Chloride (Bleach Vacation!)
Chloride
To set things straight and up front, let’s not get confused with Chlorine. You will find Chlorine on the Periodic Table, however in the human body it is registered as Chloride and is used as a cleansing agent for the entire neuromusculoskeletal system. This can be viewed as the nervous system, which innervates the muscular system, which displaces the skeleton system, which performs work thus creating human movement. The five electrolytes of the body that oversee this whole process are Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, and Chloride. Because the Potassium and Sodium elements create an electrical signal due to their chemical properties, they will cause a nerve to innervate a muscle. This process will leave a residue after the Sodium and Potassium have been assimilated and used for each signal and muscle contraction. Calcium is also necessary for the muscle to contract. To counteract constant muscle contraction (spasm), Magnesium prevents the Calcium from contracting the muscle (relaxes the muscle), thereby providing us a “brake” to the “acceleration”. All four of these electrolytes (K, Na, Ca, Mg) have a positive charge and therefore need a negative charge to be able to eliminate them from the body. Chloride, acting as a cleaning agent to the residues left behind in the nerves and muscles, combines with those elements to help eliminate them and prevent autointoxication (failure to clean out the systems). If we did not have a way to eliminate these used materials, we would hold on to excess materials, or toxins, and cause illness. Clearly Chloride is essential for human health. Chloride is high in fish, celery, and raw (unpasteurized) goat milk, and there are varying amounts in many other foods such as any dark green leaf, and most other naturally green vegetables, as well as carrots, and sweet potatoes. As a human, you lose lots of Sodium throughout the day, which is paired with Chloride (NaCl) when being eliminated. Therefore you must eat plenty of lean, grass fed, or pasture raised meats in addition to their dark green leafy salads. Fruits, starchy root vegetables, and lipids in addition to sufficient water will yield Hydrogen, which pairs with Chloride in the stomach known as Hydrochloric acid. Again, water levels must be sufficient daily! This Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) helps the stomach break down complete proteins for rebuilding or repairing inflamed tissue throughout the systems of the body. As a cleansing agent Chloride naturally helps relax the nervous system by cleaning out its debris from firing signals all the time due to activities of daily life. The element has been linked to the GABA neurotransmitter, which acts as an inhibitory neuron signal (relaxes the nervous system). At the end of the day, Chloride is a wonderful element when in the correct balance, which can be achieved only by eating a variety of whole foods on a regular basis (80%+ of total food consumption every day). Water is a must because it keeps all of the electrolytes suspended in a solution so they can perform their job. If we are even remotely dehydrated electrolytes begin to malfunction and get worse as we become more dehydrated throughout the day. Things get parched and don’t work very efficiently and it gives on the appearance with symptoms from nervous system dysfunction to muscular dysfunction (including intestinal and heart muscle). The lesson here is to clean up our food choices, eat whole foods, and stay hydrated if we want to have a clean system, because the reality is simple – Chloride in the body is like Chlorine to clothes and a pool, it helps kill germs, parasites, viruses, and bacteria, thereby reducing inflammation.