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Salt II Good day, I hope you have been remembering last week's newsletters when cooking. If you reduce the salt gradually you will re-educate the palate and do your health a favor. Let's now conclude the "salt chapter" Salt was originally used as the first food preservative. It was discovered that when meats and vegetables were salted, decay was decreased. Food often spoils depending on its "water activity" level. Food can either be dried to reduce its water activity or it can be salted. Salt affects the water activity in food so that bacterial growth is prevented. In other words, salt is an antibiotic. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is one of the most common illnesses today. It accompanies coronary heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure and kidney disease. When the diet consists of 2.8% salt ( as is typical of Americans ) it is described as "frankly hypertensigenic and life-shortening. Salt is a strong diuretic and causes water to be used from the blood and the lymph to excrete it through the kidneys. This is why salt makes us thirsty- the body demands more water in order to flush an irritating substance from its tissues. The continued use of salt causes a severe affliction of the kidneys called "nephritis" Salt causes inflammatory swelling of the glands. It contributes to constipation and indigestion. It is a factor in many skin diseases It is deposited throughout all the fluids of the body, which causes extreme irritation, injury and death to billions of cells. Hen excessive salt ( that which the body cannot immediately excrete ) is deposited everywhere in the fluid medium of the billions of living body cells causing extreme irritation , injury and death to the cells, the cells send forth a desperate SOS signal and the person gets thirsty and drinks lots of water. This water is carried by the blood and deposited in the tissue fluids to dilute the devastating effects. This results in excessive body fluids, edema. The body takes every opportunity to excrete this salt- constantly through the urine, at even limited or almost no excretion by profuse sweating, through tears etc.. The salts deposit throughout the body cause cells to contract and discharge their life fluids and other vital elements resulting in hardened tissues, shriveled blood corpuscles, hardened arteries, ulcers, blindness and distorted vision, hyper-aesthesia of the nerves, high blood pressure, tumors, cancer, psoriasis, neuritis, heart defects, extreme edema and innumerable other degenerative conditions too numerous to list. A word on black pepper Black pepper is not an actual pepper, but is made from the dried berries of a tropical shrub. Whereas hot peppers like cayenne and chilies are primarily stimulants, black pepper is chiefly an irritant. It has particularly harmful effects on the intestinal tract. Allegedly, black pepper is 47 times more detrimental to the functioning of the liver than is alcohol. White pepper, often used by gourmets, is simply the ripened berries of the pepper shrub. Let's try to cut down on the seasoning of our food this week. In no time our taste buds will regain their sensitivity to the delicate taste of the foods we eat. Wishing you wellness,