Hi All

I have been about 80% raw for the last two years or so and I would now like to take it to the next level and try for 100% raw.

I have read that the 80/10/10 is a good system to try and that there is also a book on this subject for guidance which I am willing to purchase.

I also believe there are other systems and I would like to give myself every chance of success so I would like any opinions or recommendations please.

My goal is the best possible health I am capable of acheiving.

Thanks

New_Raw

Personally, the program that Dr Graham recommends in his 80/10/10 book is very close to the raw diet that I've been most successful with. Regardless of whether or not you choose to also explore other choices, I believe you'll find the book will offer you some keen insights you won't find elsewhere, especially if you are, in actuality, seeking the "best possible health" that you're capable of achieving.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2007 02:35AM by doghouse reilly.

Dr. Grahams is very popular and makes the most logical, as well as backed up sense, compared to most others it seems.

In the end though you have to do what is best for your own body. Following a book or a program is a guideline. Your climate, produce availability, etc., plays into it. In addition, your lifestyle and activity level is extremely important to achieve that ultimate health you speak of.

I'd suggest start with Dr. Graham approach if you plan on being active and have the high fruit needed available. I think his key is keeping the fat low which other programs kinda don't.

Hi

this is my first post.

I have his book and am about to follow his diet. Anyone else on this as well?
Yes I know it is going to take a lot of discipline but to overcome my chronic fatigue I am going to give it a go.

10% fat is all he recommends- I think this may be difficult for me but .....

Any views on DR Graham and his book are welcome.

sunny thoughts,
Wallace

The one thing I will add to his diet is sea vegetables which he regards as "pond scum". I dont agree! Obviously he has a problem with the sodium in it.

Also celtic salt is something I feel is valuable, as well as a little seawater. google rene quinton for info on the benefits of seawater.

wallace
!
Of course I may change my mind as my raw food diet influences my thoughtS!

Yes you will certainly change your mind as you go......that's a good thing! Imagine making up your mind before you had even lived with a diet.


It seems you've made a great start by choosing that book though I've never read it, it seems to most closely mimic the Natural Hygiene diet.

thanks, it is a good book and the diet recipes are very simple to follow.

I have never tried a low fat diet before so....we will see.

I know my thoughts on salt are controversial so I am printing something here to back them up.

wallace

The Amazing Health Benefits of Celtic Sea Salt
03/10/2005


Please see [www.regenerativenutrition.com] for more information on this and other natural health products.

Celtic Sea Salt has full spectrum ocean minerals & trace elements with many unexpected health benefits

Ordinary ‘natural’ sea salt loses at least 90% of its trace elements in its production. After salt is "chemically cleaned", what you are left with is Sodium Chloride, this is an un-natural chemical that your body cannot assimilate, so much so, it impacts negatively impact upon our health, we would even go far as to say that refined salt is a poison to the body. Your body has to sacrifice energy in order to try and metabolise refined salt, and it upsets many processes within the body including fluid balance and elimination systems.

However, despite all the bad press in respect of REFINED salt, our bodies need natural salts to function properly, Celtic Sea Salt is a fantastic source of the essential minerals and trace elements we need for good health, it makes food taste delicious and is a rediscovery of one of the essential pillars of health.

Our Celtic Sea Salt is dried using a process first started well over 900 years ago; the Celtic people of France changed the archaic method of boiling and these salt makers were given royalty status when they began to use the sun and wind as the method of preparing salt.

All salts are NOT the same!

Science has arrived at some dangerous conclusions based on the wrong salt. 99% of the world's research on salt is carried out on commercial table salt.

California biochemist Dr. Jacques de Langre has been studying the health benefits of salt for over 30 years. He has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Brussels. He wrote two books on this topic, "Sea Salt's Hidden Powers" and "Sea Salt, the Vital Spark for Life."

Refined salt is toxic to the body, but Dr de Lange believes that Celtic salt is extremely healthy and has the opposite effect of refined salt.

Following is an article by Sam Biser including the transcript of his interview with Dr de Lange

"Don’t be conned by the crusade against salt "

Editor Sam Biser saves you from another dangerous dogma

"I have found impressive medical evidence which explains why a low-salt diet will NOT help you live longer. But it CAN give you strokes, damaged kidney and brain function, and loss of sexual ability (impotence and frigidity)! Once again, I must blow the cover on a medical and health food crusade that's being jammed down your throat. I'm referring to the forty-year old health lie that, avoiding salt will help you live longer. The health food establishment has swallowed this one whole like Jonah in the belly of the whale. They solemnly tell you that avoiding salt will help lead you into the land of everlasting health. For most of you, it definitely will NOT. What they don’t tell you is that..."

* A low-salt diet for the treatment of high blood pressure is a colossal national disgrace, based on dogma, not evidence.

* A salt-restrictive diet can actually raise your blood pressure.

* A lack of salt can cause accelerated aging cellular degeneration, and 'biochemical starvation.'

* A lack of salt can literally cripple your health, and cause liver failure, kidney problems, and massive adrenal exhaustion.

* On a salt-free diet, the valves of your heart muscle can tire, lacerate, and cause a fatal heart attack.

* The healing powers of good salt equal those of vitamin C, vitamin E, and many other nutrients in the health food store.

The prevailing viewpoint of modem medicine is that salt is a general poison, like alcohol and tobacco. Salt has been vilified as the great devil at the dinner table. People have been taught since childhood that "salt causes high blood pressure." Books on salt-free cooking are more popular than ever. If you fall up the American Heart Association, they will send you brochures on the dangers of salt. The health media are always looking for simple, easy answers that don't require much thinking. Therefore, they routinely present the same, reckless, across-the-board advice to avoid salt whether you desperately need it or not. The tact that our population is a vastly heterogeneous group, with grossly divergent biochemistries, makes no difference to them. The chant is always the same: "Salt is bad!" It’s gone far enough. This dogma must END. 'The idea that salt in the diet has some positive value is totally ignored." - Dr.A.M. Heageny, M.D., Department of Medicine, Leicester, United Kingdom. To present the other side of this controversy, I choose to interview one of the leading proponents of salt in the world. This man is a California biochemist name Dr. Jacques de Langre. Dr. de Langre has been studying the health benefits of salt for over 30 years. He has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Brussels. He wrote two books on this topic, "Sea Sail's Hidden Powers." and "Sea Salt, the Vital Spark for Life."

