by Steve Marshall

Created on: September 10, 2009

In the Christian bible, Jesus has been recorded as telling us that we are the salt of the Earth. He went on to say that if salt became tasteless, it is useless to mankind.

Scientifically speaking pure salt or sodium chloride cannot become tasteless. Pure salt is about forty percent by weight sodium. In Jesus's day however the salt was not pure, it could contain impurities and other minerals besides, and yet this salt was still better for us than the one that we generally use today.

Do we need salt of any kind in our diets or not is a very good question indeed? Is pure salt good for us in its moderate usage? Are other types of salt beneficial for us in any way? What is the best type of salt?

Not only is salt is essential to good overall health, it is essential to life.

For over 4,000 years we have been aware of salt's affect on our blood pressure. Salt helps our bodies to regulate our blood pressure. Messages are given to the muscles of our blood vessels in order to maintain the levels of our blood pressure within a healthy range.

Salt helps our bodies to regulate our blood pressure. It also helps in the proper functioning of our muscles, our nerves and also is involved with the digestion and proper assimilation of our foods. Salt helps us to maintain the correct levels of fluid in our blood cells. It assists in our bodies uptake of other nutrients.

Normally human blood contains about 0.9% salt as sodium chloride.

Our body does not make its own salt, and so we rely on obtaining it from our food intake.

Salt aids in our digestion from the very first moment that it enters our mouths. Salt activates something called salivary amylase right from within our mouths. If you remember your chemistry lessons, you will also know that salt plays its part in the production of hydrochloric acid. This acid is produced in our stomachs to aid in our digestion process.

Too much salt though, has been said to be the cause, or at least a contributor towards many various human diseases or adverse health conditions. These include high blood pressure, heart disease and even obesity. Sodium in excess causes our bodies to retain water, and it also thickens our blood.

There is an ongoing debate about how salt affects our cardiovascular system. It has not been totally proven if salt is a contributor to heart disease or not. Even the amount of the affect on our health due to reducing its action through salt reduction in our diet is still being assessed.

Salt is used in just about every type

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