Salt?!

(Jessica Greening) #1

I am newer to keto and one thing I’ve noticed is people talking about pink salt. What is the difference between that and say sea salt? Right now we are using lite salt for the extra potassium and sea salt. There are just so many different kinds that it’s kinda overwhelming

#2

Pink salt is hugely overhyped. It does have trace minerals, but in insignificant amounts. A possible advantage over sea salt is that the latter can have (trace) pollutants, since it is extracted from sea water, but it’s really not a concern.

Some people reject ordinary table salt because it has additives, such as anti-caking agents. But these are in such small quantities, especially considering the small amount of salt consumed, that they really aren’t a concern. And the iodine added to table salt is a necessary nutrient that is difficult to find elsewhere. Most people who do not eat table salt or otherwise supplement iodine are deficient, and this is why goiter (enlarged thyroid gland), once mostly irradicated in the US, is making a resurgence.

I personally use a combination of salts. I use light salt for the potassium boost when salting my vegetables, table salt when cooking something that calls for a measurement of salt, and pink salt when I’m salting other foods to taste (like a hamburger) just because I like the taste of pink salt (when its flavor will be prominent) and it’s fun to grind. I don’t attribute any health benefits to it, however.

Don’t overthink salt. Using some iodized salt every day is important (especially if you don’t eat many foods that have it naturally), and the extra potassium of light salt is very helpful, but other than that, it’s just a matter of personal preference.

(Jessica Greening) #3

Thank You! There is just so much information out there about everything keto and as nice as that is, it can be very overwhelming.

(Kimberley Demarest) #4

There are several levels you can go here, just sticking to regular table salt is ok. If you want to take it up a notch here is what I have found.

I personally stopped eating regular table salt several years ago after reading two books “Salt” and “iodine” by dr. David brownstein. because not only is table salt produced with a chemical process but they add sugar to it to help make it flow. True it is a low amount of sugar and Iodine is important. In Dr. Brownsteins work he credits the increase in thyroid problems with Americas general acceptance that salt is bad and one needs to reduce it for lower blood pressure. Keto folks don’t have to worry about that because when insulin is low the kidneys get rid of salt pretty fast. I learned that on the 2 Keto dudes podcast on Salt. It was eye opening. I recommend listening to that. It was a month or two ago. I guess there is also a book out now called the Salt Fix.

Anyway, I take an iodine supplement “Iodoral” and switched to Redman Real Salt. Which comes from Salt mines in Utah I believe. It does have trace amounts of iodine In it, but probably too low for dietary needs. So I supplement. I could be wrong about this but during my younger years I was a canoe guide and we used iodine to treat the water (it kills everything pretty much) but that was an entire summer of that. So I was worried about too much iodine. My physiology professor the next term talked about iodine so I asked if we could have too much. He said no your body gets rid of what you don’t need. Double check that with your doc, my doc always tests my iodine because of my salt set up and sometimes he says to back off on the supplement cause my iodine is good. So check with your doc.

The taste of redman real salt is hard to pass up. You can put some on your tounge and it is not harsh. Just Monday, I was at work and in the middle of a 36 hour fast. I left my salt at home but I could feel that I needed some. So I went to the kitchen and there was regular table salt, I was shocked that I could taste a difference (was it my imagination I could taste the chemicals? Not sure but that is what my brain was telling me. Lol) It was definitely not better than Redman. I had to just swallow it instead of letting it dissolve on my tounge. It did the trick though like Salt always does for me. :slight_smile: But I think I am going to remember to put my little container of redman salt in my purse. Lol.

(Olivia) #5

Pink salt is pretty much just normal salt i.e. NaCl with dirt. All salts crystallize from sea water. Under perfect conditions is should be white, however, crystal defects, element substitutions and other impurities can result in a different colour. The reason for the pink colour is most likely down to traces of (heavy-) metals. Iron, copper and manganese will often cause a shift towards redish colours. Other metals I would expect in himalayan salt are lead, mercury and cadmium. Also there are most likely other sulfates (relatives of gypsum) mixed in the salt.
So basically the pink salt is just contaminated.

Concerning pollutants from oceans and store-bought sea salt. After the sea salt is extracted from the ocean, it is washed and recrystallize again. Otherwise you would always have traces of algae in your salt. Since this process has been effectively removing organic matter this entire time, it would be reasonable to assume it could also remove plastic pollutants. Therefore, it seems unlikely that there is any danger from “modern” sea salt.

#6

the idea pink salt is somehow 'contaminated" is seriously ridiculous and needless scare mongering.