Dr. de Langre recommends a special, unrefined French Celtic salt for all people with high blood pressure and heart problems. His approach defies orthodox medical logic. The opinions of Dr. de Langre are obviously 100% counter to established medical beliefs. No one, not even unorthodox doctors, go as far as Dr. de Langre, in his universal recommendation for good salt. Dr. de Langre openly agrees that refined salt (pure sodium chloride) is toxic to the body — and can cause high blood pressure. Yet he believes Celtic salt is extremely healthy, and has the exact opposite effect of refined salt. "The entire health field is very sloppy with its terminology on salt. They think all salt is the same. This is far from true. Most refined salts are a poison. But some natural salts are a nutritious food. In America, doctors condemn salt. They take heart patients off of salt. In France, they give heart patients good salt." In this exclusive interview. Dr. de Langre will attack some common dogmas and myths about salt and high blood pressure. You will learn:

* Why the heart muscle works harder on a low-salt diet.

* Why a salt-free, vegetarian diet is a set-up for kidney, respiratory and blood sugar problems.

* Why "natural sea salt" is a number 1 health food rip-off.

* How macrobiotic salt can cause oedema.

* Why refined salt in any amount is NOT the answer for high blood pressure.

* Why a richly-mineralised salt makes it easier for the heart to contract and pump.

* Why eating the proper salt can help cleanse the plaque off blood vessel walls.

I guarantee, after you read this interview, your views on salt will never be the same.

"The most convincing fact that- salt is critical to life is that the amniotic fluid is salty."

BISER: What is the reaction of most people when you tell them salt can be good for them?

DE LANGRE: they say, "I can't eat salt. My doctor won't let me." All they have heard in the media is how bad salt is. When I tell people about the health benefits of good salt, they say, "I didn't know there was anything good to say about salt." Twenty-five years ago, I contacted some people in the book business. I said, "I have an idea for a book on

Salt. "The chief editor said. "You sprinkle salt on your food. What else is there to know." I said, "A lot"

BISER: Why is the scientific literature so against salt?

DE LANGRE: Science has arrived at some dangerous conclusions based on the wrong salt. 99% of the world's research on salt is dome on commercial table salt. This is the only salt they know of. They think all salt is the same but they're wrong. The medical doctors have a dilemma. Refined salt can cause a lot of problems. They are correct on that point, and that has been well documented. Yet, a salt free diet has problems of its own. They're in a scientific rut. Neither approach, taking refined salt, or avoiding it— is the answer. People desperately need salt for good health, and medicine doesn't have any solution. On the topic of salt, American scientists are very narrow-minded and insular. We are still in the dark ages of salt making. In many parts of France, when a person comes in with heart problems, high blood pressure, or other problems which are hard to diagnose, the first question the physician will ask is, "What kind of salt are you using." There is no such opportunity here, because the only recognised salt is refined, white table salt.

Some of the best scientific research on the health properties of good salt are written in French, German and Portuguese. But few American doctors have read them. Two classic French medical books on salt are, "The Ocean that heals," and, "Secrets of our Origins." A German medical classic on the healing powers of salt is, "The Salt of Life." Because of his vibrant enthusiasm for salt, they call him "The Salt Man". Doctors from Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Japan England and Africa call him at all hours, and seek his wisdom on salt. We don't have medical books like this in North America. This country was raised on refined salt. We inherited this from the English. So, we have never been exposed to a healthy salt. All we know of is Morton's salt. Americans are totally ignorant of any natural process that can make a healthy salt. We choose to ignore that which is so essential to our biology, and so we continue to accept and spread the gospel on the dangers of salt. We have never been told there is another side.

BISER: You wrote in your book that a healthy and active lifestyle demands an adequate intake of salt, is that true?

DELANGRE: If your tears weren't salty, if your blood wasn't salty, if your sweat wasn't sally, you wouldn't be functioning very well. The current medical belief that our body can function on no salt at all, or on a restricted salt intake, causes more problems that it tries to solve. You can't function without salt. You can't digest food without salt. Your heart can't function. Your adrenal glands can't function. Your liver can't function. Your kidneys can't function. Sodium is the predominant cation in the circulating blood plasma-and tissue fluids. Derek Denton brought out this point in the medical physiology book, "The Hunger for Salt."

Rene Quinton, the French physiologist, used the term "milieu intericur" the internal environment, the unchanging salty environment of our own "internal ocean." He talked about serum of all warm blooded animals on this earth. People forget, but everyone was born in a salty solution — our mother's amniotic fluid. This is probably the best biological proof we have that cellular structure in enhanced by salt. The amniotic fluid is a salty, 'mini-ocean* for the foetus. This is a prime example of why we need all of the ocean's minerals as part of our make-up.

(Editorial comment: we are seeing consistent results in therapy by using a sea water concentrate diluted in a glass of water once or twice daily…this delivers the most balanced mixture of magnesium and the whole swathe of trace minerals present alongside the sodium chloride, and as such is even more wholesome than Celtic sea salt. For a therapeutic response we recommend the Inland sea water concentrate sometimes referred to as liquid ionic minerals and trace elements. For use with food, as a more cost effective option we recommend the Celtic sea salt)

This is the very first thing anyone should discuss when talking about salt. This is basic. Your very blood needs salt to function. There was an article in the Scientific American on this topic in the July, 1963 issue, "The Social Influence of Salt." It said, "The chemical requirements of the human body demand that the salt concentration in the blood be kept consistent."They discussed how you can die on a completely salt less diet. "The potential harmful consequences of salt restriction have not been examined. "Dr. M.G. Nicholis. M.D. Endocrine Department, Princess Margaret Hospital, New Zealand.

