Different Types of Salt and Their Benefits
“Salt is what makes things
taste bad when it isn’t in them.” – Unknown
Salt is arguably the most important ingredient in cooking.
Without it, most meals would taste bland and unexciting.
However… not all salt is created equal and there are many “types”
to choose from.
We have Himalayan Pink Salt, Kosher Salt, Sea Salt, Celtic Salt (to
name a few)… and then we have plain old refined table salt.
Not only do they differ in taste and texture, but there are also
some differences in mineral and sodium content.
This article explores the most popular salt types… then at the end,
gives you a direct comparison of their nutritional properties to help you make
the right choices.
But first, let’s take a
look at what salt is and
why it’s such a controversial ingredient among health experts.
What is Salt and How Does it Affect Health?
Salt is a crystalline mineral made of two
elements, sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl).
Sodium and chlorine are absolutely
essential for
life in animals, including humans.
They serve important functions like helping the brain and nerves
send electrical impulses.
Most of the world’s salt
is harvested from salt mines, or
by evaporating sea water or other mineral-rich waters.
Salt is used for various
purposes, the most common of which is adding flavor to foods. Salt is also used
as afood preservative,
because bacteria have trouble growing in a salt-rich environment.
The reason salt is often
perceived as unhealthy (in large amounts),
is that it can bind water in the bloodstream and raise blood pressure.
But even though studies
have suggested that lowering salt intake can reduce blood pressure by 1-5.4
mm/Hg, there is no evidence that lowering salt prevents heart attacks, stroke
or death
The great majority of
sodium in the Western diet comes from processed foods.
If you eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods then you don’t need to worry about
adding some salt to your meals.
Bottom Line: Salt is made of two minerals, sodium and
chloride, which are essential for human life. Too much salt can raise blood
pressure, but there is very little evidence that eating less salt can improve
health.
Refined Salt (Regular Table Salt)
The most commonly used salt is plain old table salt.
This salt is usually highly refined. It is heavily ground and most
of the impurities and trace minerals are removed
.
The problem with heavily
ground salt is that it can clump together. For this reason, various substances
calledanti-caking agents are added so that it flows freely.
Food-grade table salt is almost pure sodium chloride, or 97% or
higher.
Here’s an important
point… iodine is often added to table salt.
This was a successful
public health preventative measure against iodine deficiency,
which was (and still is) common in many parts of the world and a leading cause
of hypothyroidism, mental retardation and various health problems
Therefore, if you choose
not to eat regular iodine-enriched table salt, then make sure you’re eating
some other foods that are high in iodine,
like fish, dairy, eggs and seaweed.
I personally take kelp tablets (seaweed) a few times per week because
I rarely eat iodized salt. They are very high in iodine.
Bottom Line: Refined table salt is mostly just sodium
chloride, with substances called anti-caking agents added in order to prevent
clumping. Iodine is often added to table salt.
Sea Salt
Sea salt is made by evaporating seawater.
Like table salt, it is mostly just sodium chloride.
However, depending on where it is harvested and how it was
processed, it usually does contain some amount of trace minerals like
potassium, iron and zinc.
The darker the sea salt,
the higher its concentration of “impurities” and trace nutrients will be.
However, keep in mind that due to the pollution of oceans, sea salt can also
contain trace amounts of heavy metals like lead
Sea salt is often less ground than regular refined salt, so if you
sprinkle it on top of your food after it has been cooked, it may have a
different mouthfeel and cause a more potent “flavor burst” than refined salt.
The trace minerals and impurities found in sea salt can also affect
the taste, but this varies greatly between different brands.
Bottom Line: Sea salt is made by evaporating
seawater. It is very similar to regular salt, but can contain small amounts of
minerals. It can also contain trace amounts of heavy metals if it is harvested
from a polluted sea.
Himalayan Pink Salt
It is mined from the Khewra Salt Mine,
the second largest salt mine in the world.
Himalayan salt often contains trace amounts of iron oxide (rust),
which gives it a pink color.
It does contain small
amounts of calcium, iron,
potassium and magnesium. It also contains slightly lower amounts of sodium than
regular salt.
A lot of people prefer the flavor of himalayan salt compared to
other types of salts, but personally I haven’t been able to notice a
difference.
The main difference seems to be the color, which can give a meal a
nice look if you sprinkle it on top after it has been cooked.
Bottom Line: Himalayan salt is harvested from a large
salt mine in Pakistan
Kosher Salt
Kosher salt was originally used for religious
purposes.
Jewish law required
blood to be extracted from meat before it was eaten. Kosher salt has a flaky,
coarse structure that is particularly efficient at extracting the blood (6).
The main difference
between regular salt and kosher salt is the structure of the flakes. Chefs find
that kosher salt, due to its large flake size, is easier to pick up with your fingers and
spread over food.
Kosher salt will have a different texture and flavor burst, but if
you allow the salt to dissolve in the food, then there really isn’t any
difference compared to regular table salt.
However, kosher salt is less likely to contain additives like
anti-caking agents and iodine.
Bottom Line: Kosher salt has a flaky structure that
makes it easy to spread on top of your food. There is very little difference compared
to regular salt, although it is less likely to contain anti-caking agents and
added iodine.
Celtic Salt
Celtic salt is a type of salt that originally became popular in France
It has a greyish color and also contains a bit of water, which
makes it quite moist.
Celtic salt contains trace amounts of minerals and is a bit lower
in sodium than plain table salt.
Bottom Line: Celtic salt has a light greyish color
and is quite moist. It is made from seawater and contains trace amounts of
minerals.
Differences In Taste
Foodies and chefs primarily choose their salt based on taste,
texture, color and convenience.
The impurities, including the trace minerals, can affect both the
color and taste of the salt.
The size of the salt can also affect how the salty flavor hits the
tongue. Salt with a larger grain size can have a stronger flavor and last
longer on your tongue.
However, if you allow the salt to dissolve in the food, then there
shouldn’t be any major taste difference between plain refined salt and the
other “gourmet” types of salt.
If you like to use your fingers to sprinkle salt on food, then dry
salts with a larger grain size are much easier to handle.
Bottom Line: The main difference between the salts is
the taste, flavour, color, texture and convenience.
Minerals in Different Types of Salt
There is one study that
compared the mineral content of different types of salt
The table below shows the comparison between Table Salt, Maldon
Salt (a typical sea salt), Himalayan Salt and Celtic Salt:
As you can see, celtic salt has the least amount of sodium and the
highest amount of calcium and magnesium. Himalayan salt contains a bit of
potassium.
However… keep in mind
that these really are tiny amounts.
For example, the 0.3% content of Magnesium for celtic salt implies that you
would need to eat 100 grams of salt to reach the recommended daily amount.
For this reason, the
mineral content of the various salts is actually not a compelling reason to choose one salt
over the other. These amounts really are negligible compared to what you get from
food.
Which Salt is The Healthiest?
I looked long and hard and couldn’t find a single study actually
comparing the health effects of different types of salt.
However… if such a study were done, I highly doubt they would find
a major difference. Most of the salts are similar, consisting of sodium
chloride and tiny amounts of minerals.
The main benefit of choosing more “natural” types of salt is that
you avoid additives and anti-caking agents that are often added to regular
table salt.
At the end of the day, salt is salt… its main purpose is to add
flavour, not nutrition.
( source;- internate )
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