In our last featured therapist blog post Anna Skrine discussed her story with us. She has also provided the following case studies which may have some resonance for you or someone you know. We think it makes for some very interesting reading. We hope you agree – feel free to comment below. Salt Image

Photo Credit – Iain Watson via Flickr

The overuse of salt has become a great health hazard in the West – to the extent that many people could be said to have a Salt addiction. The right amount of salt for a person is what is naturally in good wholesome food. Because there is naturally only a little salt in most foods your kidneys are programmed to hold on to as much as possible, and redirect it to be stored in the body, no matter how much of it you eat!  A build up of salt can start to cause all sorts of problems in the body, including acidity and inflammation, water retention, dry skin, excessive sweating, overworked kidneys, anxiety and hyperactivity, to name but a few.
The following two cases of extreme inflammation in different parts of the body were both from the same basic cause – an addiction to salt:-

MATTHEW B – skin rash & salt 20.5.14
When I first met Matthew he was bright red from his waist up, including his face, and his skin was so hot, itchy and inflamed it was hard to sleep.  Being in a warm room like his sitting room at home was a nightmare because it made his skin even worse.  Apparently this had been going on for a year and a half, and steadily getting worse. If steroid cream was used to stop the inflammation on one part of his body, it would simply come up on another part.  He was now so desperate he wanted to try to get to the bottom of what was causing the rash.
Matthew was a salt addict.  He would add it to his sandwich at lunch time, and main meal in the evening, and on top of that ate a bag of crisps a day. As Matthew was now in his mid 50s he had eaten a lot of salt in his time!  He agreed to avoid added salt and allow his body to de-tox naturally, and had a daily bath with Epsom salts to help this process.  He was amazed that for the next few weeks salt seemed to pour out of his skin, particularly his arms and legs – and it not only looked like salt but tasted of it!  Two weeks later his stomach was clear, and a month after the allergy test he said there was an enormousimprovement.  It took just 6 weeks for his skin to return completely back to normal – and by the end of it he was full of energy.  He was delighted!

LAURA B – Crohn’s  and salted crisps 31 .08.14
Laura was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, having terrible trouble with her bowels – they bled every time she passed a stool, and sometimes out of the blue when she least expected it she would simply flood with a bleed from her back passage. She had been in and out of hospital for tests, and though it was on the cards to possibly operate to remove the most damaged part of her intestines, the doctors had thankfully decided her case was not yet severe enough to do this. Laura was only 23.
When I first saw her she was devastated that she could feel so terrible at such a young age, for with frequent pain, including some in her lower back, and such low energy, she felt the future looked very bleak.  She also told me she was addicted to crisps, often eating 2 or 3 packets a day, and ate a good bit of white bread.  When I gave her an allergy test two items were very pronounced as being a problem – salt and most of the glutinous grains.
Laura agreed to give up the crisps, for I explained that all the salt that came with the crisps was causing severe acidity and inflammation of her intestines, causing them to bleed so.  She also gave up all glutinous grains for a while until her gut healed itself, for as is common with many people the white bread was extremely difficult for her body to digest.  For six weeks or so Laura stayed off all glutinous grains, as well as added salt (and I mean added salt, because the right amount of salt for our bodies is naturally in wholesome food).  Slowly but surely she started to feel better, and the bleeding gradually lessened until it went altogether once her gut had fully recovered. Now at last Laura feels well and full of energy, and is able to eat nearly all the glutinous grains again without any problems, including traditional brown Irish soda bread. She is more than happy to avoid all salted foods and white bread as this has at last given her not only a healed digestive system, but a positive looking future as well!

Anna is back instore with us again tomorrow offering Food Sensitivity & Intolerance consultations for more details you can call us on 053 913236.