BISER: Based on these thoughts, will a low-salt diet cause accelerated aging?

DE LANGRE: Absolutely. Your cells must be bathed in a sodium-based, extra cellular fluid. When the cells are not in this fluid, they will explode, this has been proven biologically, the cells of a mammal deprived of sodium literally explode. Without salt, there is no longer any exchange between the sodium on the outside of the cell, and the potassium on the inside. Talk about aging, this is probably the one, single, most important biological fact that must be considered when you discuss salt. Deprived of that saline solution, the cells age. One the other hand, taking refined salt is not the answer. This will promote a pathological calcification and a breakdown of cellular tissue. In either case, you have problems.

BISER: Will restricting the salt intake help high blood pressure?

DE LANGRE: In the majority of cases, no. In most cases, the high blood pressure is not measurably lowered by restricting salt intake. Even a drastically reduced sodium diet — down 10 less that 1/2 gram/day, often fails to show any improvements in cardiovascular problems. Dr. John Laragh expressed the same though in the May, 1983 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine (page 740.) ". It is likely that even drastic sodium restriction would not prevent hypertension, because fewer than half of hypertensive patients would respond." He goes on to say, "Public health policy should be dictated by facts, and not by hopes or opinions." I agree. In another article, in the January, 1991 issue of Hypertension, this same doctor states that salt restriction, as safe and effective treatment for the prevention of hypertension, "must remain an interesting speculation, without enough evidence to justify its conclusion as part of a national program."

BISER: In scientific journals. I have read that a low-salt diet can actually cause high blood pressure in some people.

DE LANGRE: That's true for some people. I believe that when the heart has much less of a fuel for contraction, it is trying to raise the pressure by restricting the arteries. If you have a regular mechanical pump that doesn’t work well, or has a slow leak, you have to reduce the diameter of the vessel through which the liquid is being pumped. You can see how this would happen with a garden hose if you reduce the pressure. In this case, we are talking about blood. So, to compensate for a weak pumping action by the heart, the body compensated by increasing the pressure in the arteries. Lots of other things are happening as well. On a low-salt diet, not only is the heart working harder, but so are many of the other organs as well. "Nature put 84 elements in salt, as a buffer, to protect you from pure sodium chloride."

BISER: How does a salt-free diet affect the heart?

DE LANGRE: A salt-free diet can damage the valves of the heart. The contractibility of the heart muscles is negatively affected by a deficiency of salt. The heart can no longer contract normally. Remember, the heart is fed by a saline solution from the blood and lymph. On a salt-free diet. The valves of the heart can tire. They will begin to lacerate, and break up in shreds. Bio-chemically, without salt, the cells starve. On a salt free diet, you will not recover quickly after an illness. You can also get para anaemia. Salt is an energizer. That Recharge drink the athletes use is a salt-based fluid. There is a definite need for sodium chloride to maintain and rebuild the cells. I have talked to a few friends who are suffers. They say they get all kinds of nicks, cuts and scratches. But by being in and around the salt water, they heal very quickly. Salt, the good natural salt is very healing. If salt was so bad, why do they feed intravenously saline solutions in hospital patients.

BISER: Why do they?

DE LANGRE: Because the body runs on salt. Without salt, we run out of electrolytes. Without electrolytes, our human batteries die out.

BISER: A lot of vegetarians eat salt-less diets. Is this beneficial?

DE LANGRE: It is very bad. You have so much ingested potassium from the green leafy vegetables, which is not neutralized by the sodium. If potassium is in excess in relation to sodium, the body loses its ability to produce hydrochloric acid, and then you have digestion problems, which vegetarians have.

BISER: How does the salt-free diet effect the health of many vegetarians?

DE LANGRE: They are open to a lot of respiratory ailments. This is because of the extra moisture on the lungs, which cannot be removed by the kidneys. They often have a lot of urinary infections. But I have gotten a lot of letters from vegetarians who have discovered my salt. They say they feel much better and have more energy.

BISER: People generally think of salt as sodium chloride. But you don't accept that definition, do you?

DE LANGRE: In this country, that is what people have been taught, all the way from kindergarten to medical school, to them, salt is pure sodium chloride. There is no other salt available in the U.S., so this rules their thinking. When people talk about salt. They overlook completely that there are 84 buffering elements in salt to protect people from the harshness of sodium chloride in its pure state. Nature put these complimentary elements in salt for two reasons: First, to make sure that people could use the sodium properly. And second, to ensure that once the sodium has been utilized, it will be eliminated completely and quickly from the kidneys. An analysis of salt goes way beyond the minerals and the chemical elements, there was an article on this topic in the September 1982 issue of Ocean Magazine They made a fantastic defence of salt, saying salt is not just chemicals, it is a lot more. There is bio-electric energy in salt; there is magnetism; there are vital and inert gases, such as helium, neon and argon; plus there are micro-organisms that are critical for the life of salt. They wrote, "Sea water is a complex chemical soup, containing 84 of the 103 known elements." Nature had a purpose in making our blood like the ocean. In the ocean, sodium is buffered. In our blood, the sodium is buffered. And in our diet, the sodium should be buffered as well. If you tried to inject pure sodium chloride intravenously, you would kill the patient. He goes into salt shock. This is well known in medical circles. In the 1900's, a medical doctor named Jacques Loeb, from the university of California, performed an epic experiment. He put fish in a tank of water mixed with refined salt, the same concentration of salt that exists in sea water. All the fish died. If fish can't live on pure sodium chloride in dilute concentration, how can we?

BISER: Let's talk about Celtic salt. When did the method for Celtic salt first originate?

