Add Sea Salt for Hydration + More Benefits
Add Sea Salt for Hydration + More Benefits
During the hot and humid days of summer, I have found that drinking water alone has not been able to quench my thirst. Sports drinks are designed to replenish sodium and potassium for athletes who do a moderate to high intensity workout of 60 minutes or longer each day. Unfortunately, sports energy drinks are also high in sugar and food dyes and drinking more than 1 serving a day can increase the risk of diabetes and other health conditions. According to the Gatorade website, a 20-ounce serving of Gatorade contains 140 calories and 36 grams of carbohydrates, with 34 grams of carbohydrates coming straight from sugar. One serving size is 8 oz. of Gatorade (the smallest bottle sold).
So I started researching ways to stay hydrated and discovered numerous articles about the benefits of adding sea salt to your water. Did you know that high-quality sea salt has 84 trace minerals that nourish and strengthen our body? We used to be able to get enough minerals from the food we eat. However, with monocropping and improper farming methods, our soil has been depleted of these essential minerals and doesn’t provide the nutrients to our food like it used to.
So, what’s the difference between sea salt and table salt? Sea salt comes from ocean water or saltwater lakes, full of healthy minerals, and is made with little processing. Table salt, on the other hand, comes from underground salt and is heavily processed to remove healthy minerals.
While there are many different varieties, these are the two most common types of salt that’s unrefined and minimally processed:
• Celtic sea salt is gray, and sometimes purplish. It has a high percentage of magnesium than other sea salts, in addition to 34 trace minerals.
• Pink in color, Himalayan sea salt is rich in iron and can have as many as 84 trace minerals. It’s mined by extracting natural salt deposits from the mountains.
Because of these essential nutrients, here are some of the top sea salt health benefits:
1. Keeps you hydrated: Contrary to popular belief, sea salt is extremely beneficial in keeping us hydrated. The amount of nutrients in sea salt also satisfies our thirst for a longer period of time and keeps us holding on to the fluids for longer. Table salt, on the other hand, dehydrates us and actually leeches essential minerals from the body. It also makes us crave it more because our bodies are in need of nutrients that it wants in natural sea salt that cannot be satisfied by processed table salt. This is why you usually need to watch your sodium intake if you are only consuming table salt.
2. Reduces fluid retention: Some people think that salty food makes you bloat or retain water, and yes, this happens when you consume white table salt and refined salt used in processed foods. I remember the days I would wake up feeling groggy and bloated after a late-night pizza binge with friends. However, with real sea salt, the opposite happens because of its balanced ratio of minerals - especially potassium and sodium - which help release retained water. Eating real food and salting your own food with sea salt will help eliminate bloat and water retention.
3. Balances electrolytes: Because of its amazing mineral content, electrolytes in salt include magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium. These electrolytes are vital for muscle, brain and heart health because of its critical role in the nervous system. Instead of the typical sugar-filled electrolyte drinks you can find at the supermarket, try adding sea salt to water with a squeeze of lemon juice.
4. Prevents muscle cramps: When your electrolytes are low, you can experience muscle soreness, cramps, charley horse, and even restless leg syndrome. The lack of minerals keeps the muscles from relaxing and causes contractions that are out of your control. This is why Epsom sea salt baths are recommended for any kind for muscle fatigue. The magnesium in Epsom salt plays a huge role in loosening and calming the muscles and your entire body. If you know you’ll be doing a strenuous activity, make sure to add sea salt to your water before and after to replenish your body with the minerals that it loses during the exercise. Sea salt baths can also help with muscle cramps!
5. Great for skin health: Because of its potent mineral content, sea salt has anti-inflammatory properties that are beneficial for skin health. There are many beauty products that use sea salt because it has the power to detoxify the skin while exfoliating, increasing circulation, and providing the skin with nutrients. Sea salt has been shown to be especially beneficial for acne, psoriasis, eczema, and anti-aging.
6. Improves digestion: Sea salt is necessary in the role of digestion, and it starts in the mouth. The salivary amylase, an enzyme which helps break down carbohydrates in the saliva, is activated by the flavor of salt. Also, salt plays a huge role in the making of hydrochloric acid, which is secreted in the stomach for the breakdown of food, especially protein. Most people are insufficient in hydrochloric acid, and this can cause numerous digestive issues like bloating, gas, heartburn, indigestion, and can eventually lead to leaky gut and chronic disease.
7. Nourishes the adrenal glands: Adrenal fatigue of varying degrees is extremely common today, resulting from stress and poor diet. With adrenal insufficiency, one of the main symptoms is salt cravings. This is because the body is craving the nutrients it needs from sea salt. Among their numerous demanding functions, our adrenal glands release hormones that regulate sodium and potassium in the body. So in order to make this particular job easier, the adrenals need a balance of these minerals through high quality sea salt. This is especially important when they are already tired from the stress we put through them every day.
8. Regulates blood pressure: Yes, high quality sea salt is greatly beneficial for regulating blood pressure. High blood pressure is the result of inflammation in the body, which is primarily caused by a high sugar, processed food diet, which also includes white table salt that’s devoid of most nutrients.
So how much sea salt should you consume each day? Most experts agree that adding ¼ teaspoon of Celtic or Himalayan Pink Sea Salt per quart of water (4-5 glasses) is best. These salts are readily available in health food stores as well as grocery stores. You can find sea salt locally at Ellicottville Salt Cave. I recommend drinking this water prior to eating and after to support the digestive process.
Kim Duke is a certified personal trainer and owner of Core Performance Fitness and Training, located at 55 Bristol Lane, Ellicottville, NY. For more information about her studio visit www.coreperformancefitness.com or reach Kim directly at 716-698-1198.
