#just ate a camel and its humps

[flightlesscipher]

"Man I'm so hungry I could eat a horse"

*I says as i eat a horse shaped animal cracker*

[jessiewre]

Day 47

Thurs 20th Feb

Phil up super early (a bit hungry maybe?) and was keen for breakfast. We had our usual and Phil suggested we walk round to the bay one up from ours. As the official tour guide of ‘Phil & Jess do Africa 2020’, I couldn’t really argue. We found a path on the end of the beach and followed the coastline edge to see where it took us.

It was a cute little path and within 5 minutes we spotted something in the distance that was a bit of a surprise.

Four camels were stood at the top of a hill, grazing on the plants and seemingly free to roam. Alrighty then...

We walked through a little bay and up the hill to get closer and being the ace ventura pet detective that I am I could instantly identifying them as one hump camels 🐪🐪🐪🐪😎.

After enjoying watching these absolute weirdos eating with their sideways mouths and standing on their extremely long legs, we continued trying to find the path to this unknown destination.

I found a route that looked doable and we found ourselves on a derelict concrete site with a big abandoned swimming pool that now resembled a pond. It was right on the edge of this new bay and would have been an amazing spot for a hotel or holiday home. I wondered what had happened to get it to this sorry state.

We found some steps to lead us down to the beach and thats when we noticed more derelict buildings on the land overlooking the beach. They ran all the way along the coast. There were so many empty concrete huts and buildings, it looked like the kind of place you’d make into a paintballing site,. We spoke to some locals who said it was a popular resort in the 60s-80s but there was a ‘money problem‘. It was a crazy amount of wasted space on a beautiful beach with lots of tourists around. Seemed mad to think it had gone from hero to zero in such a popular destination.

Anyway, the water was crystal clear and we could see the tide was out and we could walk to the mini islands and beaches a short distance away. Despite having a bag to carry (good exercise that though Phil) we walked out to sea and is was soooo niiiiiiiiiicce.

The water was cooler than in our bay which made it so much nicer and we reached a little beach next to a big rock island. I did my sea cow impression again and then let Phil have a try (he was surprisingly good at it). We left our stuff on a sand bank and tucked it towards the rock so it was nicely in the shade. And bloody lucky we did too, as the tide came up SUPER fast without us realise it. We casually went back to get our stuff and as we got closer we realised we were about 3 minutes away from it all getting soaked. What a save.

We went to head back and I figured we’d have to walk round the coast again (plus I was missing the camels obvs) but Phil wanted to trying and walk through the town. Hmm I was not convinced this would be the fastest, but Phil was adamant he wanted to try it. The street was dusty and empty and I had a lot of sand stuck to my feet (it may surprise you to know that I really hate sand on my feet unless I’m literally on the beach) and it did not look like a quick way home. But I saw a guy on a bike nip down a little alleyway and thought Hmmm so had a little check on Phil’s phone to see - and by jove it appeared to be that Phil was absolutely right and this would soon get us to the village quick sharp. WHAT A JOYOUS OCCASION THIS WAS TURNING OUT TO BE.

It really was one of the best shortcuts of recent times and I just want to formally take this opportunity to thank and praise Phil for making it happen. Girl loves a shortcut.

As soon as we got back sweaty from the walk, we didn’t stop and walked straight into the pool to cool off. But obviously the water is always boiling in the pool so we quickly got out to hide in the shade.

Hunger appeared rapid though so we went back to the restaurant street to visit our new favourite Swahili place. Big sign saying CLOSED. Oh god DEVESTATED. In a panic, we went to the nice pizza place - Makuti - but they forgot to put cheese on my pizza which was ANNOYING. How could this happen!? So I had to wait for another one. Phil’s marinara with onion and garlic was good though so I ate a load of that.

I went for a walk to buy myself a dress (NOT REALLY that was just a cover story, god I’m so clever, I walked off to see my mate and collect Phil’s shirt).

It was ready on the table when I got there. Very nicely made it was too. But they’d added some hard material to the collar to make it stiff...and it was really quite an orange yellow colour...the pocket material that I’d chosen had also been added round the collar as a detail and it looked a bit like a 90s Paul Smith summer shirt reject...god I’m really not sure he’s going to like this one but we shall see on the 24th ����

Seeing as these tailor folks were on a roll, I decided to order a few headbands for him too as he’d mentioned he needed one for running. Another present in the bag oh yeah. I found a few scraps of material in the shop and couldn’t decide which one was the least rank, so ordered 3 different ones for $5.

