# Salt.



## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

bethdeth said:


> I crave salt when I haven't got the right amount of cortisol (Addison's disease). If I were to go into a crisis it's one of the things in hospital they would put into a drip. There is a potassium/sodium balance that everyone needs for their health as well. I don't know what the ratio is.


That's an interesting connection between salt and cortisol...do they know why that happens?


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## beth x (Mar 4, 2010)

He's a Superhero! said:


> That's an interesting connection between salt and cortisol...do they know why that happens?


It's actually probably more aldosterone levels. When the adrenals go funny (scientific working term) and stop working as they should you lose regulation of 52 hormones but only cortisol is vital for life. Salt cravings is just one of the symptoms but you also get different kinds of cramps when the levels are too high or tapering off. Salt drinks with bicarb seem to help me. Don't gag it's a thousand times better than the actual cortisol replacement meds.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

bethdeth said:


> It's actually probably more aldosterone levels. When the adrenals go funny (scientific working term) and stop working as they should you lose regulation of 52 hormones but only cortisol is vital for life. Salt cravings is just one of the symptoms but you also get different kinds of cramps when the levels are too high or tapering off. Salt drinks with bicarb seem to help me. Don't gag it's a thousand times better than the actual cortisol replacement meds.


Yep, I have an idea of how bad medicine can taste. :S

So consuming a degree of salt helps you then?


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## beth x (Mar 4, 2010)

He's a Superhero! said:


> Yep, I have an idea of how bad medicine can taste. :S
> 
> So consuming a degree of salt helps you then?


Thirst and salt cravings gives me an idea that I may need to up doses or calm down on activity. If you are passing water a lot you probably need more salt to balance out the sodium/potassium thing. It does help me. After a saline drink cramps subside a bit and the unadulterated bullshit headache subsides a bit too. I wish there was someone here who knew a lot more about it than me that could explain to to me as it seems to be a pretty complex thing. Half the doctors I've actually been to really don't know much about adrenal insufficiency. The endocrine system doesn't seem to be in GP handbook of things to study as Addison's is fairly rare. You are basically given the dose to survive once diagnosed by the specialist.


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## Eudaimonia (Sep 24, 2013)

Considering how much sand people consume in places like Egypt, sand isn't going to do much damage to your insides. Salt is a mineral much like sand anyway except that it is soluble unlike sand. There isn't really a need to be concerned. Glass is made up of sand. Cholesterol is needed for your basic health from hormone balance to what the nerves and the brain is mostly made up of. Atherosclerosis is more to do with high inflammatory hormone responses to either high stress or a sugary diet rather than cholesterol in and of itself.

The bad that salt does if you consume too much is break down the calcium bonds in the bones and can cause brittle bones if given enough time of a high salt diet. High blood pressure and its link to salt is debatable because it might have more to do with hydration which upping your H2O by itself can up potassium levels depending on your kidneys' health and balance out excess salt intake. In other words, it is better to concentrate on your intake of water than worrying about salt itself unless you have a kidney problem.

Salt is needed for chemical exchanges through out the body in order for the cells of all types to work. Without salt in the body we simply die.

http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/osteoporosis/potassium-and-sodium-the-dynamic-duo-1

I would dismiss this vid for many reasons.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

bethdeth said:


> Thirst and salt cravings gives me an idea that I may need to up doses or calm down on activity. If you are passing water a lot you probably need more salt to balance out the sodium/potassium thing. It does help me. After a saline drink cramps subside a bit and the unadulterated bullshit headache subsides a bit too. I wish there was someone here who knew a lot more about it than me that could explain to to me as it seems to be a pretty complex thing. Half the doctors I've actually been to really don't know much about adrenal insufficiency. The endocrine system doesn't seem to be in GP handbook of things to study as Addison's is fairly rare. You are basically given the dose to survive once diagnosed by the specialist.


That sucks. I'm sorry to hear about the headaches too...nothing's quite like pain in the head.

I'm not really familiar with Addison's either. If you could sum it up in a brief phrase, what would that be?


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Eudaimonia said:


> Considering how much sand people consume in places like Egypt, sand isn't going to do much damage to your insides. Salt is a mineral much like sand anyway except that it is soluble unlike sand. There isn't really a need to be concerned. Glass is made up of sand. Cholesterol is needed for your basic health from hormone balance to what the nerves and the brain is mostly made up of. Atherosclerosis is more to do with high inflammatory hormone responses to either high stress or a sugary diet rather than cholesterol in and of itself.
> 
> The bad that salt does if you consume too much is break down the calcium bonds in the bones and can cause brittle bones if given enough time of a high salt diet. High blood pressure and its link to salt is debatable because it might have more to do with hydration which upping your H2O by itself can up potassium levels depending on your kidneys' health and balance out excess salt intake. In other words, it is better to concentrate on your intake of water than worrying about salt itself unless you have a kidney problem.
> 
> ...


That's a good point about sand. On the other hand I've heard of people suffering from starvation dying because of eating mud - but I think one would have to eat a fair amount at once for that to happen, and only starvation could lead someone to do something like that. The body is amazing at repairing itself, so even if the body was damaged by something inside the salt it would likely fix itself.

Another thing I remember is people who eat large objects - like a TV or something. They do it very gradually in pieces, and often that includes actual glass...I wonder what effect that has on them, as they seem to go on unharmed. Then again harm isn't always obvious.


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## aeralin (Jul 11, 2014)

No wonder people keep saying stuff to me about they are changing to seawater salt because they heard table salt is bad for you. Thus we have people with high cholesterol still consuming tons of salt cause they believe this stuff.


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## beth x (Mar 4, 2010)

He's a Superhero! said:


> That sucks. I'm sorry to hear about the headaches too...nothing's quite like pain in the head.
> 
> I'm not really familiar with Addison's either. If you could sum it up in a brief phrase, what would that be?


Addison's is when the adrenal glands don't work to provide you with enough cortisol. It's also called adrenal insufficiency. It's caused by many different things and there can be a genetic factor to it. Autoimmune diseases and infections tend to bring it on but the most common cause was tuberculosis (when there was no vaccine). The immune system attacks the adrenal cortex. I've had it probably most of my life but it's happened over a long slow progression to pretty much they (adrenal glands) are beyond anything but meds. My son has Addisons too but his cause was overactive cortisol production (and adrenal removal).

JF Kennedy had it. The Medical Ordeals of JFK - Robert Dallek - The Atlantic


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