Salt

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What Is Salt?


Sodium chloride or common salt is the chemical compound NaCl. Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world as the mineral halite and as mixed evaporites in salt lakes. Seawater has lots of salt; it contains an average of 2.6% (by weight) NaCl, or 26 million metric tons per cubic kilometer (120 million short tons per cubic mile, an inexhaustible supply (note: seawater also contains other dissolved solids; salt represents about 77% of the Total Dissolved Solids). Underground salt deposits are found in both bedded sedimentary layers and domal deposits. Deposits have been found to have encapsulated ancient microorganisms including bacteria. Some salt is one the surface, the dried-up residue of ancient seas like the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Salt even arrives on earth from outer space and its presence on the planet Mars makes scientists think life may exist there. Conversely, surface salt depositions and man-made saltworks can be seen from space.
Sodium chloride crystals are cubic in form. Table salt consists of tiny cubes tightly bound together through ionic bonding of the sodium and chloride ions. The salt crystal is often used as an example of crystalline structure. It can be modified by temperature. Different types of crystal have different uses, as for food.
It varies in color from colorless, when pure, to white, gray or brownish, typical of rock salt (halite). Chemically, it is 60.663% elemental chlorine (Cl) and 39.337% sodium (Na). The atomic weight of elemental chlorine is 35.4527 and that of sodium is 22.989768. Properties of salt are collected in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Chemical Sampling Information database.

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History Of Salt


Most people probably think of salt as simply that white granular food seasoning found in a salt shaker on virtually every dining table.

It is that, surely, but it is far more. It is an essential element in the diet of not only humans but of animals, and even of many plants. It is one of the most effective and most widely used of all food preservatives (and used to preserve Egyptian mummies as well). Its industrial and other uses are almost without number. In fact, salt has great current as well as historical interest, even the subject of humorous cartoons and poetry and useful in film-making. Sometimes, however, we need to separate the salt to get the history.

The fact is that throughout history, salt--called sodium chloride by chemists--has been such an important element of life that it has been the subject of many stories, fables and folktales and is frequently referenced in fairy tales. It served as money at various times and places, and it has been the cause of bitter warfare. Offering bread and salt to visitors, in many cultures, is traditional etiquette. It is used in making pottery. While we have records of the importance of salt in commerce in Medieval times and earlier, in some places like the Sahara and Nepal, salt trading today gives a glimpse of what life may have been like centuries ago.

Salt was in general use long before history, as we know it, began to be recorded. Some 2,700 years B.C.-about 4,700 years ago-there was published in China the Peng-Tzao-Kan-Mu, probably the earliest known treatise on pharmacology. A major portion of this writing was devoted to a discussion of more than 40 kinds of salt, including descriptions of two methods of extracting salt and putting it in usable form that are amazingly similar to processes used today. Chinese folklore recounts the discovery of salt. Salt production has been important in China for two millennia or more. And the Chinese, like many other governments over time, realizing that everyone needed to consume salt, made salt taxes a major revenue source. Nomads spreading westward were known to carry salt. Egyptian art from as long ago as 1450 B.C. records salt-making.

Salt was of crucial importance economically. A far-flung trade in ancient Greece involving exchange of salt for slaves gave rise to the expression, "not worth his salt." Special salt rations given early Roman soldiers were known as "salarium argentum," the forerunner of the English word "salary." References to salt abound in languages around the globe, particularly regarding salt used for food. From the Latin "sal," for example, come such other derived words as "sauce" and "sausage." Salt was an important trading commodity carried by explorers.

Salt has played a vital part in religious ritual in many cultures, symbolizing immutable, incorruptible purity. There are more than 30 references to salt in the Bible, using expressions like "salt of the earth." And there are many other literary and religious references to salt, including use of salt on altars representing purity, and use of "holy salt" by the Unification Church.

