Salt, we need it to live, and it’s found in great abundance all over the world. The salt we find on our table, its pure white color so close to sugar, has been a staple on our table and within our cooking processes for generations. Salt on and within everything!
Of course, I’m sure we are aware that salt isn’t always the best for us when consumed in excess, and that “pure” white salt is actually so processed that it is stripped of all the other natural minerals that are supposed to go along with it!
Although, when you crunch the numbers there isn’t a huge nutritional difference between all kinds of salt such as sea salt, Himalayan salt, celtic salt, or table-top salt. However, if you really like salt as it adds flavor to meals, there are options that will allow you to avoid the anti-caking agents that allow table-top salt to flow smoothly as without its other natural components it tends to clump together.
Himalayan Salt lacks iodine, but has other essential minerals!
The final argument for table-top salt is that it has one additive we need, iodine. Iodine, weirdly enough, is essential to our diet, but is hard to come by usually in the foods that we eat.
This is easily fixed by consuming fish, seaweed, dairy, or eggs. Therefore, more “natural” salts, such as Himalayan salt, have other essential minerals that we need such as magnesium, potassium, iron, and calcium in addition to the regular sodium and chloride!
Himalayan salt is mined in Pakistan in the second largest salt mine in the world, the Khewra salt mine. Its iconic pink color comes from its trace amounts of iron oxide, “rust”, that is found throughout. Due to its containing other minerals in addition to sodium chloride, it actually contains less sodium than table-top salt!
Sea Salt carries the danger of pollution.
Depending on the sea that the sea salt is obtained from, there may be trace amounts of lead and other harmful metals that are the result of pollution. Therefore, research is required if you’d prefer to avoid this particular unpleasantry. However, the “darker” the sea salt is the greater its “impurities” which in this case is actually a good thing as it refers to the other trace minerals that we would like to consume such as iron and potassium.
Himalayan salt is described as the “purest” form of natural salt as because it is mined from a mountain, it does not carry the same danger of pollution.
All in all, salt does not add much nutrition if anything to any meal, but the right choice of salt can help you to avoid the reverse, the consumption of things that are bad for your health such as synthetic caking agents, harmful additives, or pollutants. So the next time you are in the grocery store and are making the choice of which salt to purchase, simply think about what exactly you are consuming, what you’re not consuming, and where it comes from!
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