For some time now, it has been known that excessive consumption of salt (sodium) is not recommended for the body because, among other things, it has been proven to cause an increase in blood pressure, which negatively affects heart function. But what can we do when salty is one of the most beloved flavors, and we find it very difficult to manage without it? This is where various natural salt substitutes come in, designed to help you add a salty taste to dishes without significantly increasing the sodium levels in your body. A natural substitute that has been gaining popularity recently is salicornia – a water plant also known as "Glasswort"
Salicornia, with its salty flavor, can be easily purchased and added to salads, stews, and other savory dishes you prepare and serve, with sodium levels significantly lower than the most common salting method: in 100 grams of salicornia, there are only 7 grams of sodium compared to 36 grams in the same amount of table salt. In addition to reducing sodium intake, salicornia has several other health benefits that we think you should know about, and that's why we’ve gathered the 11 main ones for you.
The molecule fucoidan, found in various water plants like salicornia, has excellent antioxidant effects on the body, which are crucial for our health. By adding salicornia to your diet, you can help protect the body against a wide range of diseases and health conditions, including various skin conditions that can arise from oxidative stress that accumulates in the body over the years. The fucoidans in salicornia neutralize this threat and provide the body with a vital protective shield against various external harmful agents.
In today’s world, there are many inflammatory conditions that can affect the body’s function, from arthritis to gout, hemorrhoids, and inflammatory wounds. Salicornia’s anti-inflammatory nature makes it a valuable natural remedy in the fight against inflammation, and consuming it may help you strengthen your immune system and defend against inflammatory reactions more effectively, soothe pain, and overcome inflammation.
As a natural source of essential dietary fibers, salicornia can work wonders for your digestive system. Dietary fibers have the ability to improve the digestive system’s activity, so that waste can pass through more easily without causing constipation and such discomforts. Consuming fiber-rich foods like salicornia can also help improve the body’s absorption of nutrients while reducing the recurrence of unwanted inflammation in the intestines.
Salicornia is a rich source of calcium, which is certainly an advantage worth adding this sea plant to your regular diet. With daily consumption of calcium sources such as salicornia, you also improve the body’s ability to absorb iron from food, which is essential for ensuring proper blood circulation. More importantly, calcium consumption will keep your bones strong and durable for many years to come. It is well known that bone mineral density naturally decreases with age, but the calcium absorbed when you eat salicornia will help slow this process. It’s a small dietary change, but one that is often not associated with this issue and whose contribution, even if small, can certainly help.
Vitamins A and C are not only essential substances necessary for various processes throughout our bodies, but they are also crucial for our immune system. Vitamin C, for example, enhances the production of white blood cells—the body’s first line of defense against viruses, bacteria, and other irritants. Therefore, consuming salicornia, which contains these substances, can also greatly help strengthen your immune system and provide it with significant reinforcements.
In the world of healthful components, magnesium is a mineral that doesn’t always get the credit it deserves—but trust us, it has a broad impact on the body—including hormone regulation, neurotransmitter production in the brain, and the ability to ensure quality of life for many people. Salicornia is rich in magnesium, so consuming it can help anyone suffering from magnesium deficiency, perhaps without even realizing it. If you frequently struggle with insomnia and difficulty falling asleep, and experience many “sleepless nights,” this may be a sign that you need a magnesium boost to return to a healthy sleep routine.
The low-calorie and low-fat content in salicornia is good news for anyone struggling with weight and trying to stick to a diet and burn excess fat. Furthermore, the dietary fibers we’ve already mentioned that are found in salicornia help improve the absorption of nutrients from the food you eat, which contributes to a better feeling of fullness after a meal and effectively suppresses the hunger hormone, ghrelin. Thus, salicornia helps reduce the need for snacking between meals, increases the body’s energy, reduces your daily calorie intake, and in general, supports weight loss.
The prevalence of heart disease has certainly been on the rise over the years, and there is plenty of evidence that one of the contributing factors is the dietary potassium deficiency that many suffer from. This mineral is known for its ability to counteract the effects of excess sodium on the body, helping to regulate blood pressure and reduce the pressure on blood vessels. Regular and consistent consumption of salicornia is a great natural way to provide the body with enough potassium to help reduce systolic blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, regulate heart rhythm, and prevent life-threatening heart diseases.
Recovery from tissue damage is a more rehabilitative process than regenerative, and to repair damaged tissues, the body needs proteins—the main agents responsible for repairing those affected tissue structures. The proteins present in salicornia can, therefore, help your body not only strengthen muscles, burn calories, and improve the feeling of fullness but also bring damaged tissues back to life and encourage their quick recovery. Regular consumption of salicornia will replenish your body’s protein supply, and even though it’s not in massive amounts, every additional protein intake is a gain for your muscles and tissues.
What’s great about salicornia is that it offers several benefits at once—on the one hand, potassium, which as described, helps prevent the consequences of excess sodium in the body—and on the other hand, it contains sodium that gives it its salty taste. But the balance between the two works wonders for you. Sodium itself is essential for your body in certain amounts, especially for muscles, as it gives them the ability to contract and stretch, and in its absence, nerve cells may not be able to communicate properly with muscle fibers. So, to contribute to your muscle strength, replace salt with salicornia, which will give your body the sodium it needs and balance it with a good amount of potassium on the other side.
Vitamin C is known as a natural antioxidant that works against the free radicals that cause various damages to the body’s cells as the years go by. The vitamin C content in salicornia can help slow the rate of damage in two ways: First, it can reduce the appearance of the signs of aging that we recognize as wrinkles, which form due to the depletion of the collagen that the body produces. Vitamin C helps increase collagen production, so it can help restore the skin’s elasticity and return it to its natural, firm state. Second, vitamin C also reduces the size of pores on facial skin, which helps prevent the appearance of pimples and acne.
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