Table Salt? Rock Salt? Which Salt Should We Prefer?

Expert Dietitian Aslıhan Küçük Budak gave information about the subject. Salt is a crystalline mineral composed of two elements, sodium and chlorine; It is produced by evaporating brine or by extracting solid salt from underground salt mines. In addition to being widely used to sweeten foods, salt also plays an important role in various biological functions such as sodium, fluid balance, nerve conduction, and muscle contraction. However, too much sodium consumption can raise blood pressure, leading to cardiovascular disease. Rock salt is a type of salt that has been used as an alternative to table salt in recent years, with the understanding of the harms of excessive salt consumption and believed to be less harmful. So is it really so? Let's see...

Table salt

Table salt is the most commonly used type of salt. It is extracted from underground deposits, highly refined to remove impurities, and anti-caking additives are added. Table salt containing 97% sodium chloride or higher is enriched with iodine. By adding iodine to table salt, an effective measure is taken against iodine deficiency diseases such as hypothyroidism, intellectual disability, endemic cretinism, which are a common public health problem.

rock salt

The most widely used type of rock salt is Himalayan salt. Himalayan salt is a type of salt that is naturally pink in color and is mined near the Himalayas in Pakistan. Although Himalayan salt is preferred because it is less harmful than table salt, Himalayan salt also contains high levels of sodium, so using rock salt instead of table salt cannot prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease caused by high sodium consumption. However, the natural harvesting process of Himalayan salt ensures that it contains higher amounts of minerals and trace elements than regular table salt, but these amounts are too small to have a positive effect on health.

Which salt should we choose?

The only benefit of choosing rock salt instead of table salt will be to avoid clumping additives, but it should not be forgotten that iodized table salt is a good source of iodine and provides a great support to meet the daily iodine need. The World Health Organization's recommendation of 5 g of salt per day should be taken into account for salt consumption, and since iodine is a volatile element, iodized salt should be stored in dark containers and dark places, and added to the meal after cooking.