On the way back, I saw some nice trousers (for me) but they must have been children’s sizes as I couldn’t get them over my arse. I did find a square bandana material for $1.50 and it was exactly what Phil was looking for as a neck cover so grabbed that as a little pre-bday gift. I gave it to Phil as soon as I got back and he was really pleased with it. As soon as I saw it on him though, I got a flashback and realised it might be a little bit...gay. I’m not saying that in a derogatory sense, just in a factual sense - I had a vague memory that this type of scarf was a sort of gay symbol. So we sent a video to Nick and Louis quick sharp and awaited the results.

Before dinner, we went to the beach for a drink and I took my iPad to try and do some art. Of course within minutes, some kids came over to look and suddenly we had 10 children surrounding us. I didn't fancy letting them have a go to be honest but Phil reminded me about the face warp photo booth app and so I put it on and faced the camera to the kids. Honest to god, these kids lost their shit. They were HOWLING with laughter. A local bloke came over (tipsy for sure) and they got him to look at the camera and when he saw his warped face, he was so shocked that the kids went wild with laughter. 😂😂😂 It was very very funny.

we walked back to town and crossed our fingers the Swahili place would be open. It wasn’t, so we just went back to Makuti and decided to give a pasta a go. After some entertainment of a stroppy old Italian man refused to move tables and stormed out of the restaurant, we had a pizza (WITH CHEESE) and spaghetti arrabiata with our signature blob of mayonnaise to accompany each dish. We successfully managed to avoid eye contact with any Italians in close proximity while consuming said mayo with their beloved cuisine. Look, its better with mayonnaise I swear. While sat there, a troop of 3 men appeared in the street and did some mental circus tricks and acrobatics. It was incredible, at one point a man was upside down with his head balanced on another mans head and NO HANDS. Evie & Meg would have looooooved it.

Walked home past the little beauty salon at the end of our street and noticed on the sign they offered a service called a MANCURE. Wondered what this treatment entailed and how much they charged for it, as I knew quite a few people who might benefit.

[gingypoo]

you know shrimp and lobster are ugly as hell they do be looking like bugs and shit. I don’t Think people who lived by the ocean back in the day ate them solely bc of that which is very valid

[thefarlefchronicles]

Farlef Chronicles Episode 3 - The Return of the Moose

Previously on The Farlef Chronicles - Shit Happened Current - December 24th 2016  

A man is riding in the cold winter on his motorcycle heading home.   

 Home is a strange word for the lone ranger riding on his steel horse. He is an indeterminate height and weight with indiscernible features. He is easily lost in a crowd and easily forgotten. Just the way he likes it. He pulls over to side of the road and takes a drag of his cigarette. This man is Agent Deer aka Roadkill Toast aka The Pink Flamingo of Miami aka Farlef90 aka 2 Legs aka Fucking Can Walk aka The Bro with the Does aka Mike Tyson aka The Other Evans aka 

   "God it is cold out" - Farlef muttered to himself as he tried to get warm while he tried to figure out where he was. He concluded due to the migration of the few birds in the air, the cloud formations, the positioning of the sun and his 47 years of boy scout training he deduced he was 1/2 mile NE from Deer Park. Also all the deer that were heading home for Christmas was a dead giveaway to the direction of the town.

  As he continued into town he was left wondering to himself bout if his father would enjoy the present he got him and if he would try to kill him again. He thought they buried the hatchet after Sam's funeral but if his dad was off his meds he might snap or be jovial. He had a vial of pure Xanax to inject him with if needed but he would rather cause when he does this his dad can briefly walk and then collapses.  In the corner of his eye he noticed something he stopped short to stare at and it sent a chill down his spine. Like a figurative chill not a literal chill even tho it was cold out but a creepy chill like something is coming.

NO NOT THAT, THIS.

