Salt – Food, Remedy or Poison

The general opinions about salt – depending upon actual trends – are remarkably varied: Not that long ago, salt was branded; today it suddenly happens to be a remedy for all manner of ailments. The motto seems to be: `A spoon of brine every morning helps against sorrow and moaning´. Allergies, colds, indigestion, metabolism disorders, gynaecological disorders, diseases of the heart, the circulation, the kidneys or the bladder – suddenly all these seem to be curable with salt.

The layman is astonished, the specialist is surprised! How can one and the same substance be a poison and a healing remedy at the same time? After a little pause for thought, one realizes the reason is really very simple: `The dose makes the poison! ´, as Paracelsus already realised. And exactly at this point most of the faults occur. It is not really the issue whether salt comes from the Himalaya or from the Salzkammergut, or indeed which additives are present or if some elements might be have `shrunken´ through processing - it is how we use it that makes the difference between a poison and a remedy.