17 - Salt-Free Program Helps To Relieve Tensions, Which In Turn Improves Your Memory
Salt is a man-made "food" that appears to be unnecessary and also appears to have a deleterious influence upon the body processes that influence the emotions. Notably, salt has been known to "whip up" the blood pressure and cause emotional palpitations that create erratic behaviour symptoms.
A common emotional disorder, insomnia, is often traced to a high salt intake. Michael M. Miller, M.D., reported to the American Psychiatric Association that he had obtained relief for 11 out of 12 patients from insomnia and nervous tension by cutting down the amount of salt in their diets.
Six patients who had been morphine addicts also showed a marked degree of insomnia and tension. By cutting down on their salt intake, Dr. Miller was able to ease their emotional disorders so they could be helped.
In an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association 1945, Dr. Miller tells about treating 20 nervous patients suffering from chronic insomnia. He prepared a wholesome food program and limited them to two grams of sodium chloride (salt) per day. Results? Seventeen of the patients reported their symptoms had disappeared. When 13 of these were again given a generous salt intake, they suffered emotional disorder and nervous relapse.
Why is a low-salt program so soothing? Dr. Miller gives this answer.
"Excess salt increases the irritability of sensitive nerve tissues and brings on tensions and sleeplessness. On a salt-restricted diet, this irritability decreases because as salt is cut down, calcium is built up in the tissue in sufficient quantity to alkalize the body fluids and quiet the nerves."
We already know that calcium is a valuable nerve-soothing mineral. Salt appears to interfere with calcium absorption somehow. This mineral imbalance might well cause tension and emotional unrest.
Minerals especially are desperately needed by the tense organism for healthful relaxation. Salt appears to upset this balance in the case of potassium too. Salt drives it out of the body, changing the delicate acid-alkaline balance of the tissue cells, leading to a tense and constricted neurological system.
Wholesome, natural foods have their own builtin flavours. But if you want something more tangy, then try using herbs instead of salt. Dill, oregano, chopped chives, basil, all-spice, caraway, curry, ginger, lemon or lime juice, saffron, tarragon, sweet paprika, rosemary, sesame or poppy seeds. There are limitless herbs and endless combinations you can use to make your own taste discoveries.
Dr. Flanders Dunbar, M.D., in Mind and Body: Psychosomatic Medicine, Pinpoints salt as inducing tension headaches. He writes:
"Migraine is only one type of headache, although a common one. It and others are attributed to ... pressure inside the cranium caused by an increased flow of water to the tiny blood vessels of this area because of an abnormal retention of salt in the tissues".
Dr. Dunbar describes successful treatment of nervous patients by removing "the excess salt and decreasing the irritability of the walls of the blood vessels and by recommending a salt-free diet".
Common salt, used in excess, may so disturb the balance of mineral ingredients in the blood, it will replace worn-out cell tissues instead of potassium. The cells cry out in nervous tension, in response to this local irritation. Distress signals may include headaches, hypertension, nervous disorders and a jerky, spasmodic attitude and uncontrollable physical reactions.
According to Postgraduate Medicine, in a study involving some 1,346 people at Brookhaven National Laboratory, there is a direct correlation between salt intake and hypertension. Increased salt intake appears to whip up the metabolism and the functions of the circulatory system to induce a state of chronic tension. In such situations, a gradual reduction of salt until it is entirely eliminated would be most relaxing.
At least one man believes salt may lead to snoring. Writing in Prevention Magazine, about his experience on a low-salt program, he said:
"The more salt (or sodium) a person eats, the more fluid a person retains and more swelling of tissues of the nasal passages as well as other parts of the body. About all heavy salt eaters I have known seem to have been snorers.
"My wife occasionally makes large kettles of soup which require salt for best flavour. But when she does, I notice a big increase of snoring in the family."
A clue to the power of salt in inducing emotional disorders may be in its ability to drive out calcium, the mineral so needed for emotional health. Egon V. Ullmann, M.D., in Diet in Sinus Infections and Colds, tells of being able to relax his nervous patients by eliminating salt and sugar. He traces many allergies and sinus-cold problems to emotional upsets. Dr. Ullmann explains how an excessive intake of salt can drive out the tranquillizing calcium from the system. This leads to impaired metabolic function and a reaction on the nervous system. A simple program would be to eliminate salt and thereby help promote a healthy buildup of needed calcium to soothe the nervous system.
Many high salt-consumers are also heavy smokers, and the use of salt and tobacco have been seen as contributory factors in some cases of nervous breakdown. Salt narrows down the arteries and reduces an adequate flow of blood to the brain, preventing its full oxygenation. Smoking also constricts blood flow. Therefore, the moment a smoker begins to suffer prolonged tensions, emotional upsets, nervous misbehaviour, he might be wise to reject salt and tobacco.
Here is an interesting fact: the width of the blood vessels varies widely in different individuals. If a person has wide blood vessels to begin with and fat gets on the walls, there is still plenty of room for the blood to circulate. This suggests a reason why some persons can violate all health rules and yet are emotionally stable. But, suppose the person has very narrow blood vessels to begin with and uses much salt and smokes heavily? He may run the risk of receding emotional-physical health and a possible breakdown.
Eliminating salt, whether in the cook pot, or the salt shaker, may help improve your basic emotional health. Avoid snacks containing salt — pretzels, popcorn, potato chips and other packaged "goodies". Help restore the natural biological function in your system — without salt!