they would have no salt are packed with it. A homemade pie crust can have over 1,300 milligrams. Two small restaurant pancakes have more than 1,100 milligrams.

When you’re at the store buying food, you can go beyond reading the sodium content on the label. Processors have dozens of names they use instead of salt. Luckily, most of them do have sodium in the name so you’ll know what to avoid. But also look for ingredients like metabisulfite, erythorbate, propionate and guanylate.

2. Replace table salt with sea salt. A lot of the sea salt you find at grocery stores is really just processed table salt. Generally, if salt is white and pours easily, it’s probably processed. Natural sea salt is darker in color – because it’s dried in white and brown layers (and the brown layer has most of the nutrients).

Your safest bet is to buy sea salt from a health-food store. There are many kinds such as Mediterranean, Himalayan and Pacific and they all have slightly different tastes.

3. Boost your levels of potassium. The best food sources are orange-colored fruits and vegetables like apricots, cantaloupe, oranges, nectarines, peaches, sweet potatoes, and butternut and acorn squash. Other good sources are black and kidney beans, spinach, Swiss chard, artichokes, bananas, kiwi, fish, meat, poultry and milk.

These are just some of the excellent and unconventional high-blood-pressure remedies mentioned in a new report by Craig Anderson, The High Blood Pressure Remedy Report. It reveals the truth behind high blood pressure. It also shows you how to stop high blood pressure and cut your risk of heart attack and stroke – without worry, drugs, pain or wasted money.

Lower your blood pressure naturally today.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

12 Food Additives to Remove From Your Diet

Many food additives have been studied and linked to various diseases. Becoming informed about the additives in everyday food items can make for an easier shopping experience and healthier food for everyone.

Here’s a list of some of the most medically questionable and harmful additives in everyday foods:

1. Sodium nitrite
2. BHA & BHT
3. Propyl gallate
4. Monosodium glutamate
5. Trans fats
6. Aspartame
7. Acesulfame-K
8. Food colorings (Blue, Red, Green, Yellow)
9. Olestra
10. Potassium bromate
11. White sugar
12. Sodium chloride (salt)

Since some of these may not be familiar to you, sodium nitrite is a preservative added most commonly to bacon, ham, hot dogs, sandwich meats, and smoked fish. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) are other preservatives added to foods like cereal, gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils. Propyl gallate is found in meats, chicken soup base, and gum. All of these preservatives have been linked to cancer.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) can cause migraines and other adverse effects. Trans fats are being eliminated from most foods, as the studies linking them to heart disease, strokes, and kidney problems are widely accepted.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener found in products like NutraSweet and Equal as well as diet foods and soft drinks. And acesulfame-K is a newer sweetener used in soft drinks and some baked goods.

Many food colorings have been banned by the FDA, but some can still be found in foods that require a particular color. Olestra was common for a time in potato chips as an additive that prevented fat from being absorbed in your digestive system. Food colorings have been tied to cancer and Olestra also blocks vitamins from being processed.

Potassium bromate is sometimes added to white flour, breads, and rolls to increase the volume of the products, but it has cancer-causing properties that have prompted some states in America to actually require a label to that effect.

Finally, white sugar and sodium chloride (salt) can be dangerous if not kept to a minimum

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

Western Diet Boosts Global Heart Attack Risk 30%

But study also finds 'Oriental' pattern little benefit either way because of salty sauces

The fried foods, salty snacks and meats that are staples of the Western diet account for about 30 percent of heart attack risk across the world, a new report suggests. Meanwhile, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, the so-called "Prudent" diet, is tied a low risk of heart attack, according to the study, published in the Oct. 21 issue of Circulation. The research, which looked at dietary habits in 52 countries, found people who ate a Western diet had a 35 percent greater risk of having a heart attack compared to those who ate little or no fried foods and meat. Those who followed a "Prudent" diet had a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack compared to those who went light on fruits and vegetables. The authors also looked at an "Oriental" diet, rich in tofu, soy and other sauces, and found it did not increase or decrease the risk of a heart attack. Previous studies have reached similar conclusions about the "Prudent" and Western diet in the United States and Europe, but did not include the Oriental pattern of eating. While some components of the Oriental diet may protect against heart trouble, the higher sodium content of sauces counter that benefit. "This study indicates that the same relationships that are observed in Western countries exist in different regions of the world," study senior author Salim Yusuf, a professor of medicine at McMaster University and director of the Population Health Research Institute at Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, said in an American Heart Association news release. The Canadian researchers analyzed risk factors in food choices and the risk of heart attack in about 16,000 people in 52 countries. Almost 6,000 people had heart attacks, while the rest had no known heart disease. More information Source: The American Heart Association

"Life-Critical Nutrient"

Here's How You'll Beat Those Odds ...

 Each and every cell in your body calls out for this unique nutrient ...

You see, it's responsible for the production of all of your body's hormones. You also need it for your immune system to work properly.

With insufficient amounts, you could end up with cancer, multiple sclerosis, or a host of other diseases.

Your government tells you not to worry ... they say you get an adequate supply of it in your diet, because of a policy they instituted in the 1920's.

But do you?

Consider this — over the last 30 years, body levels of this life-saving nutrient have dropped by nearly 50% in the United States — despite the government's best efforts.

Our new Newsmax medical editor, Dr. David Brownstein, has tested over 4,000 patients in his clinic. His findings have been shocking — 96.5% tested low for this critical substance.

This nutrient is the missing link to your good health. Yet it's something you probably never give a thought to.

It's the most misunderstood nutrient out there ...

It's iodine.

Special 2008 Health Update
by Christopher Ruddy, Newsmax CEO