Mineralizing With Sea Water

The word “salary” is derived from the Romans, who, as a basis of payment of the famous Roman soldiers, used salt, an article considered so valuable that it was assigned a monetary value. If such is the case, judging from what we hear today regarding the virtues of “low-salt” diets, many of us must be very poorly paid. The fact is that salt may be either used sensibly in the diet or abused, depending upon how it is introduced into our chemical make-up.

Osmotic Pressure

To understand how salt may be variously used, it is necessary to know that it may be either absorbed or excreted through the intestinal membrane–through which it must pass to get into the tissues–and, to do this, we must know something about the process called “osmosis.” A good example is the soaking of prunes in water. We know that the water soon starts to enter the prune and in a few hours the prune, once wrinkled and shriveled, becomes swollen, soft and plump. What happens here is that the fluid passes from the area of least concentration (water) to the area of most concentration (being “absorbed” by the concentrated sugars in the prune across the skin-membrane). A prune placed in a very thick sugar syrup (reducing the differential) will not be so affected.

Concentration Important

What has this to do with the use of salt in the diet? Well, it is very important because it is the principle–in addition to other things–whereby salt eaten as food becomes part of the body chemistry. It is the concentration on either side of the membrane (or intestinal wall) which determines the direction of flow. If the concentration is the same on either side, then the forces remain the same and we have no interchange. We then have what is known as an isotonic solution. This is the important thing to understand when thinking about the use of salt in the diet, for it leads us to understand that it is not the amount of salt per se which is important, but its relative concentration at any one time. I know of a dentist who for 20 years drank a proper concentration of salt water every morning for constipation, with very beneficial results (one level teaspoonful per quart). Undoubtedly the same amount of salt taken under less favorable circumstances could have produced adverse results.

Salt Needs in Diet

Meat eaters need less salt than vegetarians. This is because the animal concentrates salt in the meat so that it is readily absorbed, whereas plants and vegetation concentrate the mineral potassium–which is known to oppose salt (sodium) in its effects. People who have an abnormal craving for salt (we have seen children actually eat soap-bars–sodium oleate–for their sodium content), may be suffering from a disease of the adrenal glands called Addison’s Disease. Put these people on a low-salt diet and you may bring about their early death. People who eat high amounts of salty food (salted nuts, fish, meats, sauces, etc.) are tampering with the natural mechanism of osmosis and may bring about such undesirable events as edema, or swelling and accumulation of fluids in the body. These people often develop the “moon-face” or facial swelling, so often seen in the cortisone user, as one of the functions of the adrenal hormones is to retain sodium in the body–a situation which is brought about artificially by the excessive use of this hormone.

Distilled Water

Distilled water is entirely devoid of the minerals necessary for osmotic interchange across the cell membrane. It is hypertonic and is more likely to withdraw minerals than add them to the body. That is why hard water, with its associated calcium salts, is the natural water supplied by nature to nourish our blood streams. Sea water, perhaps the hardest water known–as you may have realized if you try to produce a lather of soap from it–is a wondrous complex of mineral elements, including valuable trace minerals. No one has ever been able to duplicate it in the laboratory. A near-perfect imitation was once produced, but the inventor found that fish could not live in his concoction until a small amount of natural sea water was added to it.

History of Use

Sea water as an alternative–in small regulated amounts–has a long history of use by the human race, beginning with the Indians’ long treks to the sea for this prized remedy for “sick stomach” and “bone sickness” (which we would interpret today as stomach ulcers and arthritis). The Merlik Water Case is a remarkable instance of what can happen when sea water is used therapeutically. (See Lee Foundation Reprint No. 54.) While too lengthy to review here, this report relates the actual testimony at the trial, where “no value” was claimed by the authorities, yet “deluded victims” by the hundreds testified in open court as to its benefits in numerous ailments.

Modern Application

About 50 years ago, Doctor Ringer experimented to find the chemical composition of a solution which would be as nearly compatible to human blood as possible. This solution was found to consist of various minerals which approximated sea water in many respects, and Ringer’s Solution is used today for injections to restore fluids lost from the body. Such solutions are for medical purposes, but the average person may well benefit by the use of small amounts of sea water in the diet (concentrated sea water is now available in a 14 to one concentration, making possible practical home use). Incidentally, sea water is not as high in salt (sodium chloride) as may be supposed, owing its salty taste to other minerals as well, being, in the dehydrated state, only 70 percent salt and 30 percent other minerals, including trace mineral elements. The point to be made is that maybe we are missing something. Like the story of the Acres of Diamonds, perhaps we have one of the best health remedies right in our own backyard–that is, if we happen to live in a seaside dwelling!