DE LANGRE: the Celtic process of drying the salt by the sun and the wind first started well over 900 years ago. The Celtic people of France changed the archaic boiling method of preparing salt these salt makers were given royalty status. These methods were used along the entire coast, from the Netherlands to Morocco. Brittany, France was favoured because of the unusually bright sunny climate and prevailing winds. Today, this same pristine process of salt making continues.

BISER: In very simple terms, describe how Celtic salt is made. Does it contain all 84 elements that are in sea water?

DE LANGRE: Celtic salt contains every element that is in seawater, minus the mud. There are actually more than 84 elements in the ocean, but they haven't all been detected yet, to make the Celtic salt, ocean water is taken through a mile long decanting lake. This precipitates the particles at the bottom. The water then becomes a beautiful blue, more blue than any tropical ocean. This water is then guided in spirals along a series of concentrating ponds for 1-2 miles. When the salt reaches a certain concentration, they take out the excess magnesium salts, which are called the bitterns. The remaining salt is dried by the wind and the sun. There is never any heat used. What remains is biologically active, pure, moist, Celtic salt. No chemicals. preservatives, or anything else has been added.

"Celtic salt lowers the blood pressure, because it removes the excess sodium from the tissues."

BISER: How do you know Celtic salt helps to lower high blood pressure? That's a rather controversial concept, isn't it?

DE LANGRE: We have had reports of people going to the doctor and their doctor saying, "Well, you must be taking less salt, because your blood pressure is lower." But the truth is, they didn't cut down their salt intake at all. They were taking the Celtic salt. We get a lot of letters on this point. One reader writes, "My husband has refused to get off salt, so he has always had high blood pressure. But since he stopped using the store refined salt, and started using Celtic Salt, his blood pressure is now normal." We hear this all the time. Here's a letter from a man in Los Angeles. "Two weeks ago I donated blood at a Red Cross station. At that time my blood pressure was 160 over 90. (Normal is 120 over 80). Yesterday, after hardly a week of using the Celtic salt, the only new addition to my diet, I recorded a blood pressure reading of 105 over 82.1 am convinced that your salt had a hand in reducing my blood pressure." Here's one more. "My husband has a severe problem with high blood pressure. Any amount of salt in the past would increase the blood pressure. Now, he used the grey Celtic salt, and his pressure does NOT go up." One old man who lives near me makes organic wine, he told me the same thing. He said his blood pressure went way down on the Celtic salt before, it was always high.

BISER: How many people have mentioned something like this to you?

DE LANGRE: in the last thirty years, I would say a couple of thousand. It's unbelievable. They all say the same thing. "All of a sudden my blood pressure is normal. What have I done? This is the most common thing I hear about the Celtic salt.

BISER: Why does Celtic salt lower blood pressure? What's the mechanism?

DE LANGRE: In regular salt, the refined sodium chloride often stays in the body long after it has done it's job. Celtic salt helps to remove this excess sodium, as soon as it is no longer needed. This is because the Celtic salt has magnesium, about 3/4 of 1%, by solids. One of the roles of magnesium in the body is to remove the excess sodium. The three forms of magnesium in Celtic salt which dissolves the sodium are Magnesium chloride, magnesium sulphate, and magnesium bromide. It's one of the great nutritional paradoxes that you have to give salt, in order to lower the level of salt in the tissues. "When I was 55,1 had the blood pressure of a twenty-year old.*

BISER: You said you have been taking Celtic salt for many years. How is your own blood pressure?

DE LANGRE: When I was 55, I was tested in Boston by two medical doctors. They both said I had the blood pressure of a twenty-year old. They were very, very surprised. I am 67, so that was twelve years ago. I have been using Celtic salt all of my life. I have never restricted my salt intake. Around here, they call me, "The Salt Man." I don't over do it. But I like salt. Three years ago. I had my blood pressure tested by a surgeon. It was extremely low. It was still in the same range as it was when I was 55. He said there was absolutely no cholesterol deposits in the arteries. I use the salt on a lot of my food. But whenever I have a check up my doctor says my salt level is normal.

BISER: Haw long does it take for a person to notice a reduction in blood pressure on your salt?

DE LANGRE: It varies with each person. Sometimes people call me less than a month later and say, "I had my blood pressure taken, and it has gone down. Could it be the salt?" I would say on an average, it takes a month or longer to notice a drop in blood pressure. Of course, everyone is different. There are always exceptions. The Celtic salt literally "scrounges" around the body looking for excess salt deposits in the interstitial tissue and it just drains this sodium through the kidneys. The Celtic salt will also help to dissolve kidney stones. Medical doctors have told me that. One woman from Montana wrote that when she first received Celtic salt, she felt like she had been given a bag of gold. Others say they can "salt their problem away."

BISER: Suppose a person has low blood pressure. Will taking the Celtic salt make their pressure go even lower?

DE LANGRE: Not at all. The Celtic salt has this uncanny ability to bring back to centre whatever function is unbalanced in he body. If you have low blood pressure, the Celtic salt will bring the pressure back up. If you have high blood pressure, it brings it down. Only natural means can do this. A pharmaceutical drug, which is designed to lower blood pressure, will only work one way - "down." And they can bring your pressure so dam low, you will have problems.

BISER: Have you heard stories of people who raised their low blood pressure on the Celtic salt?

DE LANGRE: Yes, definitely. Of course. Celtic salt is a blood pressure normaliser. Most people can't under stand this, but Celtic salt has a 'biochemical intelligence.' It's a thinking salt. It is totally different from the dead, lifeless, refined salt currently used. We are probably consuming 2-3 times more salt than we need, mainly because we use a demineralised fined salt, they would find they need much less salt in their food. "I'm sorry to say, but most natural 'sea salt' is almost identical to supermarket salt."

BISER: What do you think of natural sea salt sold in the health food stores?