“normal” table salt is processed junk, full of industrial additives to increase processing ease and other profit increasing nonsense

iodine deficiency isn’t an issue anywhere but the developing world.

use whatever salt takes bests and works for you. i use a lot of “craft” salts which are usually grey or pink sea salt.

(Sonia A.) #7

Pink salt is so expensive here that I don’t even look at it. I use grey sea salt and it’s very good.

(Bacon, Not Stirred) #8

Do you have a TJ Maxx or Marshalls? Oddly enough, they have a little gourmet foods section. I bought a giant bag of Himalayan pink sea salt there for $3.99.

#9

The pink stuff has more mineral content than regular sea salt. Enough to matter? Eh. As long as your not going with table salt your fine. Just remember we DO need iodine so if your not getting enough otherwise supplement it in.

#10

I think the pink salt is fun to grind too. I also like the crystals as something to put in my mouth during fasting that helps keep the electrolytes up. (Sometimes I get a piece that is probably not salt in there, and some of those taste very bitter. Mostly just salty though.) I also love it on eating days to grind over the top of my fathead pizza. Tastes amazing!

(Sonia A.) #11

You’re lucky. I’m in France and we don’t have a TJ Maxx or Marshalls. But the grey salt is really lovely, so I’m not too disappointed.

#12

Based on the book The Salt Fix, Redmond sea salt (aka Real Salt) is recommended because it have higher traces of iodine than Himalayan/pink salt. Also, Himalayan salt doesn’t actually have 84 elements. During lab tests for these elements when they found no traces for an element, they put “<0.001 ppm”, but it’s actually mean zero.

For the concern of heavy metals, I’m no chemist but my understanding the traces are so small and instead of looking at each individually, it’s also how the element interacts, so it should not be a problem. I think you get much worse exposure putting out toxic Scotts fertilizer for your grass and eating some nonorganic foods. I think the real concern is the additives and processing that come with table salt.

In term of taste, pink salt is still the best for me due to the earthy tone. I will never go back to table salt purely from a taste point of view. Also pink salt is saltier.

Depends on the brand, you might get some sediments or unwanted things with your pink salt depending on how well they processed it. I get a bit of tiny sand size sand or granite sometimes with the Sherpa brand, so I use Spice Labs instead which seems to be better. Not a problem for me, but if it bother you, get Redmond salt instead. I personally find pink salt to be cheaper than Redmond salt when you buy a whole bag, even though some people say it’s vice verse.

I also always go for coarse over powder form, maybe it’s just my imagination or they when you buy powder form you’re getting the left over, but grinding your own salt always taste better to me.

(Linda Culbreth) #13

Especially when I am fasting, I use more salt . I like to put the pink salt under my tongue. Without the extra salt, I feel yukky and know that when I awake during the night with a headache, I head to the salt and put some under my tongue. By the time it dissolves, my headache is gone.

Didn’t know that T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s had a gourmet food section - will check them out my next trip to town.

ALso, I order my pink salt processed without dynamite from a Canadian company. But, I have only ordered the fine ground and have bought the coarse ground from local store - yep, I’ve had the sand “balls”, too. Next time, I will order the coarse from the company. It really does last a long time, but I know I can’t fast without it and probably would have a very hard time staying on keto without it, as well.

#14

OK, so it’s normal salt with dirt, contaminated with everything from lead and mercury to cadmium, where are you getting this? Do you have links to back this up? Himalayan salt has always been considered one of the better ones, which one is best is opinion but it seems your off the rails with this.

(Carpe salata!) #15

I looked into the reason Pink Salt was pink, and I found that it was because of ‘polyhalides’ that is, chemical reconfiguring of the halide ions ( chloride, iodide etc) rather than heavy metal or other contaminants. It all sounded rather harmless to me.

(Jodi) #16

I love the Redmond salt, and have converted several people to it. :blush: I do have some grey Celtic salt I like and so other brands of fine and coarse pinks I use for fasting & cooking. I also supplement with iodine using Lugol’s solution several times a week.

My family (especially my parents) kinda finds it ironic since I used to rarely use salt and now I’m salting everything.:joy:

#17

Or recent ancestors always said kids need to eat a pound of dirt growing up. :wink:

(Olivia) #18

I have a MSc in geology and mineralogy and am currently pursuing a phd in a related field.

The colour is already a strong indication for some metals most notably Fe. These metals are always accompanied by other metals (e.g. heavy metals). This for example due to solid solutions and substitution in the metal lattice (i.e. similar chemical behaviour). You always get these equilibrium sequences of mineral phases.

(Carpe salata!) #19

Great input to this debate @moodytoady . Is there such a thing as a polyhalide?

Also, which salt do you use?