Reasons You Need Salt in the Prepper Pantry

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.

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..)

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

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

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.