Last night, my husband and I ate a lovely homemade lasagna given to us by some friends. It was chock full of veggies with well-balanced amounts of cheese, sauce, noodles, and veggies. After consuming this delicious dish, I thanked my friends telling them this was one of the best lasagnas we had eaten without an overabundance of sauce. In the reply, my friend mentioned that the sauce was store bought. That surprised me slightly mostly because I thought my friends were the homemade sauce type of folks, and also because I couldn’t tell the difference. The sauce was Newman's Own, which is a brand I definitely value when in a pinch for quality-based ingredients.
Later, when discussing this lasagna with my mom, she made me pause with this comment:
Later, when discussing this lasagna with my mom, she made me pause with this comment:
"Tricky how they (manufacturers) add preservatives and chemicals [to food] without it tasting salty but it makes it high in sodium. Maybe thirst is the body's need to flush the chemicals...you know I'm not feeling thirsty after adding sea salt to water.”
After eating the lasagna, I was pretty thirsty but that may have been exacerbated by not drinking enough water throughout the day. I figured that many of the ingredients in the dish probably contained high levels of iodized salt, which does dehydrate. Iodized salt is comprised primarily of sodium chloride, which isn't as beneficial to the body's homeostasis process and can actually interfere with the body's ability to absorb nutrients while also depleting calcium.
After eating the lasagna, I was pretty thirsty but that may have been exacerbated by not drinking enough water throughout the day. I figured that many of the ingredients in the dish probably contained high levels of iodized salt, which does dehydrate. Iodized salt is comprised primarily of sodium chloride, which isn't as beneficial to the body's homeostasis process and can actually interfere with the body's ability to absorb nutrients while also depleting calcium.
Iodized salt is the kind of salt in processed foods that we are told to worry about—the kind that raises blood pressure and causes hypertension. This is the salt that typically sits on restaurant tables and one should not consume more than 2300mg/day. Sea salt, on the other hand, has hundreds of minerals that the body relies on for processing nutrients and maintaining its water balance. Sea salt also contains the iodine your thyroid needs, which is a subject I will expand on in a later post. Sea salt encompasses Celtic, French Gray, Himalayan pink sea salt, black salt, flake salt, and numerous others. The varieties can become quite gourmet and daunting to keep track of so just order some Himalayan pink sea salt off of Amazon!
Returning to my mom's inspiring comment, the sea salt she adds to her water doesn't make her thirsty. On the contrary, it actually helps balance her body, providing her with minerals possibly lacking from her food sources and it hydrates her adequately. It turns out that salt in general doesn’t cause dehydration and thirst, but rather the type of salt used. Try some pink sea salt for yourself on food and a little in your water and see how thirsty you are compared to eating store bought tomato sauce.
Returning to my mom's inspiring comment, the sea salt she adds to her water doesn't make her thirsty. On the contrary, it actually helps balance her body, providing her with minerals possibly lacking from her food sources and it hydrates her adequately. It turns out that salt in general doesn’t cause dehydration and thirst, but rather the type of salt used. Try some pink sea salt for yourself on food and a little in your water and see how thirsty you are compared to eating store bought tomato sauce.
