In an effort to amend the salt tax, imposed by the British colonial rulers in India on 2 March 1930, Ghandi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin:
“If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man’s standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil.”
On 6 April he picked up a lump of mud and salt (some say just a pinch, some say just a grain), and boiled it in seawater to make the commodity which no Indian could legally produce.[1]
Thus began the long journey, which led to the independence of India from colonial rule.
The history of salt perhaps predates the dawn of life on earth. Some interesting points come out of Chinese history where one of the earliest verifiable salt works in prehistoric China was in the northern province of Shanxi . In this arid region of dry yellow earth and desert mountains is a lake of salty water, Lake Yuncheng . This area was in constant warfare; all of the wars were over control of the lake. Chinese historians are certain that, by 6000 BC, each year, when the lake’s waters evaporated in the summer sun, people harvested the square crystals on the surface of the water, a system the Chinese referred to as ‘dragging and gathering’. Human bones found around the lake have been dated much earlier, and some historians speculate that these inhabitants may also have gathered salt from the lake. The earliest written record of salt production in China dates to around 800 BC and tells of production and trade of sea salt a millennium before, during the Xia dynasty. It is unknown if the techniques described in this account were actually used during the Xia dynasty, but they were considered old ways by the time of this account, which describes putting ocean water in clay vessels and boiling it until reduced to pots of salt crystals. This technique spread through southern Europe by the Roman Empire , 1,000 years after the Chinese account was written. About 1000 BC, iron first came into use in China , though the first evidence of it being used in salt making is not until 450 BC by a man named Yi Dun. According to a passage written in 129 BC, “Yi Dun rose to prominence by producing salt in pans.” Yi Dun is believed to have made salt by boiling brine in iron pans, an innovation that would become one of the leading techniques for salt making for the next 2,000 years.[2]
Presently salt (sodium chloride) has some 14,000 uses in the home and industry. It has remained one of the cheapest commodities and the supply is endless. Additionally, it is one of the most recyclable substances.
Its use in our bodies is invaluable as it is required for metabolism to enable sweating. Sodium ions play an important role in every impulse in our bodies, and in all life where nerve conduction or ionic exchange takes place. The human body contains on average about four ounces of salt. Without enough of it, muscles will not contract, blood will not circulate, food will not digest and the heart will not beat. Without it, there would be neither awareness nor life.
There have been studies which indicate that some of us are sensitive to excessive salt intake, but there is disagreement over how much is too much. For years, many researchers have claimed that salt may contribute to high blood pressure. Recently, though, other researchers have begun to rehabilitate salt’s reputation, claiming there is no reason for doctors to recommend reducing sodium intake for people with normal blood pressure. In fact, it has been found useful in the treatment of low blood pressure especially in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The government wants to enact laws to reduce obesity and to reduce our salt intake. Is our craving for food or is it for the essential elements which are lacking in our daily food and our bodies need to eat more and more of to find these scant elements in our diet?
In spite of the many and varied uses of salt, medically long-prized as a stimulant, antiseptic and much else, salt has lost out to the pharmaceutical industry during recent history, I would suggest at our peril.
Lightly Salted Mouths…
There has been an exponential increase in poor oral health in recent years, often, paradoxically, amongst patients who are diligent about cleaning their teeth. This increase appears to correspond to the increased shelf space occupied by toothpastes and rinses in supermarkets in the last few years. One has to wonder what came first – gum disease or the modern chemical cornucopia for teeth cleaning and gum freshening.
Here is the paradox: if you are using a major branded (or any) toothpaste, with all its claims for health and freshness, you really ought to have strong gums and sweet breath. Yet you find that you have to resort to mouthwashes – also guaranteed to freshen the mouth and gums – and in spite of using them as advised, you still have a slimy tongue, bad breath and bleeding gums. I have been astounded by the severely inflamed gums in many a patient who is diligent about cleaning teeth. Does it not beg the question ‘What is happening in my mouth?’ Since you are cleaning your teeth regularly, there must be something wrong with the products that you are using to clean your teeth. In spite of fantastic scientific claims from the pharmaceutical companies, I beg to differ.
A basic tenet of the practice of medicine is that we should not disturb the benign bacteria that reside on our skin, in our mouth and in our alimentary and uterine canals. This tenet has been widely violated by industry that puts ‘gum protection’ formulas onto the market, products often endorsed by dental associations. This violation can only lead to very detrimental effects on our health. The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in hospitals is largely attributable to the excessive use of antibiotics and antiseptics causing the bacteria to mutate and provide resistance. What we fail to realise is that we are subjecting our bodies to antiseptics every time we put a toothbrush, coated with the most powerful antiseptics, in our mouths. The consequences of this are all too obvious in the dental office. Has anyone ever come across a tube of toothpaste, which may have been left about for many months, go rotten? If not, than this is perhaps a testament to the lethal contents contained therein.
Gum health is extremely important, for damage to the oral gingiva can lead to an influx of bacteria into our bloodstream. These have been shown to cause heart disease, and perhaps are a factor in the emergence of Type II diabetes.
If you are a diligent user of toothpaste and you experience that:
• Your mouth is slimy often confirmed by slowly opening your mouth while looking closely in a mirror and watching for slimy streaks of saliva forming in your mouth;
• You feel as if you are spitting when you speak. The slime makes tiny bubbles and they burst as you speak
• You develop bleeding gums in spite of frequent brushing;
• You develop severe bad breath in spite of vigorous brushing using toothpaste and/or mouthwashes;
• You start developing a very dry mouth due to a lack of adequate amounts of saliva (Note 1);
• Your parotid glands, located in your cheeks, have been diagnosed as inflamed and unable to secrete saliva (Note 2);
• You develop a persistent sore throat (Note 3);
• You develop a rash around your body or numbness around the mouth especially if the cause remains unexplained (Note 4).
Then the chances are that this is due to the toothpastes and mouthwashes you may be using, which essentially disturb the benign resident oral bacterial flora in our mouths: the more bacteriostats and bactericides the toothpaste has in its formula, the worse the likely disease process is going to become. It gives rise to fungal organisms and other bacteria, which usually reside in the lower gut, so not only to damage seriously the gums, but also the tooth supporting bone – apart from the foul odour.
The answer does not lie in adding anti-fungals and more lethal antiseptics to this disturbing mix, but to stop all of it and go on to use what nature has provided for us in abundance and almost free – salt.
If you happen to be suffering from any or all of the conditions listed above, you need to stop using any toothpaste or mouthwash of any description whatsoever. From my experience, some of the above symptoms do not abate for up to 14 weeks after stopping the toothpaste and/or the mouthwashes that you may have been using so you will need to persist.
Notes
1. Also attributable to the use of controlled drugs, psychiatric medication and some other illnesses.
2. The use of a broad-spectrum antibiotic for the treatment of this disorder when due to antiseptic use can seriously harm these glands. Professional help must be sought.
3. Persistent use of throat lozenges is another very common cause of this. You need to stop using these instead of going on to use an antibiotic, which will make the condition worse.
4. This may be caused by many other factors also.
References
1. Jack, Homer A. The Gandhi Reader: A Source Book of His Life and Writings. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1956.
2. Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. Walker Publishing Company, Inc. (YEAR?)
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