DE LANGRE: This can be just as bad for your health as regular salt. Most sea salt often comes from the same refinery as commercial salt. You can tell sea salt is refined because you can pick it up and it does not have any sign of moisture at all. Refined salt is very dry salt. This tells you the magnesium has been taken out, because magnesium is a water-hugging molecule.

BISER: How do you know that oedema goes down on the Celtic salt?

DE LANGRE: We met a very beautiful Japanese American girl a few years ago. The girl was healthy looking except for swollen ankles. She knew who I was. She said, "You're the salt man. I need to talk to you. Look at my ankles." I said, "Where have you been living?" She said, "I live on a macrobiotic farm and we use only the macrobiotic salt." This salt is refined, just like regular salt, but it has the stamp of approval from the macrobiotic teachings. We started heron the Celtic salt and told her to totally avoid the macrobiotic salt. Two days later she came to my wife, and grabbed her. She said, "Look at my ankles. The swelling is gone, they are now normal. I cannot believe the change." Macrobiotic salt is dangerous for you health. It is refined, desiccated and de-ionized.

BISER: For a person with heart problems, would you recommend the Celtic salt?

DE LANGRE: Definitely, in moderate quantities. I think the Celtic salt has the ability to cleanse the heart. Remember the famous experiment with the French doctor, Alexis Carrel? He kept a chicken heart alive for 37 years by feeding it this same Celtic salt. If he had used regular refined salt, the heart would never have lived that long.

BISER: How much Celtic salt should a person use?

DE LANGRE: Use it in moderation. Salt to taste. When using Celtic salt, use 2/3 the amount of salt you would normally use. If a recipe calls for 100 grams of salt, I will use only 65 grams of the Celtic salt. And it will have the same saltiness of the recipe. "A French physiologist named Rene Quinton healed thousands of people with a serum derived from sea water."

BISER: So by using the Celtic salt, you are actually using less salt?

DE LANGRE: Of course. Because you are meeting the taste bud's requirement. If you want to make a comparison test between the refined salt and Celtic salt, here is what to do. First taste Celtic salt. Your taste buds will be gently awakened. If you put the regular salt on your tongue, your tongue will be out of commission for at least 30 minutes. You cannot taste anything else. With the refined salt, your taste buds are stunned and weakened. Your sense of taste is suppressed. This is why you see people in restaurants piling the salt on in order to get some taste out of the food. The salt irritates the taste buds and inhibits them. Here's another experiment you can try if you are not too queasy With a sharp and clean razor blade, make a little cut on the back of your left hand and put some refined salt on the cut. Then put a band-aid on. Do the same thing on the right hand, but now cover it with Celtic salt. In the morning, you will find an inflammation where you used the refined salt. But not with the Celtic salt. I believe regular refined salt inflames the cells of the body. With a sharp and clean razor blade, make a little cut on the back of your left hand and put some refined salt on the cut. Then put a band-aid on. Do the same thing on the right hand, but now cover it with Celtic salt. In the morning, you will find an inflammation where you used the refined salt. But not with the Celtic salt. I believe regular refined salt inflames the cells.

BISER: How does the Celtic salt affect your appetite?

DE LANGRE: You don't need to eat as much food, because you are getting more nutrition from the food you eat. You will find you are satisfied quicker.

BISER: Will people live longer on the Celtic salt?

DE LANGRE: I definitely think so. Celtic salt is a cleanser of bodily fluids. It will help keep your body healthy.

in my opinion most people myself included get enough salts in my diet without adding to it by adding extra salt ..below is a good article on ssalt .. the otherside of the story



Re: salt
Posted by: Bryan (IP Logged)
Date: November 21, 2006 10:55PM


Here is a great article by a fellow raw foodist dispelling some of the myths around salt:
---------------------

SALT by Dr. Timothy Trader, NMD, PhD

There has been a lot of talk lately about salt, even among rawfood gurus. It seems everyone is promoting one “healthy salt” or another—Miracle Salt, Celtic Sea Salt, and Himalayan Crystal Salt, to name a few. Unfortunately, I don’t see anyone telling the truth about salt. Rather, they regurgitate the “facts” from the company’s marketing literature, in spite of copious scientific research to the contrary.

Let’s begin by delving into some facts about regular table salt, or sodium chloride. Then we’ll investigate just how different these “healthy salts” really are. No doubt you’ve heard that salt is essential for life. Actually, what our bodies need are the two components of table salt—sodium and chloride. First we need to distinguish chlorine from chloride. And which one does the body need?

www.ionichs.com/research/chlorine-chloride.pdf: states “chloride is absolutely essential to the survival of cells in the human body and to human health in general. This is not the case with chlorine, which at certain levels can lead to serious health problems. AND, according to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, chloride is essential in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance, and is a necessary component of gastric juice. (NAS, page 257)”

Sodium stabilizes water balance in our bodies, plays an intricate role in nervous system function, and is a component of several chemicals in our bodies, such as our gastric juices. Natural sodium occurs in many vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, and especially celery.

Chloride helps heart function, is of key importance in maintaining the body’s acid-alkaline balance, and aids in digestion and elimination. Chloride is found in the same three items, lettuce, tomatoes and celery. Though it is not bound with sodium.
Unfortunately, table salt contains ingredients other than sodium and chlorine—aluminum, for one. Two of the most common anticaking agents used in salt production are sodium alumino-silicate and alumino-calcium silicate. Aluminum is a toxic metal that has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and in any case has no place in a healthy diet.

The sodium and chloride in table salt are physically bonded in such a way that our digestive system and our liver cannot break them down. Thus our bodies cannot access the sodium or the chlorine. The body’s only option is to attempt to eliminate the unusable substance. The portion that is excreted exits the body as sodium chloride, which is evidence that the body does not break down and use this compound.

