I am very interested in salt.
How can we get it out of water to make drinkable water?
Why is it so hard?. What chemistry is making it difficult?
This is the blue planet. Why can't we drink it?
My swimming pool chlorinator does something to salt. What?
How does that work? Why can't that work to provide drinkable water?
How can we restore salt degraded land? A big, big, big problem in Australia .
(We are having a very bad drought because of Mr and Mrs Nino (El Nino-Southern Oscillation)
What plants are salt tolerant?
Who should be eating it?
What is the best type to use?
Should we always use iodised salt?
Are Yuppie salts worth the money?
When is it necessary?
(i.e., "salts" with children's diarrhoea?)
When is it a problem?
(i.e., High blood pressure?)
A picture of salt:
http://www.rkm.com.au/SALT/SALT-sodium-chloride.html
What in it? ( sea salt OZ style)
http://www.aquamaid.com.au/salt.html
Chemical Profile:
Specification Typical Levels
Purity (%NaCL min dry basis) 99.4% 99.6%
Moisture (% max) 2.5% 1.90%
Insolubles (% max) 0.03% 0.01%
Magnesium (mg/kg max) 500 80
Calcium (mg/kg max) 1000 400
Sulphate (mg/kg max) 2500 1200
Iron (mg/kg max) 2 1
Copper (mg/kg max) 1 <1
and
http://www.cea-life.com/minerals_health/seasalt.htm
Salt From the Sea
Most of the salt that is marketed to the processed food industry, or sold by grocery and health food retailers is sold as sea salt. The fact is that all salt originally came from the sea.
Rock salt in mines is also sea salt that has gathered as deposits on ancient, dried seabeds. Altered and transported through time by unknown geological processes, this type of salt has not seen the sea for millions of years.
The issue is one of terminology. In most instances, sodium chloride (NaCl) is the product commonly referred to as 'salt'. However, sea salt is a far more complex salt than NaCl. To avoid what is quite obviously misleading labelling, common salt should be marketed as 'sodium chloride, extracted from sea salt'.
Of course there are other forms of processed crystal salts extracted from the sea that retain far more of the constituent elements of original sea salt. 'Celtic sea salt' is one of these. Celtic sea salt comes in many forms and is characterised by grain size, colour and dampness. The whiter and drier the salt the more it has been washed and 'purified'.
One of the concerns regarding Celtic and other 'natural' sea salt is the purity of the source sea water. Contamination occurs during the drying process (often outdoors), in addition to the alteration and loss of constituents by 'natural' and process washing of the salt stockpile. Much of the Celtic salt produced comes from Brittany in north-western France. Northern Europe is one of the most densely populated regions on our planet (refer: Pollution of the marine environment, NASA night map).
Consequently the waters off Brittany, which flow directly out of the English Channel, contain high levels of pollution. An alarming report issued recently notes detectable levels of pharmaceuticals passing through the population and into the waterways.
Salt is no good for you????
http://www.hunzacrystalsalt.net/Salt.../salt_iii.html
"Arthritis, Kidney & Gall Stones and Cellulite Caused By Common Salt
Eating common table salt results in the formation of edema, or excess fluid in the body tissue, which is also the cause of cellulite. That's why doctors tell us to avoid salt. For every gram of sodium chloride that the body cannot get rid of, the body uses twenty-three times the amount of cell water to neutralize the salt. If the sodium chloride is still too high, the body recrystalizes the table salt by using available animal proteins, which also cannot be broken down and eliminated. The body uses these proteins to produce uric acid in order to get rid of the excess salt. As the body cannot dispose of uric acid, it binds itself with the sodium chloride to form new crystals that are deposited directly in the bones and joints. This is the cause of different kinds of rheumatisms such as arthritis, gout, and kidney and gall bladder stones. The recrystalizing is the body's band-aid solution for the cells and organs in order to protect the body from irreparable damage of irresponsible food intake. But in the long run, it poisons the system because those substances cannot be disposed of.
Soil salinity
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s914495.htm
Salt Man
Researcher: Owen Craig
Transcript
Related Info
Salinity is the bigest environmental problem facing Australia, and scientists are struggling to find ways to solve it. But maybe they’re just not thinking far enough outside the square. Why not remove the salt from the ground and sell it to yuppies to sprinkle on their dinner? It may sound like a joke but Duncan Thomson is actually doing it. He is also extracting other valuable chemicals from our salty land and selling them, from fertilisers to road-building materials. He says he’s turning salinity from a negative into a positive.
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From a body builder's page
http://www.muscle-fitness.com.au/347.html
You're probably already overdoing the sodium. The typical Westerner gets about 5,000-7,000 mg of sodium per day, although adults may need only 500 mg. No Recommended Dietary Allowance for sodium has been set in the U.S.A., but the Daily Value (used in food labelling) for sodium has been set rather diplomatically at 1,400 mg per day. This isn't a requirement so much as an attempt to keep dietary levels within reason - so we don't devour this week's ration of daily values all in just one day.
The Sodium System: Last-Minute Strategies
While sodium is an essential nutrient, too much of it attracts a layer of water under your skin that looks like a layer of bodyfat. Obviously, that's not good for your six-pack or, for that matter, the lines of your thighs, even if your bodyfat is already low
Strategy 5: Switch to Potassium Chloride
If you like to sprinkle salt on your food and use it in baking, try potassium chloride (KCl) instead of table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) for a day or two before your big day. Because potassium doesn't get under your skin the way sodium does, it doesn't cause a "bloat" effect or a loss of muscular definition.
In addition, potassium chloride tastes the same as table salt and works just as well in bread or any other type of baking - low-sodium diets don't have to be bland. Replacing table salt with potassium chloride is otherwise a no-brainer in light of the fact that most people get too much sodium and too little potassium, which is very much the reverse of the diet humanity evolved on.
Interestingly, potassium has a muscle-cell volumising effect along the same lines as creatine or glutamine. This may be part of the reason many bodybuilders switch to potassium before bodybuilding contests. To be on the safe side, don't go over 4 grams (4,000 mg) of extra potassium per day. Also, check with your doctor before taking potassium if you're on heart medication; he or she will know how potassium interacts with your prescription.