Saltmaking encompasses much of the history of the United Kingdom, particularly in the Cheshire area. Medieval European records document saltmaking concessions. On the Continent, Venice rose to economic greatness through its salt monopoly. Saltmaking was important in the Adriatic/Balkans region as well (the present border between Slovenia and Croatia) where Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina is actually named for "tuz," the Turkish word for salt. So is Salzburg, Austria, which has made its four salt mines major tourist attractions. Bolivia's salt producing region is a tourist attraction with one hotel constructed entirely of salt and fascinating salt-bearing caravans of llamas. The grand designs of Philip II of Spain came undone through the Dutch Revolt at the end of the 16th Century; one of the keys, according to Montesquieu, was the successful Dutch blockade of Iberian saltworks which led directly to Spanish bankruptcy. Saltmaking was -- and is -- important in Holland as well. France has always been a major producer of salt and any discussion of saltmaking and distribution in France includes discussion of the gabelle, the salt tax which was a significant cause of the French Revolution, but salt remains important today. The magnitude of the gabelle is mind-boggling; from 1630 to 1710, the tax increased tenfold from 14 times the cost of production to 140 times the cost of production, according to Pierre Laszlo in his book Salt: Grain of Life (Columbia Univ. Press). Many Americans evoke an image from the phrase "Siberian salt mines," but saltmaking takes place in many places in Russia.

In the Middle East, the Jordanian town of As-Salt, located on the road between Amman and Jerusalem, was known as Saltus in Byzantine times and was the seat of a bishopric. Later destroyed by the Mongols it was rebuilt by the Mamluke sultan Baybars I in the 13th century; the ruins of his fortress remain today. Indian history recalls the prominent role of salt (including the Great Hedge and its role in the British salt starvation policy) and Mahatma Gandhi’s resistance to British colonial rule. Salt played a key role in the history of West Africa, particularly during the great trading empire of Mali (13th - 16th Centuries) -- and it still does!

Salt has played a prominent role in the European exploration of North America and subsequent American history, Canadian history, and Mexican history as well. The first Native Americans "discovered" by Europeans in the Caribbean were harvesting sea salt as on St. Maarten. When the major European fishing fleets discovered the Grand Banks of Newfoundland at the end of the 15th Century, the Portuguese and Spanish fleets used the "wet" method of salting their fish onboard, while the French and English fleets used the "dry" or "shore" salting method of drying their catch on racks onshore; thus, the French and British fishermen became the first European inhabitants of northern North America since the Vikings a half-century earlier. Had it not been for the practice of salting fish, Europeans might have confined their fishing to the coasts of Europe and delayed "discovery" of the "New World."

Salt motivated the American pioneers. The American Revolution had heroes who were saltmakers and part of the British strategy was to deny the American rebels access to salt. And salt was on the mind of William Clark in the pathbreaking Lewis & Clark Expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The first patent issued by the British crown to an American settler gave Samuel Winslow of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the exclusive right for ten years to make salt by his particular method. The Land Act of 1795 included a provision for salt reservations (to prevent monopolies) as did an earlier (1778) treaty between the Iroquois' Onondaga tribe and the state of New York.

New York has always been important in salt production. The famed Erie Canal, opened in 1825, was known as "the ditch that salt built" because salt, a bulky product presenting major transportation difficulties, originally was its principal cargo. Syracuse, NY, is to this day proud of its salt history and its nickname: "Salt City." Salt production has been important in Michigan and West Virginia for more than a century. Salt played an important role on the U.S. frontier, including areas like Illinois and Nebraska which no longer have commercial salt production.

Salt played a key role in the Civil War and on the the present. In December, 1864, Union forces made a forced march and fought a 36-hour battle to capture Saltville, Virginia, the site of an important salt processing plant thought essential to sustaining the South's beleaguered armies. Civilian distress over the lack of salt in the wartime Confederacy undermined rebel homefront morale too. Salt was critical to locating the city of Lincoln, Nebraska and West Virginia claims salt as its first mineral industry.