When we take in more of any substance than the body can eliminate, it has to store the substance. When salt can’t be excreted, it is deposited in the body, causing the cells to contract and discharge their vital fluids. With the fluids goes all the vital components that the cell needs, including other minerals. This results in dehydration of the cells, hardening of the tissues, degeneration of the organs, and even cancer.
The Bad News
Historically, salt was used as a food preservative and an embalming agent. It is well known that salt kills bacteria that eat food. Unfortunately, in the same way, salt destroys the body’s cells as well. Those who live in snowy regions know that salting the roads to melt the snow corrodes metals. The chloride in salt has an affinity for hydrogen ions, making corrosive, carcinogenic hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is used in the stomach but, when HCL is made outside of the digestive system it can eat away at everything it touches. Salt will tie to hydrogen ion out side of the stomach.
In a December 2002 article entitled in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , we see how salt creates urinary nitrogen and calcium loss and erodes muscle and bone. The July 2003 issue of Acupuncture Today states, “Salt induced chloride acidosis has been found to cause irritability, hyperactivity and insomnia…”. This means that the body is stimulated and irritated by poisons. “Excessive salt consumption is associated with stomach cancer, and chloride acid reflux into the esophagus initiates esophageal cancer. Systemic acidity is probably carcinogenic in other tissues.” A January 7, 2004 report of the National Cancer Center Research Institute at Kashiwa, Japan entitled “Salt and Stomach Cancer” again confirms this, stating that salt elevates—even doubles—the incidence of stomach cancer.

The Nei Jing, an ancient Chinese medical text, states, “too much salty taste can weaken the bones and cause contracture and atrophy of the muscles, as well as stagnate the heart qi.” Other maladies associated with salt consumption include premenstrual syndrome, gout, and psychological disorders.
Salt affects the arteries, compressing them and elevating blood pressure (American Society of Hypertension study, “Salt Reduction and Hypertension,” F. Sacks, Harvard University. May, 2000.) Hypertension is involved in heart attacks and strokes, otherwise known as cardiovascular disease, the number one terminal disease in Western civilization. Even back in 1977, the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human needs recommended reduction of salt intake for the average American.
Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says in Federal Regulations, section 101.74, part 3 “Sodium intakes exceed recommended levels in almost every group in the United States. One of the major public health recommendations relative to high blood pressure is to decrease consumption of salt. On a population-wide basis, we see again and again, reducing the average blood pressure reduces mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke.

In the August, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, the article “Using Diet to Lower Your Blood Pressure” recommended not only putting the salt shaker away but eating more fruits and vegetables. I agree with Dr. Kotchen, the article’s author, on this.

What's Natural About It?
Like cigarette smoke, we know that eating salt damages our bodies. Yet most of us still consume it. Similarly, at some level all Americans have to know that they’re deluding themselves when they imagine that a high-fat diet doesn’t hurt…yet thousands have jumped on the Atkins train. Are we addicted or what?
As is the case with many poisons that enter into our bodies, salt does not kill us right away. But we become addicted to salt, which lowers our defenses so that we not only endure the detrimental addictive substance but we come to demand more and more of it.

Animals in nature do not consume salt; domestic cows and other animals are taught to eat it. Humans are the only primates who eat salt. The question arises about salt licks, as Dr. Shelton speaks in his book The Art and Science of Nutrition, that domestic animals are fed salt to increase water weight and that wild animals do not flock to sources of salt.

It is said that salt is in our blood. Well, yes…it is. But it has existed in human blood only since we started eating it—some 8,000 years ago, according to historians. 8,000 years is a relatively short time in human history; for 99% of the time humans have inhabited the planet, we thrived without salt. And, our intake of salt has doubled in the last 50 years. Anthropology has found no sodium-chloride deposits in early bones of human remains, though you can find it in most anyone of western civilization today. Once humans began cooking food and discarding the water in which they cooked it—along with most of its minerals and nutrients—we were left craving minerals. Table salt can be a quick mineral replacement. But the question is, does it add up?
People say that salt makes food taste better. In truth, salt irritates our taste buds, actually killing many cells on the tongue. The effect is much like burning or scraping some skin off our hands in pursuit of a more sensitive touch. On the Oregon State University Student Health Services Web site, we find this quote: “Unlike the sweet sensation we are born to appreciate, salt sensation is acquired. Only through ‘practice’ consuming salty foods do people develop a taste for it.” Others claim that salt aids digestion. In reality, salt inhibits absorption through intestinal membranes. Albuminuria, a presence of protein in the urine, occurs when all of the components of blood are expeditiously possessed by the kidneys, taking out needed nutrients in the blood with the poisons. This disturbs water balance in the body causing dehydration, causing low gastric juices which affect digestion.

Imagine placing salt in an open wound (no, I do not suggest doing this) it will burn. Though some promoters of salt will tell you that it helps to heal the wound, we find that it actually pushes the body to heal the wound faster because there is a poison as well as a wound. Poisons in a laceration only causes more scaring, due to the rushed work the body has to do to secure that contaminates stay out.

The more salt we consume, the more we destroy and deteriorate our cells. In edema, the circulatory system keeps more fluid with the blood to keep the salt in the blood away from the cells. Diabetics who lower their salt intake also have lower glucose readings and need less insulin (Diabetes, March 2001).

In ancient Japan, the Samurai committed hari-kari to eliminate dishonor. Many of us have read how they stabbed themselves with a knife in this ritual suicide. There were other ways; one of them was a long and agonizing death, for those with the greatest dishonor. It was to take a sack of sea salt, just less than a pound, and a small amount of water, around a liter, and to consume both as quickly as possible. The result was destruction of the body from the inside, as well as dehydration. Death was not instantaneous, but by the next morning it was sure. Navy and maritime personnel all over the world are told not to drink sea water if they survive a shipwreck and are left without drinking water, because drinking sea water causes death by dehydration.
So here it is, salt is a deadly poison and not something your body can use. Even small amounts do some damage to your cells and can be stored in the body, making the body more toxic each time you consume salt. Salt is not a food, even in small amounts. This also applies to everything else we consume, poisons affect our bodies and when we get more in then what we can get rid of, it will accumulate and do more damage.