 The sight of the half frozen/half eaten deer concerned him on more the one level. He knew this could mean a number of things. Nazi Zombies. Deer Zombies, Deer Park Resident Zombies, Ginger Zombies, Zombie Zombies, A hungry bear who ate the deer while it was frozen from the cold weather then turned into a Zombie. As he shit into his sock he contemplated all the zombie scenarios that could possibly happen. After he finished he threw the shit filled sock at a car passing by with a bumper sticker that read I STOP FOR MOOSE.

"Fucking Moose Port mother fucker" he said to himself as he dove away not noticing the car crash he caused.

As Farlef continued to drive east along W Antler Road (LEGIT ROAD, I GOOGLED IT, LMFAO) turning onto N Monroe Road which in turn became W Monroe Road then W Crawford St then E Crawford St in 4 blocks he was finally home in Deer Park. He took a moment to breathe in the fresh air of his home town. While he did this he failed to notice a car slowly pulling up to him. Luckily with his Ninja reflexes he honed while studying the proper way to prepare Fugu a Japanese delicacy that if prepared wrong could kill you. He did kill 47 people before learning how to prepare it right but 11 of those deaths he did on purpose. No one stiffs The Farlef unless he asks for it. As he landed after doing a triple back flip and throwing 4 shuriken at his would be attackers he got a good luck at them and realized that his 4th worst fear had come true.

THE MOOSE WERE BACK AND WAR HAS COME TO DEER PARK.

Farlef drove as fast as his bike could take him on these ice covered streets to his dad's house. He would need to consult his father, a veteran of the last GREAT DEER PARK WAR. Pulling up to the house he noticed a strange biker in the driveway he never seen before. Normally this wouldn't bother him, his father was an avid motorcycle collector, after all he liked to taunt himself with bikes he would never be able to drive cause he has no feeling in his legs except the feeling of knowing his son is a homosexual. The odd thing about motorcycle was that it was designed for cripples. He then saw his father roll out the back of it and felt a little bit relieved.

     As his dad emerged for his cocoon of a vehicle he noticed his son. He was going to go into his usual racist/homophobic tirade bout his son's lifestyle and decisions but he noticed something in Farlef's eyes he never seen before. Fear. Or maybe he was hungry. Now that he thought about it he never really looked into his son's eyes for fear of catching the gay. He read a story bout how the queerosexuals could turn the manliest of men gay with just a glance and a smile so he hasn't truly looked at his son in 12 years. Now was different, he had an aura about him. Again he wasn't sure what it was, it might have been a gay thing or a deep disturbance in the force. Holy shit he immediately though, maybe this son was coming out as straight. A huge grin creept onto his face and he stood out of his wheelchair for the first time in years with glee.

     "MY BOY, MY SWEET BABY BOY YOUR BACK. MY GOD WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE. TRUMP IS PRESIDENT, THOSE DAMN MEXICANS GOING BACK TO THEIR CESSPOOL OF A COUNTRY AND MY SON IS STRAIGHT AGAIN. I PRAYED AND I PRAYED THAT THE GOOD LORD WOULD TAKE THE GAY AWAY AND HE DID. MOTHER OF PEARL I CAN FINALLY FEEL MY LEGS, WHAT A FEELING. WHERE'S THOSE DAMN LEGOS, I NEED TO RUN OVER THEM BAREFOOT. JEEZ LOUISE I CAN'T EXPRESS HOW HAPPY I AM RIGHT NOW. JOHN, CUT DOWN THE NOOSE FROM THE TREE. I DON'T NEED IT ANYMORE, MY SON IS ALIVE."

     "Dad that is a tire swing. Its been in that tree since I was a kid, you thought it was a noose this whole time? That actually explains a lot like why I keep seeing you swinging from it making choking sounds then disappointed nothing is happening" replied John who was in town visiting. "

     AFTER YOU CUT DOWN THAT ALABAMA WIND CHIME GET ME THE PHONE, I NEED TO CALL YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND TELL THEM MY BOY HAS COME HOME"

     "THEY'RE DEAD" John yelled back as he went to cut down the tree with his chainsaw.

         Farlef contemplated to himself if he should let this charade continue or tell his father what was really wrong. He figured honesty was the best policy and he still didn't forget what happened at Sam's funeral.        

          "Actually about that dad I am still bisexual and also I forgot the bunt cale" Farlef said.