The important role of salt in Kansas history will be captured in a new salt museum in Hutchinson, KS. The vast distances in the American West sometimes required passage over extensive salt flats. In Canada, Windsor Salt is more than a century old. In the American West, a "salt war" was fought at El Paso, TX and we know that Nevada was not known only as a silver state. Many cities, counties, land features and other landmarks reflect the importance of salt. Salt, of course, has many uses; some techniques using salt such as production of "salt prints" in 19th Century photography have been superseded by new technologies -- others have not. Several salt prints are viewable online Not all American "salt history" is so old, either. Salt-glazed pottery is still popular. Salt is even associated with the struggle for women's rights in the U.S.

Salt also had military significance. For instance, it is recorded that thousands of Napoleon's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal as a result of a lack of salt. In 1777, the British Lord Howe was jubilant when he succeeded in capturing General Washington's salt supply.

Similarly, throughout history the essentiality of salt has subjected it to governmental monopoly and special taxes. Salt taxes long supported British monarchs and thousands of Britishers were imprisoned for smuggling salt. French kings developed a salt monopoly by selling exclusive rights to produce it to a favored few who exploited that right to the point where the scarcity of salt was a major contributing cause of the French Revolution. In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi defied British salt laws as a means of mobilizing popular support for self-rule in India. In recent years, the promotion of free trade through the World Trade Organization has led to abolition of many national monopolies, for example, in Taiwan.

In short, the innocuous looking, white granular substance we know today as "salt" historically has been so essential to all life as to be of the utmost value. We are fortunate, indeed, that in the United States it has never been subjected to discriminatory taxes, and that in North America it is plentiful and one of the most easily obtainable and least expensive of our necessities.


History of Salt Production in the United States.

Reports from Onondaga, New York in 1654 indicated the Onondaga Indians made salt by boiling brine from salt springs. Colonial Americans were making salt by boiling brine in iron kettles during the time the U.S. Constitution was drafted. By the time of the Civil War, 3,000 workers produced over 225,000 short tons of salt by boiling. Settlers reported that Native Americans made salt at Kanawha, West Virginia before 1755 by boiling brine from salt springs. Large scale salt production from brine springs was underway by 1800, and the process of drilling for more concentrated brine began within a few years. The Kanawha valley supplied the Confederacy with salt during the Civil War, when production peaked.

Similar events occurred at Avery Island, Louisiana. Historians believe that Native Americans produced salt from salt springs more than 500 years before the arrival of Europeans. Salt produced by boiling brine supplied salt during the war of 1812. Full scale production in open pits or quarries began in 1862, during the Civil War, and the first underground salt mine was started in 1869 with the sinking of a shaft.

Solar salt was produced during the early 1800s in less than ideal climates, by building movable, covered sheds over the evaporating pans, protecting the salt and brine from precipitation. Solar salt making began on San Francisco Bay, California in 1770 and at the Great Salt Lake in Utah in 1847. During the 1830s on Cape Cod there were 442 salt works.

Mechanical evaporation in multiple effect open "grainer" pans began in about 1833, along with methods to purify the brine before evaporation. Salt makers could produce a clean, white, desirable salt product. Further developments during the 1800s at Silver Springs, New York, produced the concept of crystallizing salt in enclosed vacuum pans.

Salt was produced between 1790 and 1860 in Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri by boiling brine in salt furnaces. Waste wood products from the lumber industry supplied low cost fuel to produce salt from salt springs at Saginaw and St. Clair, Michigan during the mid-1800s. Drillers found a rock salt deposit at St. Clair, Michigan in 1882, providing nearly saturated brine to feed the evaporators. Solution mining of rock salt deposits spread rapidly throughout the salt producing states. When rock salt deposits were reached by drilling, conventional underground mining soon followed. Salt mining continues today throughout North America in Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, New York, Texas, Ontario, New Brunswick (potash and salt), Quebec, and Nova Scotia.

Salt production in Kansas, Utah, Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Michigan in the U.S. has enriched local history and culture. Branding by Morton has made it a highly-recognized name in American commerce. Salt mining under the City of Detroit, Michigan has been a long-standing activity.


History of Salt in Religion

Salt has long held an important place in religion and culture. Greek worshippers consecrated salt in their rituals. Jewish Temple offerings included salt; on the Sabbath, Jews still dip their bread in salt as a remembrance of those sacrifices. In the Old Testament, Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Author Sallie Tisdale notes that salt is as free as the water suspending it when it's dissolved, and as immutable as stone when it's dry - a fitting duality for Lot's wife, who overlooks Sodom to this day.

