Sea Salt Is As Bad As Regular Salt
Sea Salt Is Not Better Than Regular Salt And You Should Avoid Them Both
There are no advantages to eating sea salt nor is sea salt better than regular salt. Sadly it all comes down to marketing- and the fact that most processed foods today are extremely high in sodium and there is a great need to make them appear to be as healthy as possible. Today sea salt is one of the latest in the fraudulent game of let’s-make-some-money-by-labeling-this-product-as-healthy a game that unfortunately has pushed as further and further down the path to poor health. Never before in history have we had so many foods labeled ‘healthy’, ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ and yet never before have we had so many food related illnesses. The mantra of modern advertising is based on the idea that if a piece of information is continuously presented as being factual- it will be publicly accepted as truth. This strategy, used by such iconic figures in history such as Joseph Goebbels, works wonders for marketers to encourage us to label certain foods as healthy and thus steer sales towards their products, but does little to address public health. The truth is that chemically and nutritionally the main ingredient of sea salt and table salt are exactly the same- sodium chloride. There is and cannot be any differences since they are pretty much identical chemically and have the same effects on your body. The only difference is in taste and texture. Sea salt comes from sea water through the process of evaporation, whereas table salt comes from mined mineral deposits of rock salt. Table salt may also have additives to prevent it from clumping together and sea salt has other minerals that give it a different flavor. Table salt is usually ground down to a fine texture and iodine is added to it, whereas sea salt which is less processed retains its natural levels of iodine- which is key to proper thyroid function. Salt is most people’s main source of this important mineral but it is also found in seafood, mushrooms, spinach and other greens and before the advent of high sodium processed foods this is is where we got most of our iodine from.
You Don’t Need Added Salt of Any Kind In Your Foods- Sea Salt Or Otherwise
A central argument used to promote sea salt over regular salt is that the iodine in sea salt is naturally occurring whereas it has to be added to refined salt products. As great as this may sound, as far as your body is concerned there is no difference in the way it is processed and any minerals found in sea salt can be easily found in other natural food sources. Now should you choose sea salt over table salt since table salt may have some artificial additives, the answer is no, since you should not use either form in your everyday life if you are serious about taking care of your health. Although your body needs some sodium to function properly, most people consume far more than they need to. Some experts recommend an intake for healthy adults of anywhere from 1,500 milligrams to 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily which works out to just about 1 teaspoonful. (The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has no official sodium recommendation.) Most people here in the United States take in anywhere from 2,700 to as much as 7000 milligrams a day and over three quarters of that comes from eating processed foods. Most people who have high salt intakes don’t realize it as many sodium laden foods don’t taste salty. These include sweet snacks, breakfast cereals and many low fat foods.
The Less Salt You Eat- The Lower Your Risk Of Disease
Many disagree with the figures recommended for adequate sodium intake and the American Medical Association has estimated that 150,000 lives could be saved each year if Americans cut their salt intake in half. There are also cite observations of ‘primitive’ hunter gather societies where their daily intake is far lower at about 690 milligrams a day from meat and plant sources. In these societies their low sodium, high potassium and calcium diet seems to keep their blood pressure constant over the years while here in developed countries blood pressure tends to rise with age. Hypertension in these societies is also very rare and salt is not a regular part of their diet. The detrimental effects of a high salt intake are well documented and it makes no difference whether the salt ingested is refined or sea salt. High sodium intake is associated with an increased risk of stroke and heart disease and the evidence between dietary salt intake and high blood pressure continues to increase. Interestingly enough a large scale study published in the British Medical Journal found that people with high to normal blood pressure who significantly reduced the amount of salt in their diet decreased their risk of developing cardiovascular disease by 25% over the course of 10 to 15 years. Additionally their overall risk of dying from heart disease also dropped by 20%. A high salt intake has also been linked to higher incidences of osteoporosis, gastric cancer and fluid retention.
Cutting Salt Out Of Your Diet Isn’t As Hard As It Seems
It would be great to think that by consuming only sea salt that somehow you would be able to avoid the ill effects of a high sodium diet, but the reality of our biological history seems to point in the direction that salt of any kind should not be a food additive and that we should avoid processed foods with added salt- be it sea salt or its refined cousin. The good news is that while switching to a low salt diet intake can appear to be a daunting task after a period of only two to four weeks your taste buds will adjust and you lose the taste for salted foods. Over time foods with even trace amounts of added salt will be overwhelming to your senses and you will find yourself naturally gravitating towards foods with no added salt. You will be surprised how great foods can taste without salt and how better you will feel overall.
Kevin Richardson is the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training 10 Minute Workouts and one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here.















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