Salt: Chemistry of salt in solution, metabolic relevance (WAS: salty taste) [s]

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Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:51 pm Re: [Raw Food] Salt: Chemistry of

salt in solution, metabolic relevance

John Fielder originally writes:

Some substances dissolve more easily in water than do others. Common table

salt (sodium chloride) dissolves in water very easily. When placed in water,

the sodium chloride molecule falls apart. The positively charged sodium ion

(Na+) binds to the oxygen, while the negatively charged chloride ion (CI-)

attaches to the hydrogen. This makes a very stable " salty " water molecule.

 

To which Tev responds:

I disagree. It seems obvious to me that sodium and chloride ions become

perfectly available after ssolving in water; and that is what happens when

humans salivate whenever salt is present in the mouth.

 

Tev also provides the following reference:

" Some substances dissolve more easily in water than do others. Common table

salt (sodium chloride) dissolves in water very easily. When placed in water,

the sodium chloride molecule falls apart. The positively charged sodium ion

(Na+) binds to the oxygen, while the negatively charged chloride ion (CI-)

attaches to the hydrogen. This makes a very stable " salty " water molecule. "

 

http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/info/pubs/NSKit/e_chap1.htm

_____

The confusion here is understandable. John's statement, while not

technically perfect within the narrow confines of chemistry, is functionally

correct in application to metabolic activity. And Tev's comment and source

are technically correct within the confines of chemistry. Let's unravel....

 

It is accurate to state that the sodium and chloride to break apart and bond

with components of a water molecule, creating new compounds, and that this

is the form in which salt typically remains in solution in water. And it is

also accurate to state that the salt, dissolved in this way, gives the water

its characteristic taste. In this sense, the sodium and chloride are

chemically " available " to the water.

 

However, the sodium and chloride are not generally chemically available

beyond this point in the process; they remain in solution until either:

 

- the water evaporates to the point where it can no longer hold the salt in

solution, or

- some exogenous (external) force changes the overall chemistry.

 

A well-known, practical example illustrates the first point above: In many

parts of the world, potable water is in short supply. Scientists have

attempted for years to find some viable way to desalinate sea water, that

is, to remove the salt from sea water so that the water might become

drinkable. Scientists have, in large measure, failed in this endeavor. The

best method appears to be distillation, that is, boiling off the water and

capturing the steam, leaving behind the salt (and other materials, as well).

But the energy required is so enormous that such solutions are largely

abandoned.

 

We really know of no practical technology, other than Nature's technology

found in green leaves, by which dissolved salt can be separated from water.

The leaves, then, provide the only known, practical chemistry by which

exogenous force changes the chemistry of the salt water (the second point

above).

 

So in this sense, John's comments are correct, as well. And from a

functional perspective, his comments are the more useful of the two, in that

they remind us that salt is not food for humans.

 

The fact that the salt MUST remain in solution is what gives rise to the

changes in the physical properties of water, and therefore blood, which I

described briefly in a recent post. Specifically, the salt increases the

weight, thermal capacity, and " stickiness " of the water, all placing

increased burden on the heart, circulatory vessels, and generally throughout

the body, without the slightest metabolic benefit of which I am aware.

 

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