         All the hope and elation died in his father's eyes. No bunt cake he thought to himself not even registering the fact his son came out as bisexual again. He really wished his son just payed for sex like everyone else but this ruined the man. He slink back into his wheelchair depressed as ever. Little did either of them know, they were being watched.

    “You hungry?" Farlef's dad asked, a defeated man once again and broke in mind, body and spirit.

    "Dad I saw something in town and you need to hear about this its important"

       "I know, they opened a gay club in Deer Park called The Queer Deer. Fucking progressive hippies."

         "It's not that dad, it's the moose. They're back."     

       Farlef's dad was silent for what felt like eternity but was actually 1 minute and 42 seconds. He was having one of his patented PTSD flashbacks to the war. The look on his face was sheer disgust and intrigue. He had seen and done many a horrible things in the Great War. Not WW2, an army psychiatrist deemed him too violent to fight in that one. No I am talking about the great Deer Park war of 1941.

   "Son come inside, it's time you heard the whole story about the great war that took place. It was one of the bloodies battles our small town has ever seen"       

    As Farlef's dad rolled into the house, Farlef could smell something……odd from the kitchen.

"You left the stove on?"

"Yea having a small Christmas Eve party. “

      What Farlef saw made him vomit a little. He has eaten some fucked up things in his travel to survive. Entire mounds of ants, goat horns, camel humps, gas station sushi but the meals his father were preparing were truly disgusting for any human to consume.

Um dad what the holy fuck are you cooking?" Farlef asked as he held back his bile.

“The usual a Chicktopus, Boiled Deer head and Chicken and Bananas." 

"HOLY SHIT DAD YOU CAN'T JUST PUT FOOD DIRECTLY ON THE STOVE SOMETHING MIG-"

Before Farlef could warn him bout the danger a huge explosion erupted in the kitchen.

"Jesus that could have been worse, what were you microwaving?" Farlef asked.

"Oh just some Amatex: (ammonium nitrate and RDX)Amatol:(ammonium nitrate)Ammonal: (ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder plus sometimes charcoal).Baratol: ( barium nitrate and wax)Composition B ( RDX and paraffin wax )Composition H6.Cyclotol (RDX) Ednatol , your dad likes to heat them up before he bastes the Octochicken" Farlef’s dad replied.

“THOSE ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR TNT” EXCLAIMED RIGHT BEFORE THE FIRE ERUPTED.

Instead of anyone helping everyone immediately fled from the house.

Farlef's dad immediately jumped out of his wheelchair and fled the scene.

Farlef jumped out the nearest window once he noticed his father locked the door.

John fled into the ceiling while his girlfriend tried to save their cat to no avail.

Even the horse escaped.

     As Farlef and his dad watched their home burn down he only had two questions for his father. 

  "Dad how did this happen and why now?"

    "Regrettably this happened cause of me. It is time I finally told you about the war and our blood feud with all Moose kind"  

Little did they know as they were talking, they were being spied on.

As they drove towards the city they realized the entire forest around them was engulfed in flames. They realized they needed to get as quickly to deer park as possible in fear of what it has become.

On the outskirts of town they saw their beloved city in such a state of dismay they couldn't comprehend the site.

The city was on fire, everything they ever knew and kind of gave 2 shits about was gone. They both knew one thing and one thing only in the moment. For Christmas this year they would deck the halls with Moose antlers, don their moose killing apparel and kill every last mother fucker with horns. But Farlef had to know why this happened, why the Moose hated them so much.

"Dad I am all for commiting genocide again, especially after what these Moose Fuckers did to our home, our town but how did this all start?" "It is a long story but it started in 1941 ………………….

[sherristockman]