Covenants in both the Old and New Testaments were often sealed with salt: the origin of the word "salvation." In the Catholic Church, salt is or has been used in a variety of purifying rituals. In fact, until Vatican II, a small taste of salt was placed on a baby's lip at his or her baptism. Jesus called his disciples "the Salt of the Earth." In Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting, "The Last Supper," Judas Escariot has just spilled a bowl of salt - a portent of evil and bad luck. To this day, the tradition endures that someone who spills salt should throw a pinch over his left shoulder to ward off any devils that may be lurking behind.

In Buddhist tradition, salt repels evil spirits. That's why it's customary to throw salt over your shoulder before entering your house after a funeral: it scares off any evil spirits that may be clinging to your back.

Shinto religion also uses salt to purify an area. Before sumo wrestlers enter the ring for a match - which is actually an elaborate Shinto rite - a handful of salt is thrown into the center to drive off malevolent spirits.

In the Southwest, the Pueblo worship the Salt Mother. Other native tribes had significant restrictions on who was permitted to eat salt. Hopi legend holds that the angry Warrior Twins punished mankind by placing valuable salt deposits far from civilization, requiring hard work and bravery to harvest the precious mineral.

In 1933, the Dalai Lama was buried sitting up in a bed of salt.
Today, a gift of salt endures in India as a potent symbol of good luck and a reference to Mahatma Gandhi's liberation of India, which included a symbolic walk to the sea to gather tax-free salt for the nation's poor.


History of Salt Economics

As a precious and portable commodity, salt has long been a cornerstone of economies throughout history. In fact, researcher M.R. Bloch conjectured that civilization began along the edges of the desert because of the natural surface deposits of salt found there. Bloch also believed that the first war - likely fought near the ancient city of Essalt on the Jordan River - could have been fought over the city's precious salt supplies.

In 2200 BC, the Chinese emperor Hsia Yu levied one of the first known taxes. He taxed salt. In Tibet, Marco Polo noted that tiny cakes of salt were pressed with images of the Grand Khan and used as coins. Salt is still used as money among the nomads of Ethiopia's Danakil Plains.

Greek slave traders often bartered salt for slaves, giving rise to the expression that someone was "not worth his salt." Roman legionnaires were paid in salt - a salarium, the Latin origin of the word "salary."

Merchants in 12th-Century Timbuktu - the gateway to the Sahara Desert and the seat of scholars - valued salt as highly as books and gold.

In France, Charles of Anjou levied the "gabelle," a salt tax, in 1259 to finance his conquest of the Kingdom of Naples. Outrage over the gabelle fueled the French Revolution. Though the revolutionaries eliminated the tax shortly after Louis XIV fell, the Republic of France reestablished the gabelle in the early 19th Century; only in 1946 was it removed from the books.
The Erie Canal, an engineering marvel that connected the Great Lakes to New York's Hudson River in 1825, was called "the ditch that salt built." Salt tax revenues paid for half the cost of construction of the canal.

The British monarchy supported itself with high salt taxes, leading to a bustling black market for the white crystal. In 1785, the earl of Dundonald wrote that every year in England, 10,000 people were arrested for salt smuggling. Protesting British rule in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a 200-mile march to the Arabian Ocean to collect untaxed salt for India's poor.


History of Salt Warfare

The effects of salt deficiency are highlighted in times of war, when human bodies and national economies are strained to their limits.

Thousands of Napoleon's troops died during the French retreat from Moscow due to inadequate wound healing and lowered resistance to disease - the results of salt deficiency.

Salt production facilities in Saltville, Va., Virginia's Kanawha Valley and Avery Island, Louisiana, were early targets of the Union Army. The North fought for 36 hours to capture Saltville, Va., where the salt works were considered crucial to the Rebel army - so crucial that Confederate President Jefferson Davis offered to waive military service to anyone willing to tend coastal salt kettles to supply the South's war effort. In addition to dietary salt, the Confederacy needed the precious mineral to tan leather, dye cloth for uniforms and preserve meat.


