Unlike regular table salt that is not good for you, sea salt has many health benefits!
First, if you just want to know where to get it, here's where to find the good-for-you, mineral-rich sea salt that's discussed in this post…
Did you know that everyday table salt is highly processed and very different from high-quality sea salt?
Salt is essential in our diets. Around here we use real sea salt for everything, and we use it liberally, too. Be sure you buy unrefined (not all sea salts are) and unbleached, with no anti-caking agents or iodine added (which we can get from other sources), it tastes great, and is also very beneficial to our bodies because it's full of natural trace minerals. This is especially important if you have a Reverse Osmosis water system since as it filters all bad stuff, it takes the minerals out as well.
See this post on Why we ditched reverse osmosis drinking water and what we got instead.
The benefits of real sea salt
Natural mineral-rich sea salt not only makes your food taste better, it's also good for digestion, for hydration, for your skin, it balances out your electrolytes, builds up your immune system, it has helped people who retain fluid, it prevents muscle cramps, it helps prevent headaches when fasting, it nourishes adrenal glands, it can help to regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, it's good for your bones, it can help with mood and sleep, the list keeps going because minerals are essential for every function in our bodies!
The bad stuff
Many are still using regular table salt, and not only is it a very processed and denatured food by itself, it's also what is used in the huge amounts of packaged, boxed, processed foods that too many people are still consuming. THIS is where the problem with salt in our diets comes in, not with the real stuff.
Colorful salt
True sea salt will have different colors and specks in it, which show you the various minerals are there! If it's pure white, you'll know it's probably refined and bleached.
Sea salt and high blood pressure
An interesting tidbit about this salt: for many people with high blood pressure, it doesn't affect them. Don't go crazy trying this the first time, you might try just a little and see how you do. (You may also want to check with your doctor first.)
As a matter of fact, it turns out that everything we've been told for years about the importance of limiting salt for our health may be ALL wrong…
Bad advice all based on ONE bad study:
If you repeat something long enough, people will believe it's true. And this seems to be the case with salt. The genesis of the sodium myth lies with one study that seemed to show a link between salt and hypertension.
Yes, just ONE study.
In 1997, the DASH-sodium study was conducted to determine whether or not a low-salt diet would control hypertension. The DASH diet consists largely of fresh vegetables and fruits, lean protein, whole grains, and low-fat dairy, and is very low in salt. But it's ALSO low in sugar/fructose. So, while people on DASH diets do show reduced hypertension, the reason for this is not the reduction in salt, but the reduction in fructose.
Hypertension is actually promoted more by excess fructose than excess salt!” (Read more from Dr. Mercola: Add salt to your food daily, despite what your doctor says.)
Salt Restriction Dangerous for your heart?
While salt-induced hypertension is typically blamed as a cause of heart disease, a low salt intake is associated with higher mortality from cardiovascular events. A 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrates a low-salt zone where stroke, heart attack and death are more likely. (3) Compared with moderate sodium excretion, there was an association between low sodium excretion and cardiovascular (CVD) death and hospitalization for coronary heart failure. These findings demonstrate the lowest risk of death for sodium excretion between 4 and 5.99 grams per day. (Figure 1.)” (More here from Chris Kresser: The Dangers of Salt Restriction)
Here's where to find the sea salt that is GOOD for you.
More posts to check out about this topic:
- Newer post: To salt your food or NOT to salt your food?
- It's time to end the war on salt
- Chris Kresser on The Dangers of Salt Restriction
More you might like:
- Kelly's popcorn recipe (one of my favorite ways to eat salt!)
Cristoforo Sartor says
Adopting a high fat and a high salt diet was the best improvement I’ve made to my eating habits in many years. Commercial salt is toxic to the body. It contains sugar and talcum powder (to prevent unsigtly clumping and to keep it freely flowing)
Cristoforo Sartor says
Regular table salt is toxic. Actually, its not even salt. It is Sodium Chloride, a laboratory-invented chemical substance designed soley for its taste, its ‘saltiness’. Check the list of ingredients on the side panel on a box of table salt next time you’re in the grocery store. Talcum powder is added to allow it to flow nice and smoothly out of the box and to help keep it from clumping. And I’m not even sure why they add dextrose (sugar) to salt.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Talc! Wow, I’d not heard that before, but found this, which confirmed what you said, Cristoforo Sartor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talc!
Betheney says
I hear that Celtic Sea Salt is better than Redman sea Salt, is that true?
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hi Betheney,
What I’ve heard is most important (besides making sure it’s UNrefined salt), is getting it from a good source because different companies will be more careful of sourcing salt that is carefully mined (so as to avoid added pollutants) than others.
Kelly
joanne says
so what’s the scoop on salt? i switched to kosher for some odd reason i can’t remember – but i def. like it better than table salt. i’m just curious if nutritionally it’s actually any better. i am totally ready to make any changes that are better for us and salt seems easy enough!
KitchenKop says
Joanne,
Don’t know how I missed this question over a year ago! I use sea salt for the trace minerals which is much better for us than plain table salt.
Kelly
KitchenKop says
Good scoop, thanks!
Debbie:) says
I used to use Le Tresor which is comparable to Celtic gray seasalt…until we discovered Trader Joe’s Coarse Sea Salt..it’s unrefined and seems to be comparable to both but much more reasonably priced. The Celtic Sea Salt site also has a wealth of info on the benefits of seasalt.
Lynn says
A salt I’ve been using lately is Himalayan Pink Crystal. There’s lots of it out there, and it IS expensive. Something about it is compelling, though. I used Celtic Sea Salt for years. The URL is included here because there is very enlightening info at this site about this particular salt – in fact, about the magic structure and many uses of salt/water solution.
https://www.himalayanlivingsalt.com/salt_facts.htm
Kelly says
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for letting us know what you found! Just an FYI though, you can still get it even cheaper at an Amish store or bulk-foods store if you can find one near you. (I got it for $2.77/16oz.)
God bless,
Kelly
Natalie says
I just bought a 9 oz bottle of this salt at the Knapp Street Meijer store on sale for $3. The regular price is $3.59. It was located in the spice aisle along with all the other salts. I’m very anxious to try it.
Kathy Ellenberger says
I heard that the best salt is not white, which indicates it has been bleached or refined. I like the pink and the gray salt. Celtic and something else I can’t remember.