Take this with a little bit of salt :)

What is salt ? Why our body needs it and how much ?

Salt, also known as sodium chloride is about 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Salt flavours food and it is also a food preservative. Our body needs a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles and to help maintaining a proper balance between water and minerals. We need around 500 mg sodium per day as an estimation. (Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium/).

How does too much salt affect us ?

According to many studies, too much sodium in our diet is associated with high blood pressure and heart disease. Also, too much sodium in our blood puts pressure on the kidneys. As we accumulate sodium our body retains water in order to dilute it. So the amount of the liquid surrounding cells is increased and the volume of blood in the bloodstream is increased. This means more effort for the heart and more pressure on blood vessels which over time does not bring good news for our health :( .

So be moderated when it comes to salt.

(Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium/).

It is easy to abuse with salt having in consideration that many processed foods contain high amounts of sodium (just check the labels and compare the quantity with 500mg). One of the big advantages of cooking at home is that you can control the quantity of sodium you add in your food. Although is true that many times salt makes the difference between a tasty dish and a dish without taste, just be careful with the quantity.

How many types of salt do we know?

I want to present you some of the most common types of salt :

Table Salt

From all types the generic “table salt” is the most processed variety of salt. Some varieties are enriched with potassium iodide and most of them contain anti-caking agents to prevent clumping and make it easy to flow. During processing almost all minerals are removed from this salt and the taste can be metallic or “one dimensional” so it is not the best choice for finishing your dishes or for savoury recipes. It can be used to season cooking water, brining or baking.

Most professional kitchens use sea salt or kosher salt. Even if they are more expensive it is worth it.

Kosher Salt

Kosher salt is a coarsely grained salt. It’s named so because it was used in traditional Kosher kitchen and food seasoning. Usually Kosher salt does not contain iodine. This salt can be used with all kind of recipes and food preparation. Many cooks prefer using this salt because of it’t coarser texture which allows them to be precise when seasoning the food (by hand). Generally a pinch of kosher salt is lighter and less concentrated than table salt.

Sea Salt

Sea salts are harvested from sea water after evaporation and their salty tasty can vary from light to strong. They can be used in gourmet recipes salty or sweet.

Unrefined sea salts have multidimensional flavours as they contain minerals and elements from the sea. The unrefined varieties have a greysh colour and can be used during the cooking process.

Sea Salt “Fleur de Sel”

“Fleur de Sel” (in English ”Flower of Salt”) is also harvested from evaporated sea water. The taste and smell of this salt are said to keep the flavour of the sea. It can be sticky and kind of wet. It is used mostly for finishing the dishes.(Source: https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g30689559/salt-types/)

Grey Celtic Salt

Hand harvested using a method invented by the Celts. Trapped sea water at high tide is guided to sea farmer trough clay beds until it is crystallising. The sunken crystals are pulled with wooden rakes. It has a greyish colour and it is used for finishing dishes.

Himalayan Pink Salt

Himalayan pink salt as the name suggests, comes from Himalayan Mountains in Pakistan. It has a pink colour and it is packed with minerals. It is a salt with high price tag used in generally for savoury and finishing dishes.

The list can continue because there are more special and gourmet types of salt but if you liked this article feel free to search more on this topic. I bet you’ll find interesting things :)

Which salt types are healthier ?

Of course unrefined natural salts (which contain plenty of other minerals) harvested with traditional methods have benefits for our body. The best thing to do is to try them in the recommended scenarios. And keep in mind that the healthy approach is to be reserved with the quantity.