Choice of table salt

Recently a friend of mine told that an Ayurvedic doctor has advised him to take sea salt rather than common table salt. I never knew there is a different way of getting salt other than from sea. So I searched to know the difference. Here are my findings:

1. Sea salt: Made by evaporating sea water, and then optionally washed in concentrated salt brine to dissolve and wash non-salt impurities, ground down.
 Pros:

1. Less processed and hence provides us with minute amounts of other metal salts (which help us).
2. It also gives the characteristic sea flavor, which is when you sprinkle it onto food. Once you dissolve the salt in water for longer time the flavor goes away.

 Cons:

1. These days due to pollution sea water is mercury and plastic contaminated and hence you get those in your sea salt too.

2. Table salt (refined salt): Often salt is found in land mass, due to dried sea of past (because of sea bed movement on earth crust). This salt is mined using common mining techniques (including using dynamites). This salt has many contaminants (as it is not being continuously washed unlike sea salt). Hence it goes through multiple mechanical and chemical processing to separate contaminants, to prepare the human consumable salt. The final drying of concentrated brine is often done in factories (rather than sun drying). This drying may use different techniques. For example using Alberger process gives flaky salt crystals (a light density salt crystal). Table salt has less trace minerals than sea salt. These trace minerals are good for our body. As per http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2718/is-sea-salt-better-for-you-than-regular-salt "Both rock salt ( i.e., from mines) and sea salt contain, besides sodium chloride, such chemicals as calcium, potassium, and magnesium sulfates. However, when a large body of water evaporates, the chemicals in it precipitate out in stages - calcium compounds get deposited first, then sodium, and finally magnesium and potassium. Because of this, a rock salt deposit is often a more homogeneous mass of sodium chloride than what you get by drying out seawater commercially. Since rock salt destined for human consumption is typically processed to remove grit and other impurities, by the time it reaches the shaker table salt is nearly pure sodium chloride."

Note: Almost always, if you buy a packed salt you get salt mixed with anti-caking agent mixed to make salt shaking easy on your table "remember when it rains it pours". But it is just for convenience, and the anti-caking agent is mostly bad for health.

But then why should you care? Because salt regulates fluid balance in the body and the Sodium ion is used for electrical signalling in the nervous system.  Too much or too little salt in the diet can lead to muscle cramps, dizziness, electrolyte disturbances. e.g. if you take part in water drinking contest take little salt too to avoid water intoxication (hyponatremia). Otherwise salt being so heavily used as a preservative, we invariably consume too much salt and we should go for a low salt diet to balance.

Which salt should you use: Sometimes we are fortunate to have very pure rock salt deposits on land. For example Himalayan salt, real salt. These salt deposits were made when sea was pristine and hence these are basically sea salt without modern day pollutants(poisons). These salts are also known as "Sendha Namak" or "Saindhaba Laban". The best grade comes from Khewra mines discovered by Alexander's horses! (Note that these are different from black salt which are human processed to give sulfuric smell). These salts are invariably costly

e.g. Morton salt 26 oz for 60 cent i.e  2.31 cent per oz 

(you can get 1 cent/ oz, buy Diamond Crystal 25 lb bag for $ 4 at Costco, and that is premium too)

e.g. Himalayan salt 16 oz for $ 6.75 i.e 42.19 cent per oz  (roughly 20 times costlier than table salt)

I have heard the following retail product
http://www.amazon.com/Shan-Virgin-Pink-Himalayan-Salt/dp/6182056045
is available for $2.00 at Patel brothers, Santa clara.

But then a person should consume maximum 3 gram salt per day and even if you consider 10 gram of salt needed in preparation, a person will consume 128 oz or 8 lb per year i.e $54 per year in salt. I think given the benefits of trace minerals it is worth the money:

http://www.lifebeginsraw.com/himalayan_salt_-_the_benefits_for_you.html

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Vital Functions of Himalayan Salt in Your Body

1. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital to the communication and information processing nerve cells the entire time that the brain cells work - from the moment of conception to death.

2. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital to the extraction of excess acidity from the cells in the body, particularly the brain cells.

3. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for balancing the sugar levels in the blood; a needed element in diabetics.

4. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy need by the cells.

5. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital to the nerve cells' communication and information processing all the time that the brain cells work, from the moment of conception to death.

6. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract.

7. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for the clearance of the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma and cystic fibrosis.

8. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for clearing up catarrh and congestion of the sinuses.

9. Himalayan Crystal Salt is a strong natural antihistamine.

10. Himalayan Crystal Salt is essential for the prevention of muscle cramps.

11. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital to prevent excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates salt shortage.

12. Himalayan Crystal Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm. Osteoporosis, in a major way, is a result of salt and water shortage in the body.

13 Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for sleep regulation. It is a natural hypnotic.

14. Himalayan Crystal Salt is a vitally needed element in the treatment of diabetics.

15. Himalayan Crystal Salt on the tongue will stop persistent dry coughs.

16. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for the prevention of gout and gouty arthritis.

17. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for maintaining sexuality and libido.

18. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for preventing varicose veins and spider veins on the legs and thighs.

19. Himalayan Crystal Salt is most effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and, contrary to the misconception that it causes high blood pressure, it is actually essential for the regulation of blood pressure - in conjunction with water. Naturally the proportions are critical.

20. Himalayan Crystal Salt is vital for reducing a double chin. When the body is short of salt, it means the body really is short of water. The salivary glands sense the salt shortage and are obliged to produce more saliva to lubricate the act of chewing and swallowing and also to supply the stomach with water that it needs for breaking down foods. Circulation to the salivary glands increases and the blood vessels become "leaky" in order to supply the glands with water to manufacture saliva. The "leakiness" spills beyond the area of the glands themselves, causing increased bulk under the skin of the chin, the cheeks and into the neck.

21. Himalayan Crystal Salt contains about 80 mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts. Unrefined Himalayan Crystal Salt is a better choice of salt than other types of salt on the market. Ordinary table salt that is bought in the super markets has been stripped of its companion elements and contains additive elements such as aluminum silicate to keep it powdery and porous, Aluminum is a very toxic element in our nervous system. It is implicated as one of the primary causes of Alzheimer's disease.

22. Himalayan Crystal Salt prevents Osteoporosis! Twenty-seven percent of the body's salt is in the bones. Osteoporosis results when the body needs more salt and takes it from the body. Bones are twenty-two percent water. Is it not obvious what happens to the bones when we're deficient in salt or water or both?

And last but not least: you won?t need any supplements if you drink the Himalayan Crystal Salt every day. It will give you all the minerals the body needs and you can see that your skin becomes smoother, it helps to get rid of cellulite and your body is being rejuvenated from inside out! 

"It's not what you digest, it's what you absorb."

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