Gaye Levy | Updated Oct 6, 2015 (Orig - May 10, 2013)
The information in this article, Reasons You Need Salt in the Prepper Pantry, has been updated and incorporated into an all-new, enhanced article.
Updated Oct 6, 2015
Published May 10, 2013
I grew up and attended school in the Greater Seattle area. After spending many years as an executive in the software industry, I started a specialized accounting practice offering contract CFO work to emerging high tech and service industries. Awhile back I abandoned city life and moved to a serenely beautiful rural area on on San Juan Island in NW Washington State.These days I call Arizona home and am actively pursuing the purchase of a mountain retreat along the Mogollon Rim.As you may have noticed, I am a bit of a glamourista but hope you do not hold that against. me. My bug out bag includes makeup and other items to make me look and feel good if SHTF.
13 Responses to “Reasons You Need Salt in the Prepper Pantry”
Rita
Salt is also a component in some soapmaking recipes to harden the soap. I have several recipes for true homemade soap that will not harden without the addition of salt.
Mike the Gardener
We always keep ample salt on hand. Currently we use it simply for when recipes call for it. Other than that, I have tried to eliminate all extra salt from my diet. I get plenty from the many other items that I eat.
Vic
You should only use natural, unrefined sea salt. It includes all the other minerals you need and your body needs and your body handles it well. “Table salt” should never be used. Table salt has all the good minerals removed and is incredibly hard on your body. Your body can’t handle it without the other minerals and it causes chronic disease. That’s why you’re being told to limit your salt intake. Pure, unrefined sea salt, like Celtic salt, is safe to use. This is what natural made and what people used long ago.
Judy
Salt is so inexpensive and easy to store. I believe that we should not skimp on salt storage–because it can be used for so many other things, not just consumption! There may be a time when, without refrigeration, it will also be a means of preserving meats and vegetables (sauerkraut comes to mind..)
The Concrete Fairy
Salt is like sugar in that your body needs it, and we have evolved a taste for it because it’s necessary to health. However, just as the sweet taste of a ripe berry is not the same as a HFCS or white sugar filled candy bar, the salt your body craves is not the crystals of refined table salt on top of french fries. What bodies need and what is common in this society are not the same things. So yes, you DO need to moderate your salt intake, if what you are eating is crystals sprinkled on your food or excess salt added to prepared food. It seems like most people know the difference between fruit and white sugar, but few realize that table salt is just as unnatural as sugar, and just as bad if eaten in quantity.
young homesteader
Electrolytes are important for the heart to pump blood, and to keep blood pressure down as well.
ELECTROLYTES
The refueling beverages need to provide three things: water, electrolytes (especially sodium) and carbohydrates, Electrolytes are essential minerals, including sodium and potassium, that regulate heart beat and blood pressure. When we sweat, we lose sodium and chloride (salt) and to a lesser degree, potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Milk has electrolytes, but “chocolate milk is used more as a recovery drink since it has protein and carbohydrates to repair muscle and replenish energy stores,” “A sports drink is more for before and during exercise to replenish energy stores to keep our muscles running.”
Still, the best sports drink for most athletes, with the exception of endurance or distance competitors, is good old fashioned water, said registered dietitian Dave Grotto. His mock sports drink consists of a lemon juice, a splash of fruit juice or a 1/2 teaspoon of honey and a dash of salt per one cup of water.
Or, try coconut water, which is said to deliver as much as 12 times the electrolytes of sports drinks. “Buy an unsweetened version like Zico. Jazz it up by adding chilled green tea and mango juice or a drizzle of honey,” suggests Wholeliving.com.
Here are a few other ideas:
Blatner’s homemade Gatorade:
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup orange juice
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt.
Makes four servings. Per 8 ounce serving: 50 calories, 14 grams carbohydrate, 160 milligrams sodium.
Homemade sports drink from “Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook.” It’s also available on her new app: Recipies for Athletes.
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup orange juice (not concentrate) plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 1/2 cups cold water
1. In the bottom of a pitcher, dissolve the sugar and salt in the hot water.
2. Add the juice and the remaining water; chill.
3. Quench that thirst!
Makes 1 quart. per 8-ounce serving: 50 calories, 12 grams carbohydrate, 110 mg sodium.
creativity when making your own sports drink. “For example, you can dilute many combinations of juices (such as cranberry + lemonade) to 50 calories per 8 ounces and then add a pinch of salt. (More precisely, ¼ teaspoon salt per 1 quart of liquid,)” she wrote.
“Some people use flavorings such as sugar-free lemonade to enhance the flavor yet leave the calories in the 50 to 70 calories per 8-ounce range. The trick is to always test the recipe during training, not during an important event. You want to be sure it tastes good when you are hot and sweaty and settles well when you’re working hard.”
Electrolyte Replacement Drink from Yoga Journal
4 cups hot water
Juice of 1 lemon = ¼ cup of lemon juice
2 tsp honey
¼ tsp of salt
Chill
Mike
Ants LOVE salt! They got into my salt shaker!
Paul
There are many sources of why salt is NOT needed in a human diet beyond what can be eaten regularly from a garden, but Joel Fuhrman, M.D. wrote Super Immunity which promotes a totally plant based diet. On page 156 he states, “A high-nutrition vegetable-based diet with little or no added salt is ideal”.
Salt was used for preserving meat, fish and many other things. Salt has uses.
It’s use for food he states is not desirable and even causes many health issues.
Figured you might like some data based input.
Your site is very helpful.
Keep up the good work please.
Swany
young homesteader
I haven’t bought iodized salt for about 12 years now. I used Real Salt I order it online
http://www.realsalt.com. they also have other things as well
John Cook
I don’t worry about salt storage because I live (and intend to make my survival base) close to the ocean. One litre of sea water contains about 28 grams of the perfect salt for the minerals and ions we need. Solar salt production from sea water is one of my intended trade items after the crash.
P.s. just a note on the salt often sold as “sea salt” – if it is dry it’s NOT sea salt. Real sea salt has other salts besides Sodium Chloride in it. These other salts (which are the salts that have the micro nutrients you need) absorb moisture from the atmosphere and will always be moist unless they are actively dried. Pure sodium chloride doesn’t do that and so it can be used in grinders or salt shakers, the healthyist salt that stays dry is rock salt.
True sea salt can’t be used in shakers or grinders unless you arrange some sort of drying cabinet to keep the grinder or shaker in between uses. It actually makes me a bit cross to see rock salt sold as sea salt, and it’s done often in the supermarket shelves.
Donna
Another wonderful use for salt is nasal rinse. I have been making my own for years and have saved $ rather then purchasing the little packets that are so over priced. I make mine in larger quantities but for someone trying it out for the first time I would recommend starting smaller. Mix well 1/4 cup salt & 1/4 cup of baking soda and store in an air tight container, use 1/4 tsp for each rinse.
Rastus McGee
Is the salt used for swimming pools ok to eat? It’s dirt cheap and is , according to the label, pure salt.
Gaye Levy
It is my understanding that pool salt has added chemicals to soften pool water so I don’t think you would want to eat it. OTOH, I don’t have a pool and no direct expertise with pool salt. Perhaps someone else has a better answer.