(Sea) Salt

[8 winks]

do you watch your salt intake? i do notice if i have a lot at once, say boulion, i get a headache. lately i have been taking note of it, and realizing i'm consuming way over the recomended amt. asked my mom, no such health problems in my family... but still i am sort of wondering if i should be more cautious. what do u guys think about the recomended amount and how much do you ususally take in?

[eve]

I don't use salt at all, though there must be salt in some food items like baked beans, or bread.

[harpy]

I'm like Eve - I don't add salt to food at all these days. You need some, but given the amount that manufacturers put in bread etc it's not difficult to get enough.

I used to take salt with food but it doesn't take long to get used to it without. The downside is that now I often think the food is oversalted if I eat out :D but nothing's perfect

[LyricSarah]

i really should watch my salt intake....I eat ridiculous amounts im so in love with it...I do have low blood pressure....although I get headaches as well after salt overload...which is like all the time;)

[PinkFluffyCloud]

I have low Blood Pressure, too, and also get leg cramps if I don't have some Salt every day.
However, since I stopped eating so much processed food, when I do have it now (occasionally), I hate the way it makes you so thirsty afterwards! :(
My favourite use for Salt is in a hot Salt Bath - very cleansing! :)

[Gorilla]

i try to watch my salt intake, i used to have low blood pressure but haven't had it checked for a while. i hardly ever add salt to food, so when i do eat processed foods, like PFC i find it makes me really thirsty too. sometimes though i crave salty savoury foods.

[Kiva Dancer]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, but.....

I haven't used salt in years and the other day, my doctor mentioned that if I use sea salt instead of table salt, I can start using salt again without the fear of it giving me problems like regular salt can.

Is this really true or is he giving me a lot of hooey?

For those that use sea salt, what brand do you like and why do you use it?

[Poison Ivy]

I use either Rock or Sea Salt depending on which the supermarket has decided to stock ;)

I prefer it because I think (and I hope) its been processed less, it has a much stronger 'salt' taste so you have to use far less than you would to get the same amount of flavour from table salt.

[feline01]

I agree Poison, I'm not a salt person anyway but sea salt, particularly celtic sea salt has a great flavor so very little is used versus table salt. Sorta like wholegrain bread versus white bread. I once bought some fleur de sal (sp?) and it was amazing, it's a french salt that has such a lovely taste.

[1vegan]

as far as I know, sea salt has the same effects on a body as "normal" table salt.

Only sea salt might have a bit more minerals in it.

If regular salt gives you problems, I'd expect the same from sea salt.

[eve]

I agree with 1vegan that it has the same effect as normal table salt. In fact, it is simply another commodity for the health store to sell. Why do you need to add salt to anything anyway? Or are you having some goitre problem, in which case doctors usually recommend iodised salt in moderation.

[chakra]

we have approximately the same level of NaCl in our fluids as seawater
athletes can have low sodium problems in hot weather leading to low bp
salt tablets are provided to worksites in extreme hot climates
sea salt, depending on the source, may contain useful trace minerals
certainly anyone on a salt restricted diet for medical reasons should avoid sea salt

I use a lot of salt. I've had elevated bp but salt had no effect on it. It resulted from overweight. I run almost everday and in even slightly moderate weather I sweat out a lot of body salt, which must be replenished. I've used sea salts and sea salt based soy sauces for decades. IMHO sea salt is better. It tastes better, especially the sun evaporated ones that are not overly cleaned and refined. Who's to say that the trace minerals aren't significant? Who has ridden along through the body to see where they go and what they do? I'm the intuitive type and my senses tell me it is better. I use sea salt. I come from the sea.

[Andie]

The government warns people against too much seafood due to mercury problems. Does this same problem effect seaweed and sea salt?
Are there any bad effects on fish habitat if we eat seaweed and sea salt?
Thanks

[Seaside]

I think it depends on where the seaweed is collected. Closer to shore is not good, in general, which casts doubt on the safety of sea salt, which is usually collected from drying ponds near shore. It is also difficult to collect seaweed without harming all the little sea critters that are stuck to it when it is harvested. I have no idea how seaweed collection methods prevent killing all the snails and things that are living on the seaweed.

[ChartT]

What is the difference between Morton's and sea salt, other than sea salt is a lot more expensive?

