Salt not only improves the taste of our food, but it is also vital for our body. Minute quantity of salt helps in the flow of electrical signals in our brain. Salt also plays a very important role in maintaining water levels in our body.
Several types of salts are available for consumption, like rock salt, sea salt, black salt, ordinary salt etc. The ordinary salt normally used in cooking has sodium. Sodium increases blood pressure whereas potassium reduces it. Salts contain several other chemicals and compounds as well. There are two types of salts normally available in market: first, the refined iodized white salt and second, rock salt or black salt which comes in both crystallized and powder forms.
According to experts in Ayurveda, refined salt contains large amounts of sodium and other chemicals that are not very good for health. Rock salt instead, contains 94 elements like calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, copper etc. and so is considered very good for health. It is also known as Himalayan salt and it helps in prevention of diseases that arise due to all three doshas (vata, pitta and kapha). It is considered good for heart and digestive system and helps in preventing diseases like blood pressure fluctuations, skin diseases, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, stress etc. This salt also provides relief in conditions like muscle pull and cramps. Black salt is quite rich in iron. It is cold by nature (according to Ayurveda) and is beneficial in curing several kinds of ailments like constipation, acidity, digestive problems, flatulence, burning sensation in chest, hysteria, reduced vision, anaemia etc.
Scientists believe that life originated on the earth in the salty waters of oceans. So this is why in all the food products, greens, and vegetables, minute quantity of salt, which is an essential nutrient, is naturally found. People, who undertake asvada fasting, i.e. taking food with no added flavour, salt or sugar, get their basic requirement of salt fulfilled through the traces of salt naturally found in food products. As a result, they can live a normal life without additional salt in food. Else, depravity of salt in body can lead to severe physical weakness.
In summer, if excessive salt flows out of the body due to sweating it can pose danger to life. Similar condition arises during dysentery and diarrhoea when excess water flows out of the body. A simple solution in such situations is rehydration using saline drip or oral rehydration by drinking water with added salt and sugar. Patients suffering from high blood pressure or with non-functional kidneys however, need to abstain from eating salt or need to take salt that is low on sodium and has higher levels of potassium.
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work. – Stephen King”
Salt is not just a taste enhancer, it is also a great, naturally available preservative like sugar. It has been used for years as preservative in pickles, jams etc. Salt is produced in large quantities by drying up sea water. Salt is also extracted by breaking rocks and it is believed that wherever such rocks are found there must have been sea or large collection of salty water in earlier times. For centuries salt trade has spurred international commerce and relations. Banishing defeated opponents to live a torturous life in salt mines was a regular punishment given by cruel kings.
‘Rubbing salt on wounds’ is a common saying that shows that salt can be misused as well. During fasts, usage of common salt is prohibited. However, people who cannot eat food without its salty taste, can use rock salt. Rock salt is considered acceptable during fasts.Rock salt is slightly different from sea salt and is considered appropriate for vegetarian diets. Black salt which has the smell of sulphur is also used often to add taste in food. In Ayurveda, black salt along with other spices is used to make different medicines, for example, Lavan Bhaskar Choorna. Several medicines that are good for the digestive system contain all three salts, sea salt, black salt and rock salt.
There is an interesting story about salt – A king once asked his princess who she loved the most. He adored her daughter and wanted to hear her say his name, but she replied she loved salt the most. King got angry and ordered that her daughter must stay away from his sight. Several years later, when his doctors ordered that only salt free food be prepared for the King, he realized the true value of salt. There are several different idioms in local cultures that use the term salt, and these idioms not just bring out the importance of salt in food but relate salt with human relationships as well, like – to pay back the loan of salt. In several idioms in Hindi, beauty is equated with saltiness like the idiom ‘roop lavanya’, where the root of the word lavanya is lavana which means salt. If someone has an attractive personality then this personality is also equated with saltiness, meaning that the person is very pleasant and joyful.
Salt is not just an edible item, it is also a good source of energy. It is an essential constituent of our body, which helps in purification of blood, kills harmful bacteria in the body and protects us from several diseases. If salt is not taken for a long time, body develops weakness. At the same time, excess salt intake is also quite harmful for the body. Only 6 grams of salt intake a day is adequate for a normal healthy body.
A balanced amount of salt can be added into food for the right taste. If salt is less in quantity the food will be tasteless. Excess salt also spoils the taste. But, proper amount of salt enhances taste significantly. A balanced intake of salt is beneficial for health and increases life expectancy. At the same time, more intake or less intake, are harmful for health and lead to reduction in life expectancy.
So we must take a balanced amount of salt with our food. And just like this balance in salt intake, we must maintain a balance in all aspects of life, and keep away from extremes.“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause. – Theodore Roosevelt”
Source: Akhand Jyoti Magazine May-June 2019