Not all salt is the same

Creative Nature

Many people have claimed for years that salt increases the risk of heart disease dramatically and statistics that show Britons consume 50% too much salt in their everyday diets.

Other items of interest

The message seems to be fairly simple: cut down on the amount of salt you eat, but there’s another consideration to bear in mind: not all salt is the same.

When most of us think of salt we think of the white table salt we use in cooking or sprinkle on our food, but this is far from the complete picture and there are several different kinds of the white stuff (or not so white stuff!). Below we explore some of the different varieties of salts now available on our shop shelves to see which is best.

Table Salt

This is the everyday salt we are used to and it is a 'refined' rock salt. Pure rock salt is natural and generally mined from dried-up sea and lake beds. However whilst rock salt has various other minerals associated with it, the refining process that table salt goes through removes almost all of these so that table salt is typically around 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals (such as moisture absorbents, preservatives and chemicals which make it easier for the salt to pour). It is very hard for the body to break down and metabolise salt in this form. Plus the process uses a lot of water and puts stress on your body causing such problems as high blood pressure.
See Table Salt.

Rock Salt

The natural source of table salt; rock salt has not had chemicals added and contains a whole host of other minerals besides sodium and chloride that have not been removed by a refining process. Many of these minerals are important elements for the body and are hard to find from other nutritional sources. However these minerals are only very loosely bound to the salt crystals and because of this the body finds it difficult to absorb them.
See Sea Salt.

Sea Salt

Distilled from sea water, sea salt certainly should be better for us than table salt. However, these days nearly 90% of sea salt producers refine their salt and add chemicals. On top of this, as more and more pollution and sewage is spewed into our seas, sea salt has become less and less pure. Like rock salt however, sea salt still contains other important minerals, but these minerals are only loosely bound to the salt crystals and so are hard for the body to absorb and utilize.

Himalayan Crystal Salt

Often seen to have a pink tinge, Himalayan Crystal Salt is salt that was formed when primeval seas dried up millions of years ago. As the earth has moved and shifted, what once was sea bed has now become mountain ranges and so salt can be found within the rocks that make up the Himalayas.

Unlike sea salt and table salt, Himalayan Crystal Salt has not come into contact with external chemicals and remains one of the purest forms of salt on earth. The salt has been linked with a whole host of health benefits, from improving libido to helping with bone health. Whilst many of the claims remain unsupported by scientific study there is a major structural difference between rock and sea salt and Himalayan Crystal salt, which may go someway to explaining the claimed benefits.

Because of the immense pressure that the salt has been put under, over millions of years, the minerals associated with sea salt and rock salt are no longer found weakly attached to the salt crystal, but instead, have been forced together and incorporated into the salt’s structure. This makes it far easier for the body to absorb the additional minerals and reap their benefits. It is said the salt contains 82 mineral elements. Of these, many are vital for good health and could explain some of the healing properties associated with the salt. Zinc for example is known to help boost libido, magnesium helps with the absorption of calcium (vital for healthy bones) and plays a role in keeping the heart healthy. So whilst most of us should still be looking to cut down on salt, it may also be time to think harder about the type of salt that we do eat.

See Himalayan Crystal Salt.

References

FSA Salt website
Salt: A World History, Mark Kurlansky:
"Without sodium, which the body cannot manufacture, the body would be unable to transport nutrients or oxygen, transmit nerve impulses, or move muscles, including the heart,"
Water & Salt, Peter Ferreira
Worldwide Health:
"Himalayan Crystal Salt can be used in a variety of ways. It can be added to food, used in cooking or taken as 'sole' (pronounced solay) – a 1% salt/water solution. This solution can be ingested as an energiser and detoxifier. Contrary to table salt, it is not off-limits for those with high blood pressure; sole in fact lowers blood pressure within 15 minutes. This does not, however, mean that sole is simply a remedy for high blood pressure – indeed, it has been demonstrated that those with low blood pressure can also drink sole, and blood pressure will rise."