Surprise! Everything You've Been Told About Salt Is Wrong Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Do you believe high amounts of salt provoke thirst and contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease? If so, you're likely wrong. Studies have consistently failed to support either of these notions, showing the converse is actually true. Here's a summary of findings that may surprise you: • Eating large amounts of salt will not make you thirsty or cause greater urine output (which could lead to dehydration). A study1 involving Russian cosmonauts reveal eating more salt actually lowered their thirst — yet increased hunger.2,3 Recent animal research4 support these results, showing a high-salt diet resulted in increased metabolism, forcing the animals to eat 25 percent more calories just to maintain weight. This suggests salt may have a surprising influence on your weight • Evidence shows having the correct potassium to sodium balance influences your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease to a far greater extent than high sodium alone, and processed foods are typically low in potassium and high in sodium • Studies suggest a low-salt diet can actually worsen cardiovascular disease and raise rather than lower the risk for early death among patients at high risk of heart disease5 • The vast majority, approximately 71 percent, of your salt intake comes from processed food.6 Hence, if you avoid processed foods, you have virtually no risk of consuming too much salt.7 Eating a whole food diet will also ensure a more appropriate sodium-to-potassium ratio • When lowering salt in processed foods, many manufacturers started adding monosodium glutamate (MSG) instead — a flavor enhancer associated with obesity, headaches, eye damage,8 fatigue and depression. Due to its ability to overexcite neurons, MSG may even raise your risk for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease Counterintuitive Results Show How Poor Our Understanding of Salt Is It's pretty bizarre that our understanding about salt is this poor, yet that's what can happen when you assume the science is settled and you've got it all figured out. As reported by The New York Times:9 "If you eat a lot of salt — sodium chloride — you will become thirsty and drink water, diluting your blood enough to maintain the proper concentration of sodium. Ultimately you will excrete much of the excess salt and water in urine. The theory is intuitive and simple. And it may be completely wrong … [Recent research] contradicts much of the conventional wisdom about how the body handles salt and suggests that high levels may play a role in weight loss." The research is the culmination of a quest by Dr. Jens Titze, a kidney specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who in 1991 became puzzled by the discovery that astronauts' urine output followed a seven-day cycle. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for why their urine output would increase and decrease in this cyclical manner. Your Body Maintains a Constant Sodium Balance Regardless of Salt Intake Then, in 1994, Titze studied the urine output patterns of a crew on the Mir station, discovering a 28-day rhythm in sodium retention — and that the amount of sodium in the astronauts' bodies was completely unrelated to their urine output. This was a truly puzzling finding. As noted in the featured article:10 "The sodium levels should have been rising and falling with the volume of urine. Although the study wasn't perfect — the crew members' sodium intake was not precisely calibrated — Dr. Titze was convinced something other than fluid intake was influencing sodium stores in the crew's bodies. The conclusion, he realized, 'was heresy' … When the crew ate more salt, they excreted more salt; the amount of sodium in their blood remained constant, and their urine volume increased. 'But then we had a look at fluid intake, and were more than surprised,' he said. Instead of drinking more, the crew were drinking less … when getting more salt. So where was the excreted water coming from? 'There was only one way to explain this phenomenon,' Dr. Titze said. 'The body most likely had generated or produced water when salt intake was high.'" Salt Has Surprising Metabolic Effects The other puzzling finding was that the astronauts complained of being constantly hungry when given higher amounts of salt. Interestingly, urine tests revealed they were producing higher amounts of glucocorticoid hormones, which affect both your metabolism and immune function. Follow-up animal testing confirmed the results, showing the more salt the mice were given, the less water they drank and the more food they required to avoid weight loss. The reason why then became apparent. As the salt intake increased, the animals produced higher amounts of glucocorticoid hormones, causing increased fat and muscle breakdown. These broken-down muscle proteins are then converted into urea, which is known to help your body excrete waste via urine. Through some still-unknown mechanism, this urea also helps your body retain water. In other words, a side effect of higher salt consumption is that it frees up water for your body to use. However, this process is energy-intensive, which is why the animals required more food when on a high-salt diet and why the astronauts complained of hunger. Titze believes the increase in glucocorticoid hormones are also somehow responsible for the bizarre cyclical fluctuations in urine output. "Scientists knew that a starving body will burn its own fat and muscle for sustenance. But the realization that something similar happens on a salty diet has come as a revelation," The New York Times reports.11 "People do what camels do, noted Dr. Mark Zeidel, a nephrologist at Harvard Medical School who wrote an editorial accompanying Dr. Titze's studies. A camel traveling through the desert that has no water to drink gets water instead by breaking down the fat in its hump. One of the many implications of this finding is that salt may be involved in weight loss. Generally, scientists have assumed that a high-salt diet encourages a greater intake of fluids, which increases weight. But if balancing a higher salt intake requires the body to break down tissue, it may also increase energy expenditure." As noted by Dr. Melanie Hoenig, nephrologist and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, "The work suggests that we really do not understand the effect of sodium chloride on the body."12 Sodium/Potassium Ratio Is Key to Normalize Your Blood Pressure While salt has gotten a bad rap, suspected of increasing your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease, research shows the real key to relaxing your arteries and reducing your blood pressure is actually the ratio of sodium to potassium you have — not your sodium intake alone.13 Potassium is a naturally occurring mineral your body uses as an electrolyte (substance in solution that conducts electricity), and it is vital for optimal health and normal functioning. Most of your potassium resides inside your cells, unlike sodium, which resides outside your