?June 2009 Newsletter - What's up with salt

June 2009

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
Nelson Mandela

I was in my early twenties when I came back home from my first of many trips to India. Not only did I speak with a Hindi accent, bobble my head up and down and sideways when asked a question, put rings on my toes and a tika between my eyebrows … but I also put TONS of salt on my food before I even tasted it. I was so used to the spicy hot Indian food that I needed salt to stimulate my taste buds, or so I thought. For lunch I had salt with a salad and rice, and then for dinner I had another plate of salt with eggs and toast. Today I seem to do great with hardly any, or when I do, I use some pink Himalayan sea salt which is actually very healthy.

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What's up with salt?

The amount of salt one should consume has been a longstanding debate for quite some time. Some health professionals say cutting down on salt will not make a difference to your overall health while others say it will. This back and forth is very common in the world of nutrition studies. Don’t you think?

Like most food, it is the amount and the quality of salt that people consume that creates problems. Consider the amount and the type of salt that you use on a daily basis. Is there one particular meal where you know you consume the most amount of salt?

Because salt is used to preserve a lot of foods you’ll find high quantities of it in processed, packaged foods and restaurant meals. The USDA and the World Health Organization recommend a daily sodium intake of about 2,400 mg, but if you have a cup of packaged chicken noodle soup (half a cup has 890 mg), you’ve already reached your recommended daily intake!
You can’t control the amount of salt found in packaged foods and restaurant dishes, but you can control the amount that you put in your own food.
You know what’s best for your body. Pay attention to how you feel after you eat a restaurant meal versus how you feel after a home cooked meal.
(By Joshua Rosenthal)

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Do you too crave salt?
Here is some info suggesting what you can do about it…

Craving for salty foods often indicates mineral deficiency. All salt originates in the sea, and natural sea salt contains 60 different trace minerals. Most people use common table salt, which has been refined and stripped of many of these minerals. Before you go out and have a bag of pretzels or chips, try eating a wide variety of vegetables, especially leafy green veggies, which are very high in minerals. These foods often satisfy the craving for salty foods, which is really a desire for more nutrition. You may also want to purchase a high-quality sea salt to use in your cooking and incorporate sea vegetables, which have a naturally salty flavor and are high in minerals.
(From Integrative Nutrition feed your hunger for health & happiness)
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My recommendations:

Do your body and yourself a favor, Throw out your chlorine bleached table salt that contains only two elements: sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) and go get yourself some sea salt or Himalayan salt (one of the healthiest salts on the planet) - both have many beneficial trace minerals. Healthy salt has a pink or grey color, so look for color.

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Recipe of The Month:
Green Quinoa Salad
to deconstruct salt cravings

Prep Time: 15 min
Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa (try mixing the red and white varieties)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (leaves and stems)
1/2 cup chopped celery (leaves and stems)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (leaves)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (leaves and stems)
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander (leaves and stems)
(you can use any leafy greens you love or have in the fridge)

Dressing:
No amounts! Just follow your instinct till it tastes right:
olive oil
lemon juice
Himalayan salt
freshly ground black pepper
ground cumin

Directions: Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.

Wishing us all a healthy sea-salty month.



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Bulletin Board

Cooking class – Summer easy salads
Friday morning, June 12th at 9:30

Spring and summer are the perfect time for eating greens and salads.
Join me for a salad cooking class, as the base for or addition to a meal.
Make your own home made salads and wave fair well
to all the salt and preservatives that are in the store bought ones.
Please click here for more information

Health Food Store Tour
Tuesday, June 16th at 18:00

Do you ever wonder which oil to buy? What is Himalayan salt?
What do you do with Amaranth? Or even what it is?
Please click here for more information




NEW!! Studying (at my school)
to be a Certified Holistic Health Counselor


The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) located in New York City, where I studied and had the most AMAZING experience ever, is opening it's gates for Long Distance Learning studies.
Wow!! You no longer need to be in NYC.
Please click here for more information

Hello New Yorkers
From June 22nd – July 1st, I'll be in the Big Apple

If you have any health issues, want to loose weight, feel healthier, happier and more focused, need more energy in your life…
I will be happy to meet with you for a free nutrition consultation.
Please contact me to schedule a time and date
talyalewin@gmail.com
NYC phone number 646-320-1159

I would love to hear your comments and questions.
Please post them at the bottom of this newsletter where it says תגובות
That way we all will be involved.

Forward to a Friend
It's such a pleasure to help those closest to us become happier and healthier. Please forward to friends, family members or colleagues, to whomever might be interested and inspired by it.

As always... I would be happy to schedule a free Nutrition session.
If you haven't scheduled one yet... What are you waiting for ?!
Life is SHORT!!
(We can do it through the phone or on the net too)

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