We and all life forms are electrical. The Chinese word for life-force is Chi, Japanese call it Ki and we call it electricity. All higher life forms require a subtle and complex electrolyte balance between the intracellular and extracellular compartments. Specifically, the maintenance of precise osmotic gradients of electrolytes is required for life to exist. Such gradients affect and regulate the hydration of the body, blood pH, and are critical for nerve and muscle function, including the heart.

Various mechanisms exist in living species that keep the concentrations of different electrolytes under tight control. For example, the cations (atoms that have lost an electron to become positively charged) sodium, potassium and calcium are required for muscles to contract. When people die from Cholera or other dysenteric diseases, they actually die from electrical imbalances resulting in heart fibrillations and muscle weaknesses hindering their ability to breathe.

Electricity Moves You

If we want to know the condition of someone’s heart, we perform an EKG which provides an electrical wave pattern which is then analyzed. If a person in the ICU is unresponsive and we want to know if they are capable of living, we perform an EEG which gives us an electrical wave pattern of their brain activity. All internal organs and movement of limbs are a consequence of electrical activity. When any of these test results are “flat lined”, the person is no longer alive.

What is salt?

Salt is defined chemically as the product which is formed from the neutralization reaction resulting when acids and bases (alkaline) are combined. Salts are ionic compounds meaning that they are composed of positive (cations) and negative (anions) ions.  Consequently, the product of a cation and an anion is neutral which means that there is no net charge. When salts are dissolved in water, they are called electrolytes, which describe the fact that they are capable of conducting electricity. Table salt, Na Cl (sodium chloride) is a crystal when dry but divides into Na+ and Cl- when dissolved in water. 

Be cautious with this cation

Sodium is the most abundant cation in our blood and among other functions, it maintains osmolality which keeps our blood in the blood vessels. The normal range is around 140 mmol/L, if it drops to 120 mmol/L the person may not remember his or her name, and if it gets to 160 mmol/L they will probably be in a coma. Suffice it to say, we are better off to have more than one source of sodium.

Of course, all minerals are better absorbed and assimilated if they are either combined with or bound organically to plant material. The best salt source for humans is in organic juices and sea salt. Himalayan and Celtic varieties are both great. There is no such thing as organic sodium - Na (sodium) is a metal, not an organic compound.

What’s on your table?

Regular table salt no longer has anything in common with the original crystal salt. Table salt is mainly sodium chloride and not salt. Natural salt is "chemically cleaned" and reduced to only sodium and chloride. Major salt producing companies dry the salt in huge kilns with temperatures reaching 1200 degrees F, which changes the salt's chemical structure, which in turn adversely affects the human body. Rather than just sodium and chloride, seawater has 84 chemical elements. For our body to be healthy we need all those elements. When we use the common salt, we are in deficit of 81 elements. Both Celtic and Himalayan salts contain all of these elements.

All vegetarian animals in the wild seek out and find salt to lick. Anyone who has ever been around horses knows how important salt is to their well-being. Carnivores get their salt needs met by drinking blood.

Do we need salt? Yes, but in the form that nature intends us to have it. Salt is vital for our bodies, but we need to exude caution on the kind of salt that we intake. Whether you call it Chi, Ki, or electricity, this cation is necessary in the wires that keep the currents of our life working.