How Salt Works and How You Can Apply This Knowledge to Your Advantage.

Essentially, salt dries “things” up: it draws fluid to itself.

So let’s use this knowledge to help ourselves.

Beer is high in salt and makes you thirsty: it dries up your tissues. (Dehydration)

Pour salt on a slug: it dries it up…salt fish: It is now dried. It lasts for a long time. 

We know it is used to change the flavor of foods: hence we eat it. That is how salt goes INTO our bodies. It can also come on the skin if you walk close to salt water.  Or you can inhale it (sea water). There is dries out the tissue. As you would have already read, salt is in the fluid part of the body. (Potassium is in the cell normally)

One very frequent use of this concept in treatments (drugs/chemicals) is to “dry up” problems that arise on the outside as well as the inside of your body. This could include sinus treatments. (Keep in mind that sinus tissue is a cleaning apparatus to prevent unwanted “elements“ coming into your respiratory /breathing system.)

Here you can get treatments such as sinus sprays and inhalants, internal drugs, and the Neti pot (a favourite with our Meniere’s people is.). The idea is to reduce sinus “swelling”. One way is to stop the body’s natural response/defense mechanism as it is trying to heal the tissue (anti-inflammatory). The other is to reduce or dry up the actual swelling with a saline (salt) or steroid solution. If you check the label of the spray, most likely along with a drug/chemical, you will find the word isotonic or saline.

This often results in very dry nostrils and nosebleeds or stuffiness. Dried up sinus tissue is not healthy tissue.  As your body is always seeking to heal itself, it will always try to heal it. So this will be a constant battle. So your body will try to rebalance itself.

So let’s put all this wisdom together and see if this makes good common sense.

You know salt dries. So if you put it INTO your body, it will dry things out.

If you put it ONTO your body it will dry things out. But is there a way to get the offending (symptom-creating intruder) out without using salt.? So a slight change in the procedure, using your newfound knowledge could make a substantial difference. What if you could substitute just plain water and have it work for you?

Let me give you two classic examples and they are easy to visualize.

Pretend you infected your toe by stepping on some dirt.  It would throb from the inflammation (excess fluid) and it would be painful. If you put salt/saline into the wound, it would be very uncomfortable, and it would dry the tissue out (undesirable). However, if you soaked the toe IN salt/saline water, it would draw out the dirt and allow the tissue to heal very quickly. The difference is where the salt is located in the water. The salt (in solution) draws the infection TOWARD itself IN the bowl. Can you see the difference? Let me share how I suggest people clean out their sinuses. It uses the same concept. Instead of salt INTO the tissue, clean vaporized air is inhaled INTO the nostrils (sinus tissues). No salt. No chemicals. Nice and clean and very effective. And it’s all because you know the actions of salt. You have probably done this for years! Now you understand why it works so well. But because it is not seen as a drug treatment, it is often not suggested.

ONE LAST SALT THOUGHT

I just want to make you think a little with this concept. Supposing you have low blood pressure (many people do, especially with the diuretic) and are given a diagnosis of Meniere’s. The traditional treatment is low salt diet, diuretics, along with other drugs. It might be a good idea to first track your blood pressure yourself for several weeks and then discuss your findings with your doctor. Let me remind you that your body has the innate need to be balanced.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT NASAL SPRAYS AND MEDS

You have now learned a little more about the actions of salt. You have also learned that chemicals change the actions of the body. I trust your common sense now kicks in when you take drugs. So as you make some choices about your symptoms and how to deal with them, examine the actions and side effects of nasal sprays and such meds. Ask yourself if you can find some natural ways to achieve health or are you happy to use drugs. If it’s the later, then make sure you understand the actions that make the drug work. Will they lead to health or will they lead to “dis-ease”.

More Resources:

I want to mention two salt/sodium references we use a lot. They help people understand the importance of learning how salt and potassium work and how to use them effectively:

This is an excellent article used with permission for our readers

Salt: Dietary Villain or Foundation of Health?

Dr. David Brownstein

http://drbrownstein.com

https://www.drbrownstein.com/bookstore_Salt.php

The Importance of Potassium and Sodium

Dr. Richard Moore, MD Ph.d.

www.amazon.com/High-Blood-Pressure-Solution-Scientifically/dp/0892819758/ref

CAUTION

I would like to make it clear that this information is only to give you more knowledge: to enhance what your medical practitioner has already given you or will give you. Please don’t use it to treat yourself or to diagnose any symptoms.  Having this information fleshes out your professional support and makes it more interesting and also possibly more helpful. The more you know, and the more you can think all this through for yourself, the better your decisions will be.