Salt in History

Since its discovery, several thousand years ago, salt has profoundly affected human life, not only with respect to the feeding habits or the ancient food preserving home industry, but also in the human, economic, mythological and religious spheres. Last but not least, on beliefs, habits and superstitions. Salt was a greatly appreciated exchange commodity, so much so that the so-called "salt routes" were born, through which merchants transported and sold it in countries where it was not produced.

Some sources have confirmed the presence of such trading back in prehistoric times. The Phoenician showed themselves as true masters in the extraction and trading of salt, but only under the Romans can one speak of real exploitation of salt pans and the existence of a widespread trading network. It was precisely during the Roman Empire that soldiers were paid with sacks of salt, whence our term "salary".

The production and the transport of salt gave rise to new cities and to the construction of roads; such is the case of Salzburg - literally the "city of salt"- and of the via Salaria (the road of the salt) in Italy. Since the most remote past a tax was imposed on salt in numerous countries, but it has largely lost its importance today. Until 1975, in Italy this tax was collected through fiscal monopolies and the imposition of import customs. The State had a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt, and fixed the final market price, which included the tax rate of about 70% of the selling price. Discount prices were fixed on salt for agricultural and industrial uses, while its production was tax-free in Sicily, Sardinia and in the towns of Olivigno and Campione d'Italia.

Most ancient civilizations were accompanied by myths, religious and magic rites involving salt: one need only consider the history of the Jewish people or the content of some books of the Old Testament. For the ancient Hebrews salt, thanks to its flavoring qualities that made food tastier, became a symbol of the joy of joining around a table, so that eating together meant living in brotherly love.

In the New Testament salt found its place as well, present in a great number of metaphors or in parables as symbol of wisdom, incorruptibility, eternity and alliance between God and man. In Rome, on the eight day following his birth, a piece of salt was rubbed on the baby to keep away the demons and evil spirits. In the Gospel Jesus recommends his disciples to be "the salt of the earth", that is to be a force capable of keeping men from the corruption of sin.

The ancient Greeks and the Hebrews used salt during sacrifices, just as within the Roman temples the vestals prepared the sacrificial millstone by rubbing it with brine.

But if the salt fell from the head of the sacrifice's chosen victim, it was a sign of bad luck. Hence, the superstition, that has come down to our present time, is so engrained in us that in The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci we recognize Judas Iscariot -who shortly thereafter would betray Jesus- by the saltcellar he has carelessly dropped in front of him.
Considered by Plinio in his Naturalis historia as a panacea, in times gone by salt was offered to guests in sign of friendship (in Prague), while Germans took their oath with their hand sunk in it. In the Christian civilization, a bit of salt was even placed in the mouth of the baptized, pronouncing the formula "accipe sal sapiente", meaning that wisdom itself should flavor man's entire life. From Orazio.

And, to conclude, salt can even be found in our bag of superstitions: many believe in its apostrophic power to drive away and exorcise evil spirits by sprinkling it on spilled oil. On the other hand there are those who fear bad luck will befall them if they should chance to drop salt on the floor, while it brings bad luck to the others if it is thrown.

A popular custom still in use in a number of European countries requires that a handful of salt be thrown in the coffin of a dead person before the burial. The salt -as symbol of incorruptibility and immortality- would thus keep away the devil. For the same reason in ancient Scotland salt was added in the brewing of beer, which would otherwise have been ruined by witches and evil spirits. In point of fact, the added salt had the affect of preventing excessive fermentation in the brew and therefore avoids its potential "corruption".

