An ethnographic study of salt use and humoral concepts in a Latino farm worker community in California’s Central Valley

Abstract

BackgroundThis article reports on the use of domestic or table salt for its perceived health effects and healing properties in a Latino farmworker community. It explores how contemporary salt usage beliefs can be seen to have roots in long-standing humoral theories of medicine and health.MethodsThis qualitative investigation comprised 30 in-depth individual interviews and five focus groups conducted in Spanish with Mexican and Central American immigrants in one small city in California’s Central Valley (N = 61 total participants). Interviews and focus groups were audiotaped, translated into English and transcribed. Several researchers independently and iteratively read transcripts, developed and applied codes, and engaged in thematic analysis.ResultsStrongly emergent themes identified the importance of balance in health, and beliefs about the effects on salt on health. Valued for its culinary role, for bringing out the flavors in food, and used by people of all ages, salt use is part of a robust set of cultural practices. Salt was regularly mixed with foods in different combinations and ingested to restore balance, prevent disequilibrium or reduce vulnerability to diverse illnesses, promote rehydration, and address symptoms of exposure to extremes of temperature or physical or emotional stress. Statements made and practices engaged in by participants were highly suggestive of health and healing beliefs common to humoral belief systems based primarily on a hot-cold dichotomy in classifications of foods and healing behaviors. We evaluate these statements and practices in the context of the existing literature on historical and contemporary humoral beliefs in Latin American communities, in Mexico and Central America, and in the United States.ConclusionHumoral theory is a useful framework for understanding contemporary rural Latino migrant farmworkers’ perceptions of the importance of salt for their health.

The Sociocultural Factors Underlying Latina Mothers’ Infant Feeding Practices

“…We also found evidence of humoral belief systems in women’s discussions about hot–cold food classifications (Barker, Guerra, Gonzalez-Vargas, & Hoeft, 2017). Prior ethnographic work among Puerto Ricans in New York City in the 1970s showed that hot–cold categories of food informed mother’s decisions to feed their infants hot tea and mannitol (a sugary substance) to facilitate feeding transitions from hot to cold foods (Harwood, 1971).…”

Herbal remedies used for the treatment of infertility in males and females by traditional healers in the rural areas of the West Bank/Palestine

“…The utilization of herbals in the treatment of various physiological disorders and diseases goes back to several millennia and more than 60% of the world’s population, especially in the rural areas of developing countries, utilized plants, and other natural products for pharmaceutical and medical aims. In addition, about 25% of modern medications are derived from herbal products and nowadays, the use of natural herbal products has shown an increase in both developed and developing countries [26, 27]. For huge numbers of childless people, infertility disease considered a personal social and psychological problem, which equitably distributed between males and females.…”

Knowledge of Heat-Related Illness First Aid and Self-Reported Hydration and Heat-Related Illness Symptoms in Migrant Farmworkers

“…Ideally, the intervention will be designed in a way that allows it to be delivered as part of the yearly FWFHP and can be shared with the Georgia Department of Public Health so that the greatest number of farmworkers can be reached throughout the year. These interventions should also be designed with considerations for cultural beliefs, such as the documented impact of the hot–cold dichotomy on Latino farmworkers’ health and well-being (Barker et al, 2017; McCullagh et al, 2015). These results do not only apply to the development of interventions with heat-exposed workers in Georgia but also support the need for developing heat-illness prevention measures with heat-exposed agricultural workers across the country.…”