-By Chinedu J. Onunkwo (B.Pharm)
Sometime in August 2014, the Nigerian media wave was awash with accounts of people who bathed themselves with salt water as a prophylaxis against Ebola virus. Some even took it a notch higher by gulping concentrated saline fluid to shield them from the killer disease. The detriment was swift. By the following day, there were already reports of massive hospitalisations and few deaths. Yet, this is only temporary incidence of mass ignorance. Today, there are many families who are living it perpetually without a hint of what they are into. Myths sell. Many families have as essential commodities religious totems such as Olive oil, mustard seeds, black stone and holy water; a mixture of two ingredients, water and salt.
Back to the Ebola hoopla, the deaths were linked to cardiovascular complications precipitated by rise in blood pressure as a result of consumption of salt water. It is already established by medical researches that sodium raises the human blood pressure. When this elevation passes a certain threshold, it becomes a health case known as hypertension (>130mmHg). Salt destroys the heart, to put it mildly. And the worrying part of hypertension is that most times, there are no symptoms, hence it is commonly known as a silent killer. The holy water found in many homes contains this killer agent: sodium chloride. Unfortunately, there are votaries who consume the mixture as a guard against evil spirits as well as a cure against aliments.
I am not saying that staying away from holy water is the panacea to controlling hypertension. No. Genetics, stress, smoking and lack of exercise are all precipitating factors as well, but being aware of the potential danger of such a simple item as water solution is necessary.
Hypertension is not all about having high systolic and diastolic pressure, there are other related diseases that can come without prior warnings. Cardiovascular accident, also known as stroke, is one of them. Hypertension also increases the risk of vision loss, kidney disease, heart attack and diabetes.
Luckily, there are also non-pharmacological means of controlling hypertension. An easy, cost-effective, and uncomplicated measure to combat the disease is taking potassium laden diet. Potassium helps the kidneys to remove excess sodium through urine. Many leafy greens like spinach and lettuce contain potassium. Berries, banana and yogurt are also good sources of the mineral. Good exercise practise is also highly recommended. Regular exercise helps to keep the heart and other vital organs healthy and well aerated.
Holy water might be sacred, but it is advisable that its application be limited to the external surfaces of the body. Before you gulp it all in, consider your heart!
10 comments
Interesting readđđ… The Little things that are usually left unnoticed,these are the potent dangers!
Thank you for reading!
Great write-up
Thank you Godwin!
Nice one especially the Ebola part but more often than not,the take home holy water is never salty,itâs usually plain bottle water.The salty one(holy water) is sprinkled on people or gift items.We could probably write about possible benefits of the salt water on some gift items like fruits,raw eggs etc.
Thank you Mouthpiece for reading. You might be right within you own experience, but there are incidents where salt is added to water for water consumption. This especially on weekly prayer events where votaries bring items for blessing. It does happen. Anyway, the message of danger of salt is the most important.
For the topics you suggested, do know you can always write to us what ever your passion dictates. We accept articles for publication.
Once again, thanks!
You have written well.
However, the salt added to holy water is quite insignificant and the water is not salty enough to cause hypertension(if you ask me), and people, at least the ones I know, who drink holy water in the hope of warding off evil spirits and diseases, do not ‘gulp’ it. Sometimes one just takes about a cover-of-the-bottle full. In my house for example, when we were younger, my mum would keep hers in a spray bottle, she would spray it around the rooms after night prayers, she doesn’t drink or give it to us to drink, even if for one reason or the other, she had to administer it to one of her children, she just sprays it less than twice into your mouth.
What we need to tackle here is people who add extra salt to whatever food that is put before them, and if there is anyone else who drinks holy water from a mug đ everyday, then he or she should take care too. I know someone who adds salt to warm water and drinks, saying it stops her stomach ache, people who add salt in their every bottle of Sprite to make ORT, people who can’t eat boiled rice or yam if it’s not well salted, people who often eat avocado with salt smeared on it, and so on, these are the real major sources from which people consume unhealthy amounts of salt. Holy water, I think, is the least source.
Lol. Thank you Borntwice for reading. Well, you’re right to an extent. But let me remind you that a grain of salt could be the difference between death and life.
According to scholarly scientific findings, man evolved from fresh water not sea water. Therefore man evolutionary trait does not favour salt intake. The point is limiting the amount of salt whichever way.
Finally, let me shock you. I know a relative who had substituted her potable water to “holy water”. This is a life story. I had to intervene. Therefore, while your might be correct in your own experience, do believe me when I tell you some are very much ignorant about this. So the solution would be the Priests avoiding the salt entirely.
I know I said finally. Lol. But let me quickly add that someone who already is having some symptoms caused by high blood pressure might resort to holy water as first aid. Could you imagine the consequence?
Thanks again.
Yeah, you are right.
[…] entering Nigeria ill with the ebola disease. I have already talked about this event in an earlier article on danger of salt intake. Unfortunately, similar hoopla is here; another virus is in town and […]