What Is Salt?
Salt is made of sodium chloride, a compound mineral of sodium and chloride. Salt is gathered from the ocean, rock salt deposits from ancient dried up seas, or from brine, a concentrated salt water. To gather the salt you evaporate the water and are left with all the minerals, sodium chloride.
Depending on where you gather your salt it will also contain traces of other beneficial minerals such as, iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, calcium, potassium and selenium. All essential nutrient to the function of our bodies.
The ancient sea salt deposits have the most beneficial minerals, sea salt from the ocean is second and salt made from brine has the fewest beneficial minerals. Table salt is made from a brine. When they make salt from brine the purposely strip our other minerals such as magnesium and calcium to produce the purest from of sodium chloride. In the 1920s there was a iodine deficiency among the people in the USA and they started adding iodine to the salt and there is where we get our iodized table salt from.
Different Types of Salt
We categorize salt in three different ways, sea salt, rock salt and table salt.
Sea Salts are derived from the ocean. You can buy Mortans Sea Salt, Azure Sea Salt, Kirkland Sea Salt… etc. There are many different brands of sea salt harvested from different parts of the world.
Rock Salts are gathered from salt mines. These mines are from salt deposits from old salt lakes and seas that have evaporated years ago and our found under the rocky layers of earths surface. Salts like Redmond Real Salts, Pink Himalayan Salt, Celtic Sea Salt and more are all gathered from rock salt mines.
Brine Salts are also gathered from salt mines but extracted in a different way. Rock salt is extracted by drilling, crushing and braking down the salt floor and salt walls. Brine salt is extracted through hydraulic methods. They flood the salt floors with water then pump the new salt water brine to the surface and evaporate the water to get the salt again. After that they process the salt getting it to as pure of a form of sodium chloride as they can. This salt is commonly known as Table Salt or Iodized Salts.
Health benefits of Real Salt
Here is one of the many benefits of salt in our diets.
Our bodies are in need of many minerals to function properly. Hydration is extremely important to our bodies but did you know that drinking water will not hydrate your body alone? In order for out body to absorb the water we drink we need to have a good balance of vitamins and minerals in our bodies.
Electrolyte are the most needed minerals for the hydration of our bodies. The primary key electrolytes the body needs are sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and bicarbonate.
Celtic salt is mostly sodium chloride. It also includes 90 other trace minerals including potassium, calcium and 3 different types of magnesium. That’s 5 out of 7 of the primary electrolytes. Table salt has little to no trace minerals and is simply sodium chloride.
Don’t forget fresh fruits and vegetables are going to be the best way to add more vitamins and minerals to your diet. Electrolyte powders and drinks are a supplement if needed.
By using a Pink Himalayan Salt, Celtic Salt or Redmond Salt you will be adding many other minerals to your daily diet than if you simply used table salt.
The Health Risks of Too Much Salt
Too much sodium chloride (salt) can have its down side for sure. There are studies that show how salt can raise you blood pressure causing a multitude of issues. There also studies that connect high sodium levels with stomach cancer and cardiovascular disease, heart attack and other health conditions.
Now before you take salt out of your diet completely we must understand how we get high sodium levels.
Our cells contain pumps that help keep the balance of sodium and potassium within the cell. We get most of our potassium intake from the vegetables we eat. If you don’t eat your vegetables and are putting lots of table salt (Sodium Chloride, no other minerals) on your food, sodium will raise and potassium will drop. When the sodium levels are too high the cell swells causing high blood pressure.
The solution is not to simply take out sodium from your diet but to create a balance with sodium and potassium and all your other minerals. Using a rock salt with other trace minerals in them will help create that balance, sometimes evening keeping a low blood pressure.
Did you know that the too much salt can mess with your taste buds? Salty foods can dull your taste buds temporarily. And often with dull taste buds we end up adding more salt.
The Health Risks of Too Little Salt
Less salt or not enough salt can be just as dangerous as too much. After oxygen and water the next element that we need to survive is sodium, after that potassium.
If you google “benefits of sodium” you will find it plays a role in keeping our fluids balance, balanced blood pressure, transporting nerve impulses, blood flow and circulation, glucose absorption and more.
Taking sodium out of your diet completely will harm you in the end. But overdoing sodium without the presence of other minerals and vitamins will also harm you. The trick is a well balanced diet with whole foods and real salt, not regular table salt.
Prepackaged Foods VS Whole Foods
To create a well balanced diet full of good nutrition we need to be eating whole unprocessed foods. What are whole foods? Whole foods are foods that are not processed or refined but whole in nutrient. Whole fruits and vegetables, meat off the bone, fresh baked breads and goods rather than prepackaged foods. Most breakfast cereals is not a whole food, oatmeal is a whole food. Mashed potatoes from a mix is not a whole food, mashed potatoes from fresh potatoes is a whole food.
There are a lot of prepackaged or frozen meals out there that add sodium to make it taste good and is also used as a preservative. In these prepackaged meal there is a high amount of sodium but little potassium, magnesium or other vitamins and minerals. Its also not uncommon for people to add table salt to these meals. This can lead to high sodium intake causing high blood pressure amongst other problems.
Eating whole foods and meals from scratch will help you keep a balanced diet with all your nutritional needs being met. Choosing high quality whole foods enhances your vitamin and mineral intake helping your body function properly. Cooking with real salt and knowing exactly how much is in your meal will help you balance you salt intake avoiding the risk of too much or too little salt.
I highly recommend you stay away from fast food and ready-made foods if you are trying to stay away from a high-salt diet. Here in the united states we make ready-made foods with excess salt. When shopping for quick meals check your food labels and nutrition labels. Buy more fresh foods for a healthy diet.
Salt Substitutes
If you are trying to lower your sodium intake with less salt then here are a few salt substitutes you can use to lower the amount of salt you use on your everyday foods.
- Lemon juice and Vinegar – both acidic in nature, enhancing the flavor of your foods without the use of sodium.
- Nutritional Yeast – Is full of vitamins and minerals and is beneficial to your diet. Sprinkling a little on your food to replace salt and adds a cheesy – nutty flavor.
- Herbs, Spices and Peppers, Onions and Garlic – We often us salt to draw out the flavor of our food. Adding more flavor cuts down the need to add as much salt to make it flavorful.
- Soy sauce – Although known to be high in sodium you might be surprised to the difference between soy sauce and table salt. Soy sauce is a good source for sodium, magnesium, potassium, iron and more. When sodium is paired with these other vitamins and minerals our body is about to absorb and use them properly.
Real Redmond Salt
Enhance the flavor with good real salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and key electrolytes harvested in the USA, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.
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