cells. Potassium works in your body to relax the walls of your arteries, keep your muscles from cramping and lower your blood pressure.14 The reduction in blood pressure with added potassium has also been associated in studies with a reduced risk of stroke.15 Recent research16 found that women without high blood pressure who consumed the most potassium (nearly 3,200 milligrams per day) had a 21 percent reduced risk of stroke. Women who consumed the most potassium were also 12 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who consumed the least. A meta-analysis published in 1997, which analyzed 29 trials, also found that low levels of potassium resulted in higher systolic blood pressure readings.17 Subsequent studies have found similar results.18,19 How's Your Sodium/Potassium Balance? It's generally recommended that you consume five times more potassium than sodium, but most Americans eat twice as much sodium as potassium. If you're eating mostly processed foods and few fresh vegetables, your sodium-to-potassium balance is virtually guaranteed to be inversed. Imbalance in this ratio not only can lead to high blood pressure but also contribute to a number of other health problems, including: ✓ Kidney stones ✓ Memory decline ✓ Cataracts ✓ Osteoporosis ✓ Erectile dysfunction ✓ Stomach ulcers ✓ Rheumatoid arthritis ✓ Stomach cancer One simple way to check your ratio is to use my customized version of the free nutrient tracker, http://ift.tt/2avNEJV, which will calculate your sodium-to-potassium ratio automatically based on the foods you enter. A great deal of good could come from revising public health recommendations to focus on a high-quality diet rich in potassium rather than sodium reduction, as potassium helps offset the hypertensive effects of sodium. Potassium also has other important health benefits. Other Health Benefits of Potassium Adequate amounts of potassium are associated with quicker recovery from exercise and improved muscle strength.20,21 As an electrolyte, potassium helps to regulate the fluid balance in your cells and throughout your body.22 This fluid balance is essential to maintaining life, preventing dehydration at the cellular level and maintaining brain function.23 For example, potassium is important in the transmission of nerve impulses in your brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.24 Nerve impulses transmitting information from one nerve to the next happens as the result of electrical activity. This activity is what an electrocardiogram measures as it tracks heart activity. Low levels of potassium have also been linked with high levels of insulin and glucose, which are aassociated with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.25 These results have been found in several studies,26 leading researchers to recommend dietary choices that boost potassium levels. Your KEY Strategy — Eat Real Food Getting nutrients from your food instead of supplements is preferable as your food contains more than a single nutrient and in different forms. For instance, potassium found in fruits and vegetables is potassium citrate or potassium malate, while supplements are often potassium chloride. Green vegetable juicing is an excellent way to ensure you're getting enough nutrients for optimal health, including potassium. Particularly potassium-rich foods include: ✓ Swiss chard, 1 cup = 1 gram potassium ✓ Lima beans, 1 cup = 1 gram ✓ Avocado, 1/2 Florida variety = 0.8 gram ✓ Dried apricots, 1/2 cup = 0.9 gram ✓ Baked potato, 1 large = 0.9 gram ✓ Winter squash, 1 cup = 0.9 gram ✓ Cooked spinach, 1 cup = 0.8 gram ✓ Beets, 1 cup = 0.4 gram The citrate and malate forms help produce alkali, which may promote bone health27 and preserve lean muscle mass as you age.28 Bone loss may lead to brittle bones or even osteoporosis. While potassium in fruits and vegetables may help build bone health, potassium chloride may not. As researcher Dr. Bess Dawson-Hughes from Tufts University explains:29 "If you don't have adequate alkali to balance the acid load from the grains and protein in a typical American diet, you lose calcium in the urine and you have bone loss … When the body has more acid than it is easily able to excrete, bone cells get a signal that the body needs to neutralize the acid with alkali … And bone is a big alkali reservoir, so the body breaks down some bone to add alkali to the system." Research by Dawson-Hughes found that people who were in the neutral range for net acid excretion, meaning they had a fairly healthy balance for bone and muscle health, were eating just over eight servings of fruits and vegetables per day along with 5.5 servings of grains. When they rounded this out, it came to about half as many grains as fruits and vegetables. For many Americans, a simple recommendation to increase your alkali (and potassium) while reducing acid is to eat more vegetables and fewer grains and processed foods in general.30 When cooking from scratch, you have complete control over how much salt you add. Healthy Versus Unhealthy Salt When you do use salt, make sure its unrefined and minimally processed. My personal favorite is Himalayan pink salt, rich in naturally-occurring trace minerals needed for healthy bones, fluid balance and overall health. The same cannot be said for modern table salt. Salt is a nutritional goldmine provided you consume the right kind. Salt provides two elements — sodium and chloride — that are essential for life. Your body cannot make these elements on its own, so you must get them from your diet. Some of the many biological processes for which natural salt is crucial include: ✓ Being a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid and even amniotic fluid ✓ Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells and helping maintain your acid-base balance ✓ Increasing the glial cells in your brain, responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning. Both sodium and chloride are also necessary for the firing of neurons ✓ Maintaining and regulating blood pressure ✓ Helping your brain communicate with your muscles so that you can move on demand via sodium-potassium ion exchange ✓ Supporting the function of your adrenal glands, which produce dozens of vital hormones Natural salt typically contains 84 percent sodium chloride and 16 percent naturally-occurring trace minerals, including silicon, phosphorous and vanadium. Processed (table) salt, on the other hand, contains over 97 percent sodium chloride; the rest is man-made chemicals such as moisture absorbents and flow agents. A small amount of iodine may also be added. Some European countries, where water fluoridation is not practiced, also add fluoride to their salt.31 In France for example, 35 percent of table salt sold contains either sodium fluoride or potassium fluoride, and use of fluoridated salt is widespread in South America. Besides these basic differences in nutritional content, the processing also radically alters the chemical structure of the salt. So, while you definitely need salt for optimal health, not just any salt will do. What your body needs is natural, unprocessed salt, without added chemicals.