[Seaside]

Most regular table salts are subjected to very high temperatures during processing, are bleached with chemicals, and may even be processed with bone meal, like white sugar (I'm not sure about this). They also add iodine.
You can get fossil salt from mines in places like Utah, in the USA, where ancient oceans dried up millions of years ago and got buried. I just don't know how eco-friendly salt mining is. It would probably be much purer than today's sea salt, as long as it isn't in contact with contaminated ground water. The nice thing about natural, gray sea salt is that all of the minerals present in sea water are not washed away by "purifying" the salt.

[John]

It is also difficult to collect seaweed without harming all the little sea critters that are stuck to it when it is harvested. I have no idea how seaweed collection methods prevent killing all the snails and things that are living on the seaweed.

I have noticed all the snails all over the sea vegetables. I also once found something that looked like a huge albino flea. I have wondered if I should stop eating sea vegetables for this reason. One side of me says "of course I should stop" and the other side of me says "plenty of critters die from harvesting land vegetables too, but I can't stop eating vegetables." What a dilemma.

[Seaside]

Posted by John

One side of me says "of course I should stop" and the other side of me says "plenty of critters die from harvesting land vegetables too, but I can't stop eating vegetables." What a dilemma.

I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way. I was just thinking of the time I went to collect some seaweed for my compost. There were so many snails and crabs and barnacles and things that I thought "I'll never get all of these things off" and gave up. Of course, this was the stuff that had already washed up on the sand. Maybe there's less on the stuff that's still in the ocean.

What I always wish when faced with those kinds of dilemmas is that some of these genetic scientists will do something useful and find a way to embed symbiotic algae into human skin like coral, anemones, and giant clams have. The colors and patterns are beautiful, much nicer than the best tattoos, and then all you'd have to do is lie in the sun for your nourishment. If they can put fish genes in tomatoes they could do this too!

[Tigerlily]

Is sea salt iodized? The table salt in Canada is, to help with iodine. We're actually learning about it in biology. Lack of iodine can cause goiter. Ahh, don't want that.

[Seaside]

You may be able to get iodized sea salt. The really raw, natural stuff probably has some already in it, since every mineral known may be found dissolved in sea water. The processing washes it out, so then they have to put some back in.

[Tigerlily]

Thanks. I'm paranoid about not enough iodine. More paranoid about that than low protein or low calcium. Goiter is soo...noticeable. Do a google search.

[soyabean]

I'm trying to move to a totally wholefood diet eventually, and I'm a bit confused by salt.
Is it necessary to have some salt added to food in your diet (I know too much is bad for you) - or ideally is it best not to add any salt to food at all?

[sophia]

The recommended salt intake is 6g for adult males and 5g for adult females. Some people eat far more than that as a lot of salt is in convenience and processed foods. If you are eating mainly wholefoods then I expect you dont have that much salt in your diet. If you do use salt, make sure it is sea salt and not table salt which is yucky and refined. Hope this helps!! :)

p.s If you read food labels and it has sodium listed, you must multiply by 3 to get salt value (crafty way of manufacturers trying to fool us!)

[kokopelli]

Sea salt actually has other essential minerals in it as well, like iodine, which is why people living away from the sea in olden times used to get goitre, or 'Derbyshire Neck', a thyroid problem caused by iodine deficiency.

I know cattle and other ruminants need salt, so they're given 'salt licks', and people have to have sodium too, to maintain the electrolyte balance in the blood. But I'm not sure whether you can get enough from plants (brassicas like cabbage, kale, broccoli etc, and of course sea vegetables, have quite a lot of salt naturally) or whether you have to eat added salt. I know that people can suffer from a lack of salt, particularly if they're involved in strenuous activity and lose salt through sweating.

I have a friend with MS who visits 'Tony's Holistic Centre' in King's Cross, where she was advised to eat a teaspoonful of sea salt every day, and she says this helps her condition.

So, like Sophia said, it's a good idea to make sure you have enough salt, but not too much as people often do, via processed foods, crisps, etc.

[kokopelli]

Oh, and stuff like soy sauce (shoyu and tamari), miso and yeast extract contain a lot of salt, so if you're using those, you probably don't need any extra. :)