In the past fifty years, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, eczema, asthma, or alopecia. Scientists now believe that processed or refined salt found in processed foods are largely to blame.
T helper cells typically help fight pathogens, bacteria, and infection. Research shows that processed and refined salts effect the T helper cells causing them to behave more aggressively. This ultimately leads to increased inflammation within the body. As a result, in some countries the governments have led public health campaigns to limit salt levels.
Processed junk foods sold at grocery stores and fast food chains use the highest content of refined, processed, and bleached salts. Sodium chloride, also known as table salt, has no nutritional value and researchers believed our bodies were not designed to process it.
Non processed salts, such as Himalayan or Celtic, are more beneficial to our bodies due to higher mineral content. Wieliczka, a hospital and spa in Poland, has been carved out of a mineral salt mountain. Ninety percent of asthmatics or patients with lung diseases have improved from breathing in air from their underground saline chambers.
This study has been the first published to suggest a relationship between processed and refined salt as one factor driving the increase of autoimmune diseases. Is it time for us to start thinking about our role in giving nutritional advice?