3 Types of Salt & Their Impacts
Salt is amazing. We need small amounts of it for optimum health and as an extra benefit, it improves the flavor of our food!
In culinary school we were taught that salt should not be considered a spice, but rather its own category of “flavor enhancer”. However, it has very interesting reactions with different kinds of foods and can do things like helping vegetables to cook faster, proteins to retain moisture, and causing pasta to be less sticky. It tames bitterness and balances sweet. So great!
If you’re using it just for flavoring, add it towards the end of cooking and you won’t need to use as much. This article from Fine Cooking explains salt in more detail and different ways to use it very well.
Cooking tips aside, there are also things to know about salt and your food intolerance. So, if your intolerance includes potato, fish, or mined salt, this is for you.
For the intolerances, there are three kinds of salt to be aware of: mined salt, sea salt, and iodized salt.
Mined Salt
This is salt that is mined from the earth. There is nothing wrong with mined salt, unless you have an intolerance to it. For reasons unknown, the intolerance of mined salt is typically seen alongside an intolerance to meat. If this is your intolerance, be sure to always choose products that specify “sea salt” because those that only say “salt” are likely to be mined salt, which is cheaper. Sadly, this includes the popular Himalayan Pink Salt.
Sea Salt
This salt is derived from evaporating sea water. It is rich in minerals and generally considered to be a fancier salt than mined salt with more nutritional benefits. According to Dr. Zeff at the Salmon Creek Clinic, people with fish intolerance should avoid sea salt because it will cause the same problems as eating fish. If you have an intolerance to fish, you should choose mined salt.
Iodized Salt
This is salt that has had iodine added to it in order to help prevent iodine deficiencies that impact the thyroid, which is an active problem in third-world countries. Especially those that don’t have access to sea plants and fish, which naturally contain some iodine.
Iodine is most commonly sourced from potassium iodide, which is sprayed onto the salt. But, potassium iodide easily loses potency from oxidation. To stabilize the potassium iodide and keep it potent, they add Dextrose, which can be derived from potato.
It is usually mined salt that will be iodized rather than sea salt, and iodine should be listed on the ingredients. Non-iodized salt will usually also be labeled, specifying that it is not a source of iodine.
So, the people who should avoid this are those who are intolerant to potato and to mined salt.
In summary, everyone can eat some type of salt, but you need to choose carefully if your intolerance is to potato, mined salt, or fish.
Potato intolerance = choose non-iodized sea salt or mined salt
Mined Salt intolerance = choose sea salt
Fish intolerance = choose mined salt
Feel free to reach out with any questions, or if you need help with your intolerances!
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