Salt isn’t regularly considered a spice, nor is it discussed as a vitamin like A, B, etc. But isn’t it necessary in small amounts for humans?
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“Vitamin” is a compound word made from “Vital” and “Amino”. “Amino acids” are the pieces that proteins are made of, which in turn make up our entire bodies.
I could go more into detail how this came to be, but this is the reason why salt (which is a mineral) is not a “Vitamin”.
Vitamins help turn food into you. Or they help you turn food into energy. Salt is an electrolyte. It helps electricity run through your cells.
Salt falls more into the category of electrolytes than vitamins. Body salts like salt, potassium, and manganese all help with the flow of the bodily electrical signals. These signals travel from the brain to the muscles, or from the muscles and skin receptors to the brain. Not enough salt or potassium can cause an interruption in these signals which can result in dizziness, headaches, and confusion, and is just bad. It’s bad because one of these signals is to the heart and one to the lungs. An interruption in either of these can be fatal. This why you need to stay hydrated, but beware of what or how you are staying hydrated. Plain water in excessive ammounts can flush electrolytes out of your body, resulting in water intoxication, and it can be fatal if you don’t replace the electrolytes. This normally happens if you only drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated when you are hot. You need to replace the body salts too, especially if you are sweating all day as it can lead to this issue. Water will get you by most of the day, but it’s best to mix it up with something else like Gatorade or Power Ade to prevent water intoxication.
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