To Salt... or Not to Salt

Question
Hello!

I've been re-reading the books of Aajonus who believed that salt was very harmful.  Stefansson sorely missed his salt (until he tried it again after not using it for months) on the raw diet of the natives of the Arctic.  Then, he found that he no longer craved it.  I've always craved it and have used RealSalt for years.  I tried eliminating it for several days once while eating only RAF and felt horrible.  I wonder if that means that I need it or not.  I'm aware of Dr. Brownstein's book and of those who speak of native peoples who went long distances to get salt.  I've only just returned to 99% RAF for the past 2 weeks.  I have hypothyroidism, am on Amour.  I'm determined to give up salt, if it's truly harmful.

Answer
Well, it all depends. A very small minority of people likely do need salt as they may have incurred some sort of  highly unusual nutritional deficiency as a result of decades of eating low-grade food from cooked diets.

If you have access to raw fresh (grassfed)thyroid(US farms like NorthStar Bison have access to such, for example) I would strongly suggest you  that you consume that instead of taking "Armour".

I would say that, for most people, salt is a waste of time, and possibly dangerous,  provided that they have access to enough natural salts in their diet, which is the case for almost all people eating a raw, palaeolithic diet of grassfed meats etc.. If one has access to raw blood, then one has way more than enough natural-salt-intake, so try to get that if possible. I used to buy raw, vacuum-packed wild hare carcasses which had  c.1 entire pint of blood in them once I drained it off.

I am amazed at your tolerance of salt. In my own case, I feel really awful if I even ingest one small teaspoonful of the stuff.

Generally-speaking, I view one's own body's reactions as being a far better indicator than listening to some guru's advice. Gurus make blanket statements that work for many or most  people, but there are always individual exceptions since everyone is in a unique, different state of health due to their own personal circumstances, environment, their genes etc. etc. So I would suggest you follow your instincts and eat salt.

The caveat is that if the feeling you have for salt is almost addictive, then it might well not be good for you. I mean, a small amount in most meal seems fine, but if you feel the need to pour the salt all over every meal, then there's something wrong.

One other thing:- I presume you mean that you are on a 100% raw animal foods diet? I would assume that switching to a raw animal foods plus raw plant foods diet might alleviate the need?cravings for salt - though you may well prefer to carry on with the 100% raw animal foods diet.

If on a 100% RAF diet, you might well consider trying a wide, regular  variety of raw organ-meats if you haven't already. This might counter the need for salt. Whether or not it does so, though, I and many others view it as essential to eat raw organ-meats regularly on such a diet.

HTH,
RPG.

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