[newstfionline]

Why Everything We Know About Salt May Be Wrong

By Gina Kolata, NY Times, May 8, 2017

The salt equation taught to doctors for more than 200 years is not hard to understand.

The body relies on this essential mineral for a variety of functions, including blood pressure and the transmission of nerve impulses. Sodium levels in the blood must be carefully maintained.

If you eat a lot of salt--sodium chloride--you will become thirsty and drink water, diluting your blood enough to maintain the proper concentration of sodium. Ultimately you will excrete much of the excess salt and water in urine.

The theory is intuitive and simple. And it may be completely wrong.

New studies of Russian cosmonauts, held in isolation to simulate space travel, show that eating more salt made them less thirsty but somehow hungrier. Subsequent experiments found that mice burned more calories when they got more salt, eating 25 percent more just to maintain their weight.

The research, published recently in two dense papers in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, contradicts much of the conventional wisdom about how the body handles salt and suggests that high levels may play a role in weight loss.

“This is just very novel and fascinating,” said Dr. Melanie Hoenig, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “The work was meticulously done.”

Dr. James R. Johnston, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, marked each unexpected finding in the margins of the two papers. The studies were covered with scribbles by the time he was done.

“Really cool,” he said, although he added that the findings need to be replicated.

The new studies are the culmination of a decades-long quest by a determined scientist, Dr. Jens Titze, now a kidney specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research in Erlangen, Germany.

In 1991, as a medical student in Berlin, he took a class on human physiology in extreme environments. The professor who taught the course worked with the European space program and presented data from a simulated 28-day mission in which a crew lived in a small capsule.

The main goal was to learn how the crew members would get along. But the scientists also had collected the astronauts’ urine and other physiological markers.

Dr. Titze noticed something puzzling in the crew members’ data: Their urine volumes went up and down in a seven-day cycle. That contradicted all he’d been taught in medical school: There should be no such temporal cycle.