Organic Versus Inorganic Minerals
Minerals (like sodium) are best taken in plant form. In fact it is the only source of minerals our body can truly use. Plant-derived minerals are termed “organic” minerals, whereas the minerals in dirt are called “inorganic.” Many differences exist between these two kinds of minerals. real issue is which kinds of minerals the body can absorb and use, some tout colloidal minerals, others talk about ionic minerals, mostly it is just something to sell you on a product.

Many factors contribute to proper absorption and utilization of minerals. Three important ones are organic acids, phytochelatins, and metallothioneins fundamental elements found in plants with minerals, but not in powders. Colloidal liquids sold in stores also lack some of the plant materials that you need for optimum absorption and utilization. Perhaps most important, minerals in dirt can have larger molecules than do those same minerals found in plants. Our cells absorb minerals of a smaller molecular size much more easily. Here are three resources on the topic of mineral bioavailability:

* Biochemical Society Transactions, “Bioavailability of Dietary Minerals,” 1996. * Bioavailability: Physical, Chemical, and Biological Interactions, EPA/600/A-94/199. J.L. Hamelink, P.F. Landrum, H.L. Bergman, and W.H. Benson, Editors. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. Pp. 5-22.
* Biorecovery 1, (81–126), “Terrestrial Higher Plants Which Hyperaccumulate Metallic Elements—A Review of Their Distribution, Ecology and Phytochemistry.” Baker, A. J. M., and Brooks, R. R. (1989)

What’s So Different?
Are “healthy salts” any different? First none of them come from plants, where we can truly use them. The closest to healthy plant-based condiment that is salty is seaweed. Even though the minerals in seaweed are organic, they are surrounded by dried sea salt, which is inorganic and mostly sodium chloride, a poison. Don’t forget that seaweed contains all the pollutants in the ocean, as well as heavy metals.
Let’s examine Celtic sea salt, again an inorganic group of minerals and 83% sodium chloride. It also contains metals like aluminum, and all the contaminates of the ocean. The company claims that it contains no mercury, and I am glad about that—though I’m unsure how they managed this feat, since our oceans are full of mercury. They also claim that their salt contains no pollutants, although most ecologists find no place in our oceans untouched by our chemicals. Celtic Sea Salt has more minerals than table salt, but it is still mostly sodium chloride and thus acidic. The minerals are inorganic and unusable and really poison. The claims made on health properties are no different then any other product some one is trying to sell you. Poisons are destructive to your body no matter how small the amount is. When we use it to cure a malady it only stops symptoms, the reality is that the only way to heal is to create health.

Another “natural” salt is Himalayan Crystal Salt, mined in India, out of rock. They say it is from a primordial sea. So really it is sea salt, just without today’s pollutants. Some of the statements made by the company seem odd. “Himalayan Crystal salt forces water to stay outside the cells.” This dehydrates the cells and possibly keeps them undernourished. The cells probably contract, similarly to the cramps you get when you are dehydrated. Then they tell you how to get rid of edema: “this is how you get rid of edema fluid in the body: by drinking more water.” More water will help the body flush out the salt. If you stop eating salt, the edema goes away! Their answer to high blood pressure is again drinking more water. This still sounds like inorganic minerals which the body can or will not use and is trying to get rid of. The answer to any pollution is water as far as most “experts” go. I say stop the cause, don’t pollute your self.

The last salt I would like to talk about is Miracle Krystal Salt. Like the others, it has many minerals. They make sure you know it is unrefined. Still it does not come from a plant, and it contains sodium chloride. Could this be just another salt for you to buy? There are profits to be made. And as many researchers know, if you have money you can fund a study to prove what you want so you can sell your product. Hopefully we can see through this con game and find true health, without condiments and supplements.

The truth is that table salt is just refined “healthy salt,” and refining any food product results in lowered health. Refined cocoa is cocaine; refined poppy is heroine, all three create addictions. Salt is a learned taste, not a natural one. Just watch a baby’s facial expression of disgust when they’re first given salt. The only time babies reject fruit is when they are full, or have no teeth yet.
Our bodies need sodium, and we get it in abundance with our natural diet. Thoreau called salt “that grossest of groceries,” and after he discontinued it, found himself less thirsty. I see many people who eat at least a somewhat healthy diet, even some who eat a superbly healthy diet. These people also have problems like hypertension and they wonder why? Then I find out they are consuming a “healthy salt,” as well as trying to live a healthy lifestyle, as soon as they stop this addiction, the affliction goes away, every time. Stop putting acidic dirt into your body. You will save money and you will be healthier.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2007 09:46PM by Jgunn.

I spent years wading through different approaches that didn't work for me, until I ended up with something pretty close to Doug's 80-10-10. When I am close to this I feel my best, when I stray my old stuff starts resurfacing. I can only wonder what it would've been like to skip all the other approaches and have started with something as simple and logical as Doug's, but I sure did learn a lot having my own experience and getting here the hard way! So to those who have an opportunity to dive straight into Doug's type of approach, you might give it a go! But if you need to have your own experience trying other things, do that too. Just seems like (in my experience) many people who try other things either eventually quit raw foods or eventually come to the hygienic approach.

Love,
Uma

Uma,

It must take discipline but his fat theory interests me as so I will try it though I will try onions and garlic as well,dont you miss those?

sunny thoughts,
wallace

I just about agree with this view of the book from another thread here.

Wallace

Re: 80/10/10 taking a balanced view
Posted by: happyway (IP Logged)
Date: February 21, 2007 01:02AM


I did a water-only fast beginning of January, followed by a "half fast"= no overt fat or protein-(even stricter than DG's program but only intended to be temporary)-- then got D.G.'s book and i & spouse are using it for inspiration.