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Salt and Good Health


Salt is essential not only to life, but to good health. Human blood contains 0.9% salt (sodium chloride) -- the same concentration as found in United States Pharmacopeia (USP) sodium chloride irrigant commonly used to cleanse wounds. Salt maintains the electrolyte balance inside and outside of cells. Most of our salt comes from foods, some from water. Doctors often recommend replacing water and salt lost in exercise and when working outside. Wilderness hikers know the importance of salt tablets to combat hyperthermia. Oral rehydration involves replacing both water and salt. Expectant mothers are advised to get enough salt. Increased salt intakes have been used successfully to combat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Dramatic deficiencies (e.g. "salt starvation" in India) or "excessive" sodium intakes have been associated with other conditions and diseases, such as hypertension and stomach cancer. Testing the salinity of perspiration is a good test for cystic fibrosis; scientists suspect that cystic fibrosis is caused by a deformed protein that prevents chloride outside cells from attracting needed moisture.

The National Academy of Sciences recommends that Americans consume a minimum of 500 mg/day of sodium to maintain good health. Individual needs, however, vary enormously based on their genetic make-up and the way they live their lives. While individual requirements range widely, most Americans have no trouble reaching their minimum requirements. Most consume "excess" sodium above and beyond that required for proper bodily function. The kidneys efficiently process this "excess" sodium in healthy people. Experimental studies show that most humans tolerate a wide range of sodium intakes, from about 250 mg/day to over 30,000 mg/day. The actual range is much narrower. Americans consume about 3,500 mg/day of sodium; men more, women less. The very large percentage of the population consumes 1,150- 5,750 mg/day which is termed the "hygienic safety range" of sodium intake by renowned Swedish hypertension expert Dr. Björn Folkow. Chloride is also essential to good health. Every substance, including water, can be toxic in certain concentrations and amounts; this is not a significant concern for dietary salt.



Salt and Cardiovascular Health

For 4,000 years, we have known that salt intakes can affect blood pressure through signals to the muscles of blood vessels trying to maintain blood pressure within a proper range. We know that a minority of the population can lower blood pressure by restricting dietary salt. And we know that elevated blood pressure, “hypertension,” is a well-documented marker or “risk factor” for cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes, a “silent killer.” Cardiovascular events are a major cause of “premature” death and cost Americans more than $300 billion every year in increased medical costs and lost productivity. Reducing blood pressure can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke – depending on how it’s done.

Some have suggested that since salt intakes are related to blood pressure, and since cardiovascular risks are also related to blood pressure, that, surely, salt intake levels are related to cardiovascular risk. This is the “salt hypothesis” or “sodium hypothesis.” Data are needed to confirm or reject hypotheses.

Blood pressure is a sign. When it goes up (or down) it indicates an underlying health concern. Changes result from many variables, often still poorly-understood. High blood pressure is treated with pharmaceuticals and with lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise. The anti-hypertensive drugs are all approved by regulatory authorities such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. To be approved, these drugs must prove they work to lower blood pressure. Whether they also work to lower the incidence of heart attacks and strokes has not been the test to gain approval (it would take too long to develop new drugs), but the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has invested heavily in such “health outcomes” studies.



Health Outcomes

The ALLHAT study was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to compare the health outcomes of four classes of anti-hypertensive drugs, all of which had demonstrated their ability to reduce blood pressure in relative safety. The idea is that blood pressure is only a "surrogate outcome," and we should be more concerned with clinically meaningful endpoints. Dr. Jeffrey R. Cutler of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has supervised the study and explains its importance: "Trials are based on the notion that different antihypertensive regimes, despite similar efficacy in lowering blood pressure, have other beneficial or harmful effects that modify their net effect on cardiovascular or all-cause morbidity and mortality."

Lifestyle interventions are "antihypertensive regimes" too. For years, the same situation prompting the ALLHAT trial applied to lifestyle interventions designed to improve blood pressure -- they were untested regarding health outcomes. Certain dietary and lifestyle interventions reduced blood pressure, at least in sensitive sub-populations. Whether they also reduced the incidence of heart attacks and strokes had never been tested. Thus, until the 1990s, scientists had never tested the “salt hypothesis” by documenting whether reducing dietary salt actually reduces a person’s chances of having a heart attack or a stroke. As in the drug “health outcomes” trials, this is now changing. The results have vast public health policy implications. We should not be recommending that everyone change their diets without evidence of some overall health benefit.