In 1994, the Russian space program decided to do a 135-day simulation of life on the Mir space station. Dr. Titze arranged to go to Russia to study urine patterns among the crew members and how these were affected by salt in the diet.

A striking finding emerged: a 28-day rhythm in the amount of sodium the cosmonauts’ bodies retained that was not linked to the amount of urine they produced. And the sodium rhythms were much more pronounced than the urine patterns.

The sodium levels should have been rising and falling with the volume of urine. Although the study wasn’t perfect--the crew members’ sodium intake was not precisely calibrated--Dr. Titze was convinced something other than fluid intake was influencing sodium stores in the crew’s bodies.

The conclusion, he realized, “was heresy.”

In 2006, the Russian space program announced two more simulation studies, one lasting 105 days and the other 520 days. Dr. Titze saw a chance to figure out whether his anomalous findings were real.

In the shorter simulation, the cosmonauts ate a diet containing 12 grams of salt daily, followed by nine grams daily, and then a low-salt diet of six grams daily, each for a 28-day period. In the longer mission, the cosmonauts also ate an additional cycle of 12 grams of salt daily.

Like most of us, the cosmonauts liked their salt. Oliver Knickel, 33, a German citizen participating in the program who is now an automotive engineer in Stuttgart, recalled that even the food that supplied 12 grams a day was not salty enough for him.

When the salt level got down to six grams, he said, “It didn’t taste good.”

The real shocker came when Dr. Titze measured the amount of sodium excreted in the crew’s urine, the volume of their urine, and the amount of sodium in their blood.

The mysterious patterns in urine volume persisted, but everything seemed to proceed according to the textbooks. When the crew ate more salt, they excreted more salt; the amount of sodium in their blood remained constant, and their urine volume increased.

“But then we had a look at fluid intake, and were more than surprised,” he said.

Instead of drinking more, the crew were drinking less in the long run when getting more salt. So where was the excreted water coming from?

“There was only one way to explain this phenomenon,” Dr. Titze said. “The body most likely had generated or produced water when salt intake was high.”

Another puzzle: The crew complained that they were always hungry on the high-salt diet. Dr. Titze assured them that they were getting exactly enough food to maintain their weights, and were eating the same amount on the lower-salt diets, when hunger did not seem to be problem.

But urine tests suggested another explanation. The crew members were increasing production of glucocorticoid hormones, which influence both metabolism and immune function.

To get further insight, Dr. Titze began a study of mice in the laboratory. Sure enough, the more salt he added to the animals’ diet, the less water they drank. And he saw why.

The animals were getting water--but not by drinking it. The increased levels of glucocorticoid hormones broke down fat and muscle in their own bodies. This freed up water for the body to use.

But that process requires energy, Dr. Titze also found, which is why the mice ate 25 percent more food on a high-salt diet. The hormones also may be a cause of the strange long-term fluctuations in urine volume.

Scientists knew that a starving body will burn its own fat and muscle for sustenance. But the realization that something similar happens on a salty diet has come as a revelation.

People do what camels do, noted Dr. Mark Zeidel, a nephrologist at Harvard Medical School who wrote an editorial accompanying Dr. Titze’s studies. A camel traveling through the desert that has no water to drink gets water instead by breaking down the fat in its hump.

One of the many implications of this finding is that salt may be involved in weight loss. Generally, scientists have assumed that a high-salt diet encourages a greater intake of fluids, which increases weight.

But if balancing a higher salt intake requires the body to break down tissue, it may also increase energy expenditure.

Still, Dr. Titze said he would not advise eating a lot of salt to lose weight. If his results are correct, more salt will make you hungrier in the long run, so you would have to be sure you did not eat more food to make up for the extra calories burned.

And, Dr. Titze said, high glucocorticoid levels are linked to such conditions as osteoporosis, muscle loss, Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic problems.

But what about liquids? Everyone knows that salty foods make you thirsty. How could it be that a high-salt diet made the cosmonauts less thirsty?

In reality, said Dr. Zeidel, people and animals get thirsty because salt-detecting neurons in the mouth stimulate an urge to drink. This kind of “thirst” may have nothing to do with the body’s actual need for water.

“The work suggests that we really do not understand the effect of sodium chloride on the body,” said Dr. Hoenig.