We try to take a balanced view. Reading the "China Study" and Dr. (yes a real MD into nutrition) J. Fuhrman's book "Eat to live", and books that explain ph, it becomes obvious that the evidence for low fat & low protein is scientifically very persuasive; and not new.

However if you look up where DG discusses B12 you will note that he provides no answer--only comments that folks didn't use to wash their vegetables so they had soil on them (supposedly a source of B12). This is a glaring omission and failure to deal with a serious matter. High handed dismissal simply won't do. I don't belive he deals with Vitamin D, for folks in the north in winter either.
Likewise where he compares diets he makes up a totally absurd one to compare his to. It is really insulting to the readers' intelligence.

His menus are informative and give a good idea of how to do it. Although his practice of eating fruit right before a big dinner salad seems strange, as do a few of his other combinations.

The book does not Explain the importance of exercise to his program or it's physiology. Only mentions that it's totally essential- no details at all. Surprising?

Using software called cronometer we tracked many of our meals and found the following nutrients difficult or impossible to get without supplementation.
Vitamins B12 & D, and the minerals selinium & zinc. Someone mentioned Sodium,
I will have to go back and check that one.

His complete dismissal of juicing, (as well as supplementation) seems to be a point where many who like much of his program, part company with his rigid party-line outlook. The same goes for seaweed. Looking up the nutritional values of carrot ( and carrot, beet, celery) juice, it is readily apparent that this is a great source of nutrients. He lives in Costa Rica, much of the time. A dozen pounds of perfectly ripe bananas EVERY day, are not available in much of the rest of the world.

He omits discussion of fasting. His take on herbs is also party-line NH with no inkling that they may be the lesser of various evils during certain conditions and transitions.

Never-the-less he sets a good example of great health, and enthusiasm; and points out some major errors possible with raw foods' diet. I will continue to learn from the book, but not take it as gospel.

Wallace,

I still enjoy the smell of garlic but really, ever since simplifying my diet away from spices, they are too harsh-feeling in my body. Garlic is an antibiotic, and I used to use it as such. I've moved away from that practice since it never healed me.

I guess if garlic and onions don't affect the way you feel, and you still enjoy them, there's no reason to push them away yet. Same with the fats. For me, I let the spices and high fat go because of the way I felt without them, and repeated negative experiences of reintroducing them. I still occasionally enjoy them at a raw restaurant, and it's fun but there's a price to pay for me.

Love,
Uma

thanks for your input Uma.

Sunny thoughts,
Wallace

Wallace

the types of questions you are asking are really good ones

even Graham himself says one has to tweak or tailor to fit

there are reasons for the garlic thing, the seaweed thing, etc.but ultimately you have to make your own choices. Some of them make sense, for as your body cleans out..it becomes far more sensitive to the 'medicinal' stuff..even the more bitter tender greens in my experience. The arguments against juicing..are as you say - party line, and very non-sensical other then that he believes people 'supplementing' in such a way are missing the boat of his whole foods approach, and anything that isn't his approach..is a 'substitute'.

sometimes you have to separate information...from wisdom..if you catch my meaning..which I think you do.

I think from what I've read on his board..he does say all combinations are a compromise. At this point, I wouldn't be able to eat those 'dinners' either. I do everything separately...eat heads of lettuces or spinach on recovery days or when i'm just bumming around, or sometimes with some pears or strawberries..and occasionally eat a meal of 1 or 2 avos every once and awhile.

keep questioning!

Good points Anaken

Graham has a chapter in Paul Nilsen Raw world book but the maj of people there are in favour of sea vegetables so ......

In any case if you see Graham he will tailor his program to your specifics

Herbs also seem to be out which I would have thought would make food less interesting...

Wallace

I'm on my third day of 8/1/1 and though I feel that the low fat approach fits me, I do however wish the book cited more sources instead of simply relying "..studies show/studies conducted..".

The first part of the book does for the most part cite sources and studies.

My fear is that 5-10 years from now, this way of eating will be shown to be misguided in its conclusions, much as low cal and high protein thinking/books turned out to be.

For now, based on the information in the book, I will stick with it while doing regular medical check ups. I do realise that he says there are many undiscovered phytonutrients out there, but I don't want to end up with some weird deficiency.

I do love the fruits..really love them..I miss fish dearly (sashimi) though!

It's my first day back at work tomorrow (had a week off) - a 12 hour day at least. I hope I feel less spacey! I'm finding it hard to retain information or compose my thoughts.

(I am sticking to the 8/1/1, so it's not the oil causing the space out. I don't drink juices anymore, and all my nutrient requirements are fulfilled, including the caloric recommedations for my weight and fitness demands, so I guess it's detox/transition).

badawie Wrote:
> My fear is that 5-10 years from now, this way of
> eating will be shown to be misguided in its
> conclusions, much as low cal and high protein
> thinking/books turned out to be.

Wondered about that myself at one point a good number of years ago, but much of the information in the book is based on years of what has already been established, when you look into it. In addition, 8-1-1 has been around also, his book is new is all :O)

>Using software called cronometer we tracked many of our meals and found the following nutrients difficult or impossible to get without supplementation.
Vitamins B12 & D, and the minerals selinium & zinc. Someone mentioned Sodium,
I will have to go back and check that one.

1. most online software uses the rda's which are not valid imo.
the WHO numbers are lower and are better researched, and when one uses WHO, it is easy to get all nutrients.

2. usda nutrient database is used and probably understates nutrient levels of foods - i don't think organic is included.

> fear is that 5-10 years from now, this way of eating will be shown to be misguided in its conclusions, much as low cal and high protein thinking/books turned out to be.

not only do long lived human populations eat virtually the same as 811, but currently existing primates do as well.

certainly we can get into differences with respect to animal foods and other matters, but the diet is extremely similar.

Very good points. It's great to have a resource like this site where we can benefit from the experience of people who have been doing this for years..there's nothing quite like first hand experience :-)