{"id":484,"date":"2018-08-30T22:10:51","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T22:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/?page_id=484"},"modified":"2020-11-01T20:55:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-01T20:55:10","slug":"484-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/484-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat This Rock!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry\">\n<p>Once a considered a precious commodity, salt is now commonly available. We crave salty taste and use it to flavor our food and nourish our bodies.<\/p>\n<p>The adult human body has about 250 grams of salt in it. That&#8217;s equal to about 4 salt shakers.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">On the average, adults consume 3,400 mg. of salt daily and most of that intake is from the restaurant meals and processed foods we eat.\u00a0<\/span>Experts agree that it\u2019s best to limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams a day.\u00a0One teaspoon!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-489\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-fries-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"salt sprinkled on French fries\" width=\"270\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-fries-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-fries-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-fries-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-fries.jpg 1350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><br \/>\n[alt tag\/] Salty French fries.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Why would a person want to eat a rock?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>We actually <em>need<\/em> salt in our diets. Our bodies don&#8217;t produce it so we add it to our diets.<\/p>\n<p>Salt aids in the body&#8217;s fluid balance as well as its muscle and nerve function.\u00a0Salt is lost through body functions and we need to replace it.<\/p>\n<p>The chloride salt provides is essential to our respiration and digestion.\u00a0Even though the human body does not manufacture sodium, it needs it to carry important nutrients, oxygen, nerve impulses and to move muscles (including the heart).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1213\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-1778597_960_720-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Himalayan Salt\" width=\"278\" height=\"185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-1778597_960_720-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-1778597_960_720-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-1778597_960_720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px\" \/><br \/>\n[alt tag\/] Himalayan salt contains 86 minerals<\/p>\n<p>Health experts differ in opinion about how much salt a person needs to be healthy.\u00a0 Recommendations for annual salt intake range from two-thirds of a pound to more than sixteen pounds per year. Needs vary depending on the climate we live in. People who live in hot climates or who do physical labor will need more salt to replace what is lost through sweating.<\/p>\n<p>We eat for energy and will customize our nutritional choices from there. One person may eat for mental clarity and they\u2019ll make choices like fatty fish, flax seeds, leafy green vegetable and the like.\u00a0\u00a0Someone else may struggle with arthritis or fibromyalgia pain and use their diet as a way to have a better quality of life. They will limit tomatoes, artificial sweeteners and sugars from their diets and find benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever focus we have with our diets; we all need to eat salt in order to be healthy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1240\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-crystal-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"279\" height=\"209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-crystal-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-crystal-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-crystal.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 279px) 100vw, 279px\" \/><br \/>\n{alt tag\/] Salt crystal<\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"font-size: 1.25rem;\">What is salt?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The mineral salt is one sodium ion and one chlorine ion. It is 40% sodium and 60% chloride by weight.<\/p>\n<p>In chemical terms, salt is the substance produced by the reaction of an acid with a base. When the unstable metal sodium, (which can suddenly burst in to flames), is combined with the deadly poisonous gas chlorine, it becomes the food staple we call sodium chloride, or NaCl.<\/p>\n<p>It is from the<em> only family of rocks eaten by humans<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>Of the many different salts, the one we most enjoy eating and identify as \u2018salty flavor\u2019 is <em>sodium chloride.<\/em> Many of the other salts will convey a bitter, sour or other unwelcome taste, though they contribute value to the human diet.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-485\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-margarita-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"Salt on rim of glass with limes. \" width=\"268\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-margarita-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-margarita-768x537.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-margarita-1024x716.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/salty-margarita.jpg 1316w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 268px) 100vw, 268px\" \/><br \/>\n[alt tag\/] Coarse white rock salt on the rim of an icy margarita glass with sliced limes.<\/p>\n<p>Salt mining and control of the commodity is directly linked to powerful trade destinations throughout history.\u00a0\u00a0We needed salt to preserve foods.\u00a0\u00a0The more food a country could preserve, the farther their explorers and armies could travel and enrich their homelands.<\/p>\n<h5>Salt is Everywhere.<\/h5>\n<p>Woven through our civilized history are salt mines.\u00a0 The control and distribution of salt created wealth and influence.\u00a0 It&#8217;s only been 115 years or so since refrigeration came along and changed the way we store foods.<\/p>\n<p>Not so long ago, we didn\u2019t know how to find the salt we needed and it was a treasured commodity. Now, modern geography has shown us the many places it can be found.<\/p>\n<p>At one time, salt was traded in equal weight for gold!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1212\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-mine-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-mine-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-mine-768x494.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/salt-mine.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><br \/>\n[alt tag\/] Sea salt evaporation mine<\/p>\n<p>Salt is mined in an evaporation pond on the seaside.\u00a0 It&#8217;s mined on the mountainside terraces in Peru. We treasure the salts of ancient sea beds, mined from deep underneath mountains in Europe or Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-491\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/wieliczka-salt-mine-Poland-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Deep inside a salt mine is staggering beauty. Poland\" width=\"283\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/wieliczka-salt-mine-Poland-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/wieliczka-salt-mine-Poland-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/wieliczka-salt-mine-Poland.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\" \/><br \/>\n[alt tag\/] Inside the beautiful and historic Wieliczka salt mine in Poland.<\/p>\n<p>There are magnificent old salt mines that have been made into beautiful places of gathering, dining and healing.<\/p>\n<p>Salt is everywhere and we love it.<\/p>\n<p>The next time you sprinkle a little rock on your food&#8230; think about that one teaspoon a day!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-285\" src=\"http:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/green-check-300x300.png\" alt=\"Check this one off the list!\" width=\"51\" height=\"51\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/green-check-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/green-check-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/jmwright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/green-check.png 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 51px) 100vw, 51px\" \/>This writing is an example of a 500-700 word informational article.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once a considered a precious commodity, salt is now commonly available. We crave salty taste and use it to flavor our food and nourish our bodies. The adult human body has about 250 grams of salt in it. That&#8217;s equal to about 4 salt shakers. On the average, adults consume 3,400 mg. of salt daily &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-484","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":87,"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1706,"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/484\/revisions\/1706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmwright.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}