Health with a Dash of Salt

When it comes to taste, we all experience five different taste known as sweet, salty, bitter, pungent (sour), and umami. But one of the most outlook tastes is always been salty. Salt is that powerful ingredient that can make or break your dishes. Salt can enhance the dull dish and add a unique flavour to your taste buds. Not only is this, but salting is also known as the process which is used to preserve food. 

Undeniably, salt can uplift the taste of your food but a lot of it can not only give pain to your buds but can also mess up with your health. Overuse of salt can give you high blood pressure, increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

So, let’s discuss the various types of salts you may see while walking down the shopping aisle. Let’s see what all potential these salts contain: 

• Table Salt: This is one of the commonly used salts in the household. It is basically attained from the seawater or salt lakes after the process of solar evaporation. It has been through many processes to wash away the impurities. Table salt is highly refined and also contains anti-caking agents. Iodized salt is the most common type of table salt.

• Kosher Salt: Iodine is not found in kosher salt but it does contain little anti-caking additives. This is one of the prominent kitchen staples in various countries across the world. It is crumbly and flakier in consistency and doesn’t hold any metallic taste. The grain size is fairly large and it is basically used for the method of koshering (removing blood from meat). Another usage of this is the seasoning of various dishes. 

• Rock Salt: Rock salt is also known as black salt. It is prepared from the mines of salt nearby the Himalayas. This salt is great and best known for its therapeutic properties. Rock salt is rich in the content of sulphur and has the hues like brownish pink and dark violet. It comprises of laxative properties which can boost your digestive health. 

• Himalayan Pink Salt: Himalayan pink salt comes under the category of rock salt. It is a little pink in colour and contains certain minerals inside it. It lacks in the content of iodine. Salt lamps are generally made up of this. Though various people considered it as the healthiest version of salt there are no studies suggest any piece of evidence for the same.

• Alaea Salt: Another prominent name for Alaea salt is Hawaiian red salt. It is made up when sea salt combined with iron oxide rich volcanic clay known as alaea. This salt is extremely expensive and way back it was used by Hawaiians to rinse out and cleanse homes and temples. 

Footnote 

Almost all salts contain some nutrients and give various health benefits. You can use Iodized salt in your food as it is safe to use in the kitchen and do not harm the health as well. Keep an eye on the consumption of the salt to protect yourself from high blood pressure and bad heart health. The suggested daily recommended intake of salt for a normal person is 1 teaspoon (2300 mg sodium) per day.