Let’s reconsider our stance on salt
At Whole Foods, the packaged snack foods and seasoning salts are set up only a few metres from each other. And yet, the two aisles could not be less alike.
Among the bags of gourmet popcorn and organic potato chips, “Low Sodium” labels are displayed alongside “Gluten Free” and “NonGMO.” Only a few steps away, salt is repurposed as a healthy and gourmet pantry staple. Pale blue jars of Fleur de sel – those crunchy French sea salt granules that make cooks deliriously happy – are succeeded by pretty containers of pink Himalayan flakes. The packages claim that the salts are filled with trace minerals and detoxifying properties. Inside, their contents shimmer like Swarovski crystals under the store’s fluorescent lights.
It is not uncommon to see shoppers hedging their bets between both low-salt and pro-salt philosophies in this aisle, leaving with a bag of low sodium potato chips in one arm and a container of pink Himalayan salt in the other.
By now, most of us who visit grocery stores are familiar with the health concerns surrounding salt. For decades now, studies have found links between high sodium consumption and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It’s well-established among physicians and clinical scientists that eating salt increases blood pressure, and there’s also evidence to suggest that salt consumption increases the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, arterial stiffness and heart failure. It seems simple: salt is bad for you. However, the delicious briny crystals found in kitchens across the globe are far more complicated than they may seem.
The first problem is that most studies about salt consumption have used table salt in their research. Bleached, processed and devoid of nutrients, table salt is the Wonder Bread of the sodium family. Deciding that all salt should be avoided in light of this narrow research pool is like deciding that all sandwiches are unpalatable disasters after only eating bologna on white bread. The truth is that sodium is critical for hydration and cell function. Without salt, our cells would eventually stop working and we would die.
Many lesser-known varieties of salt crystals are also rich in nutrients. Filled with iron and trace minerals, red Alaea salt is used in Hawaii to season poke and pipikaula (Hawaiian jerky). Meanwhile, Korean Jukyeom salt, which is made by roasting sea salt in bamboo, is purported to contain more than 80 trace minerals, including silicon, potassium and phosphate. Pink Himalayan salt is estimated to contain a similarly rich nutritional profile, with iron giving the crystals their signature cotton candy pink hue. Even standard sea salt is known to have beneficial amounts of magnesium and potassium – two important elements that help regulate blood pressure.
Proper sodium consumption has also been found to help with muscle and bone growth. Research from Israel’s Haifa University found that children tend to reach for more salt than adults – regardless of calorie intake – suggesting, some researchers have claimed, that sodium cravings could be related to the needs of a growing body. Scientists from New Jersey Medical School also found that rats on low-sodium diets don’t grow as quickly as their salt-guzzling counterparts. Nearly 80 per cent of Canadians consume more than the recommended 2300 milligrams of sodium each day, with processed foods accounting for 77 per cent of our total sodium intake, according to a Health Canada report. But while nutritional guidelines have continued to encourage processed food makers to reduce the amount of sodium being used in their products, they have done little to explain to the public anything about different types of salt.
As a result, “low sodium” labels have become calling cards for the health and wellness industry. However, in choosing to neglect important distinctions, we have applied a series of broad brushstrokes to nutrition. Far from an evil condiment, salt is a critical component of good health – it’s just the kind of salt we eat, and the amount we choose, that makes all the difference.