WHY Salt sucks 🧂

August 23, 2021

This title may be misleading, but I’m going to talk about:
Why salt doesn’t suck
Which type of salt actually sucks

High vs. Low Sodium Intake

I’m sure you have heard a few of these sayings: ‘eat less sodium’ or ‘keep your salt levels down’. Canadians are recommended to consume only 2300 milligrams of salt per day. You’ll see this a lot on packaging labels– ‘low sodium’ or ‘low salt’.

There is research that shows that excessive salt intake has health risks like your heart rate increases or high blood pressure. But there is also research that shows that low sodium intake can also cause other unintended health risks.

For instance, insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome or even your cardiovascular health may be affected for excessive LOW sodium intake. Sometimes, even cognitive processes can be affected. You need salt to think.

Sodium-Potassium Balance

Appetite issues may also arise. If you crave salt, your body is craving minerals. That’s actually what a lot of people lack: proper sodium and potassium balance. What happens is that when you have too much sodium and you’re not balancing it out to the proper ratio of potassium, that’s when you run into issues. It’s not just about decreasing the amount of salt but also getting the right mineral balance in like with potassium.

This may also sound a little misleading but you need salt. For me, for example, when I’m fasting and feeling hungry, I drink salt water. I sprinkle some salt into water (let’s say a teaspoon or half a teaspoon of salt), no extra calories, it’s packed with minerals, and I feel satiated. I feel full and don’t have to eat when I do that. It’s a trick I do for long-term fasting (36+ hours).

Sometimes when I feel light headed, salt water fixes that without any extra calories. So there’s a little trick for you for when you’re fasting and have hunger pangs.

Table Salt

Typically, the biggest issue isn’t table salt. It’s 99% sodium chloride and the last 1% is filled with caking agents. These are the chemicals responsible that keeps the salt from caking so that it flows out of boxes and acts as a preservative. And these anti-caking agents are essentially heavy metals.

These heavy metals are toxic for your body. There are things like aluminum in it that you don’t want in your body. There’s also iodine in table salt which can help with those who have iodine deficiencies. But other than that, regular table salt is void of any other minerals.

Salt doesn’t have potassium in it, which I’ve mentioned is important to balance out the excess sodium intake we have in our diet. Most foods these days use table salt– crackers, most processed foods, and even pre-made dried spices. So it would be a better idea if you made your own spices just to avoid excess table salt.

Kosher Salt

Kosher salt is similar to table salt except that it’s more flaky. A lot of cooks like to use it. They’re less likely to contain any anti-caking agents and there’s added iodine in it. So you don’t have to worry about the heavy metals in kosher salt. But it still has a similar trace mineral content as table salt.

Sea Salt

Now a better form of salt is Sea Salt. Natural sea salt actually contains 80+ trace minerals including potassium. So you’re going to get that potassium balance for that excess salt intake. There are no anti-caking agents, which means it doesn’t have those heavy metals and it’s also free from aluminum.

Here’s the issue with sea salt… microplastics. Sea salt is farmed from the sea and there is a lot of plastic dumped into the sea. They’ve found 90% of sea salt brands have microplastics. There have not been much studies about what microplastics can do to the human body but they’ve done it in animals.

The study of microplastics in animals have shown that it breaks down their kidneys and affects their health functions. There’s no long-term studies on it but I wouldn’t stick microplastics in my body.

Colima sea salt is a little bit different. They’re found in Colima, Mexico– farmed in Mexican salt farms, these are free from microplastics. If you look up Mexican sea salt, this type of salt by Mexican farmers, who use old school techniques to farm their sea salt which are free from all those microplastics and toxins.

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Another better option is the Himalayan salt. It is also free from microplastics. These are mined in Pakistan. The red or pink hue of the salt is due to the iron or the heme. I prefer this type of salt (Pink Himalayan), but something to note about this is that you have to be careful about excessive iron intake.

There are health concerns about people with excessive iron intake. So if you have iron issues where you have to stay away from iron, maybe it’s better not to use this type of salt and just use regular or Mexican sea salt.