AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVE ON SALTY
Salty refers to anything with salt, or high mineral content.
Salt & Flavor
Salt brings out the flavor in food and brings enthusiasm for life. It stimulates secretions, thus improving digestion. Salt is a laxative, breaking up all hard masses in the digestive tract. Salt in excess obliterates all other tastes and causes thirst.
Salt & Liquification
Salt causes water retention, increases blood pressure, and effectively combats dryness in Vata. It cleanses the body by breaking up obstructions in all channels. It nourishes the nerve tissue. Salt liquefies Kapha mucus in the lungs and sinuses, allowing for easier removal.
Salt is used to induce vomiting in pancha karma cleansing therapies. Yogis drink a quart of water with two teaspoons of salt to completely purge the GI tract.
Overuse of Salt
Ayurveda recommends limited use of mineral salts only. Refined salts should be avoided. Excess salt increases flabbiness and wrinkling of the skin. Salt pulls water into the intercellular space through osmosis, separating
ojas from the tissues. It delays healing by causing secretions in wounds. In excess, salt damages fluids, decreases libido, hardens muscles, damages bones, causes premature aging, and spoils the blood.
The average human loses 2 grams of salt per day. This amount increases to 30 grams (6 tsp) when exercising in hot weather. You may have noticed a crust on your skin after sweating on a hot day. In the summer it is vitally important to maintain electrolytes. Every year people who over-exert themselves on hot days die not of dehydration, but salt deficiency. At one time, salt, like sugar, was worth its weight in gold. The British controlled India through a tax on salt. Ancestrally, humans obtained most of their salt from the blood and muscle of their prey.
Salt, the Kidney, & Managing Fluids
The kidneys manage the ocean of water in the body. Vata people with leaky kidneys sometimes benefit from anti-diuretics, like salt,
licorice, and Rehmannia root. Anti-diuretics help rebuild fluids and counteract the diuretic effect of Vata type ama (toxicity).
Salty taste includes all foods that are rich in minerals, such as nettles. For the same reason, soil is considered salty. Many foods high in potassium, like potatoes, dandelions, and beans, are diuretics. Potassium and salt work like opposites in the body, both in fluid retention and on a cellular level (recall the sodium potassium pump). Salt aggravates Kapha. Potassium pacifies Kapha.
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