Are There Healthy and Unhealthy Salts?
4 min read
Medically reviewed by Shanthi Appelo, MS, RD
Saltshakers are prominent on family dinner tables for a reason. Table salt is one of America’s favorite spices, but its primary ingredient – sodium chloride – could pose health risks when consumed in excess.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises adults limit their sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day, which is about one teaspoon of salt. In the United States we clear that recommendation by a wide margin, consuming an average of 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The body needs small amounts of sodium to help retain water and prevent dehydration, promote muscle function and conduct nerve impulses. But attaining that small amount should come naturally, through a standard, healthy diet.
Since sodium is ubiquitous in packaged foods, we run into trouble when we regularly eat deli meat sandwiches, pizza, breads, poultry, savory snacks, soups, desserts, condiments and many other foods. When you zoom out and examine your diet each day, it can be easy to see how fast sodium levels can get out of control. Most dietary sodium comes from eating packaged, prepared and processed foods.
Is sea salt healthier than table salt?
The term “healthy salt” is a bit of an oxymoron. As mentioned, trace amounts of salt are beneficial to the body, but if you debate on switching to a certain type of salt so you can cook or season your food with it more freely, you should reconsider that thought.
Table salt is processed to eliminate minerals and is commonly fortified with iodine, an important nutrient that helps your thyroid produce certain hormones. Sea salt is less processed than table salt, so certain kinds of it contain trace minerals of nutrients like magnesium, calcium and iron, which can add flavor and color. Sea salt also does not contain iodine.
There are only marginal differences in the nutritional value between table salt and sea salt. For example, a quarter teaspoon (1.5 grams) of Himalayan salt contains about 420 milligrams (mg) of sodium, which is roughly 21% of a person’s daily value. By comparison, regular table salt contains just under 600 mg per quarter teaspoon, accounting for 25% of our daily value. To give added context to the amount of minerals in sea salts compared to table salt, a quarter teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt contains about 2 mg of calcium, while a quarter teaspoon of standard table salt has less than 1 mg. These are negligible differences at the end of the day.
Is sea salt’s growing popularity contributing to more widespread iodine deficiency?
Recent news reports suggest people are getting less iodine because of changes in diet and food manufacturing, according to the Associated Press (AP), which states researchers have increasingly been reporting low levels of iodine in pregnant women and other people, raising concerns about an impact on their newborns. The AP report specifically noted processed foods make up a major part of the American diet and used leading bread brands as an example of a popular food that no longer contains iodine.
A study in Canada found that 11.9% of Canadians have a moderate to severe iodine deficiency. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation suggests sea salts and other non-table salts could be contributing to this figure, due to their lack of iodine. While there are no population-wide studies showing this trend in the U.S., in the 15 years, In the last 15 years or so, U.S. researchers have increasingly reported seeing mild iodine deficiency in pregnant women. A Michigan State University study of about 460 pregnant women in the city of Lansing found about a quarter of them were not getting enough.
The same way your body generally gets enough sodium without going overboard on salt in your diet, most adults can get the recommended 150 micrograms of iodine per day by eating fish, dairy products and eggs. Be sure to check product labels to find out if that food item contains iodized salt.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
