Why salt is so amazing!

All salt is not created equal. Did you know that your common table salt is actually 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals such as moisture absorbents, and iodine. It has been dried at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. The excessive heat alters the natural chemical structure of the salt, so basically, our common salt has almost nothing to do with natural salt. See Dr. Mercola’s information page.

It has been chemically cleaned and is in almost every preserved product that you will eat. These salt crystals are isolated from each other and this causes our body to sacrifice a lot of energy in order to metabolize it. This can cause an imbalance in the fluid in your cells.  When you have an intracellular water imbalance, the excess fluid in your body tissue can cause cellulite, arthritis, gout, and kidney and gall bladder stones. Low salt diets have been shown to increase insulin resistance in healthy subjects…this is bad!

Enter Himalayan Salt. It is pink and crystally and delicious and usually unprocessed, raw and right from the earth. This stuff  contains almost the exact identical element that are needed in our body. It contains all 84 element found in your body. Instead of hindering it helps regulate the water content throughout your body. It promotes a healthy pH balance in cells, prevents muscle cramps, regulated and promotes natural sleep, supports libido, and contributes to vascular health. These are just a few things it does!

Not only is Himalayan salt better for you, it also can help you get over that 2-3pm low, when you want to have a nap(and often wake up groggier than before!).  If you are already doing a high fat breakfast (bulletproof coffee) then adding a large glass of water mixed with ½ tsp of Himalayan salt first thing in the am may help. You must drink the whole thing. What it does is it helps get the adrenal gland started in the morning. It is like turning on a light switch. It reduces the stress on our adrenal glands which is the cause of our mid day nap.  Because salt and the adrenal gland are  tied together, when craving salt you are usually showing that your adrenal gland is not functioning properly.

Butter in your coffee? Pardon?

You heard me. Yes, I put butter in my coffee. Not only do I put butter I add MCT oil too. It all whips together to make a very creamy and frothy latte like drink. So, this is usually my breakfast and it keeps me going until lunch. This idea of butter in your coffee is fairly foreign to most, but when talking a friend, she said, “oh, my grandfather used to put butter in his purculator coffee.” Guess the health benefits of butter have been lost on a few generations!

So here is the rundown. I learned of this crazy idea through The bulletproof Executive Blog. I figured, if it would keep me going all morning and I am only putting healthy things onto my body why not try it. I love butter so great.

Butter Coffee, as I make it

• 400 mls coffee
• 2-3 T unsalted butter, grass fed (or as good as you can get, see below)
• 1 T MCT oil
• Optional: few shakes of cinnamon
• french press
• Something to wiz it: Blentec, vitamix, magic bullet, immersion blender or even a little frother.

So I brew the coffee with a dash of cinnamon in a french press. While it sits, warm up the blender under hot water so when you add the coffee it doesn’t crack. I learned the hard way! I cut up 2-3 T butter and dump it in my warm blender/bullet/or tall cup with 1 T MCT oil. Add hot coffee and wiz until creamy and frothy. Drink up!

If you read on my Bulletproof page, it tells you about my trials with the MCT oil when I first started…read it before you make coffee.

Now there are lots of things to consider when making this. One is coffee quality and second is MCT oil and third, can you find grass fed butter? I will tackle the coffee first. You want to find high quality, low toxin coffee. It can be some work if you don’t want to order online from upgraded self but it may be worth it if you live in Canada as the shipping is outrageous! I summerized the steps from the original post on bulletproofexec.

First: Google “Best coffee in ____”  Ignore most individual reviews raving about coffee because the average person wouldn’t know a great cup of coffee from an average one, so they always use sugar and go by cool the décor and baristas are. Look for a coffee snob who knows their coffee and check out the coffee shop website.

Next: Look for single-origin coffee, hopefully from central america using water process method and generally a light roast(higher caffeine). This can be tricky but in every city, Canada and USA, I have visited over the last little while has one. Be patient and keep looking.

Next up, MCT oil, short for Medium-chain triglycerides. MCT oil is extracted from palm and  coconut oil concentrating it to be about 6 times stronger, and without the flavour, of coconut oil. A good quality MCT oil will be 100% capric and caprylic acid and has a perfect 8-10 carbon saturated fat level. It will give you fast energy, help maintain healthy cholesterol levels by controlling LDL(bad)  and boosting HDL(good) cholesterol levels, improves your bodys absorption and use of many vitamins and minerals and is a easy, fast source of good fat that can be mixed into any smoothie, soup, coffee, hot chocolate…or made into ice cream! You can use it to cook with as a regular oil under temperatures of  320 F. This you will need to buy at a health food store. If you already have coconut oil on hand, try it…but only a tablespoon. Otherwise, it will give you the runs!

Now on to grass fed butter. If you are in Canada, bad news. Our dairy laws do not allow the sale or import of grass fed milk or butter…why? I have not been able to put my finger on it. There are many ranches that offer grass fed and finished beef, so  why not dairy. Anyways, the best we can get here is either Organic Meadows which requires the cows to be partially grass fed or L’Ancêtre which also cannot claim total 100%. We can however bring it across the border ourselves, so plan a road trip to a big city…little ones often do not carry the butter in quantities worth the drive! However, if you are in the USA, good news. Organic Pastures and Kerrygold butter are amazing. There are lots of others as well, so look around for some that are priced well. Kerrygold can be anywhere between $2.50 – $4 a half pound depending on the store! Also, you have the opportunity to contact your local farmer and get even better raw unprocessed, grass fed butter.

So whats the deal with the butter you ask…well I don’t think I could so as thorough of a job as the Weston A. Price Foundation does. Here is a brief overview.

• Butter is an easily absorbed source of vitamin A, needed for a wide range of functions. It also contains all the other fat-soluble vitamins (D, E and K2), which are often lacking in the modern industrial diet.
• Butter is rich in important trace minerals, including manganese, chromium, zinc, copper and selenium (a powerful antioxidant).
• Butter provides short- and medium-chain fatty acids, which support immune function, boost metabolism and have anti-microbial properties. It also provides balanced omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Arachidonic acid in butter is important for brain function, skin health and prostaglandin balance.
• Most importantly, in my opinion,  when butter comes from cows eating green grass, it contains high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). This is a compound that gives excellent protection against cancer and also helps your body build muscle rather than store fat. If they are not fed grass they have almost no CLA to their butter
• There are something called Glycospingolipids which are a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections, especially in the very young and the elderly.
• Good cholesterol is needed to maintain intestinal health and for brain and nervous system development in the young as well as old.
• Now this one I’d never heard about…the “Wulzen Factor” Apparently, this is a hormone-like substance that prevents arthritis and joint stiffness, ensuring that calcium in your body is put into your bones rather than your joints and other tissues. The Wulzen factor is present only in raw butter and cream; it is destroyed by pasteurization.

So lets look at the facts. Butter can protect against heart disease and provide antioxidants. It has strong anti-tumor effects and the CLA can protect against cancer. Less stiff from arthritis and vitamins A,D,K2 are all needed for proper calcium and phosphorus absorption…so less chance of osteoporosis. Because of the iodine and vitamin A content of butter, it helps our thyroid function proper. Less GI infections in the young, old and weak immune system. Butter’s content ensures optimal growth of children. Good Saturated fat is critical to lung function and protecting against asthma. CLA and short- and medium-chain fatty acids help control weight gain. High fat content allows our bodies to have normal reproduction and fertility. Yeah…I would butter is awesome. Well…grass fed that is.

I truly hope that this has at least peaked an interest in you if not opened your eyes to the misinformation that we have been led to believe.