Even documenting an association of, for example, low-sodium diets with reduced incidence of heart attacks would only be the first step. Association is not the same as causation. Nevertheless, unless an association is established, we have no reason to think that a causal link is possible. Of the first nine “health outcomes” studies of sodium reduction, not a single study has found an association in the general population between low-sodium diets and reduced incidence of cardiovascular events like stroke or heart attack.

Here’s what scientists have found:
1. An eight-year study of a New York City hypertensive population stratified for sodium intake levels found those on low-salt diets had more than four times as many heart attacks as those on normal-sodium diets – the exact opposite of what the “salt hypothesis” would have predicted. (1995)

2. An analysis by NHLBI’s Dr. Cutler of the first six years’ data from the MRFIT database documented no health outcomes benefits of lower-sodium diets. (1997)

3. A ten-year follow-up study to the huge Scottish Heart Health Study found no improved health outcomes for those on low-salt diets. (1997)

4. An analysis of the health outcomes over twenty years from those in the massive US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) documented a 20% greater incidence of heart attacks among those on low-salt diets compared to normal-salt diets (1998)

5. A health outcomes study in Finland, reported to the American Heart Association that no health benefits could be identified and concluded “…our results do not support the recommendations for entire populations to reduce dietary sodium intake to prevent coronary heart disease.” (1998)

6. A further analysis of the MRFIT database, this time using fourteen years’ data, confirmed no improved health benefit from low-sodium diets. Its author conceded that there is "no relationship observed between dietary sodium and mortality." (1999)

7. A study of Americans found that less sodium-dense diets did reduce the cardiovascular mortality of one population sub-set, overweight men – the article reporting the findings did not explain why this obese group actually consumed less sodium than normal-weight individuals in the study. (1999)

8. A Finnish study reported an increase in cardiovascular events for obese men (but not women or normal-weight individuals of either gender) – the article, however, failed to adjust for potassium intake levels which many researchers consider a key associated variable. (2001)

9. In September, 2002, the latest and highest-quality meta-analysis of clinical trials was published in the British Medical Journal confirming earlier meta-analyses' conclusions that significant salt reduction would lead to very small blood pressure changes in sensitive populations and no health benefits. (2002)



Controversy Continues

For many years, the intense public controversy that has characterized the public policy debate over public health nutrition recommendations on salt intake has focused on the wrong question. Medical experts, public health policy-makers – and the public, trying to sort out the issues reading the consumer press – have all focused on the relationship of sodium intake to blood pressure instead of the relevant question of whether changing intake levels of dietary sodium results in improved health outcomes. See, for example, recent Salt Institute comments to the (British) Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.

There is no evidence that reducing dietary sodium improves the risk for heart attacks or strokes for the general population. In 1999, the Canadian Hypertension Society, the Canadian Coalition for High Blood Pressure Prevention and Control, the Health Canada Laboratory Centre for Disease Control and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada issued a joint statement opposing general recommendations for sodium reduction.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has also reviewed the evidence and concluded:
"There is insufficient evidence that, for the general population, reducing dietary sodium intake or increasing dietary intake of iron, beta-carotene, or other antioxidants results in improved health outcomes."

The debate has confused the public. Medical journalists from ABC-TV’s 20/20 to America’s pre-eminent scientific journal, Science, published by the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science, have investigated the source of this confusion. The report in Science won author Gary Taubes a top prize from the National Association of Science Writers and has also been translated into French.

Taubes concluded:
“After interviews with some 80 researchers, clinicians, and administrators around the world, it is safe to say that if ever there were a controversy over the interpretation of scientific data, this is it….After decades of intensive research, the apparent benefits of avoiding salt have only diminished. This suggests either that the true benefit has now been revealed and is indeed small or that it is non-existent and researchers believing they have detected such benefits have been deluded by the confounding of other variables.”

The Salt Institute is confident that the higher standards of evidence-based medicine will reduce the ongoing controversy, better inform public policy and reduce consumer confusion. For more information about the importance of evidence-based health, you may wish to visit the Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford University (UK) Centre for Evidence-based Medicine, the Health Information Research Unit (McMaster University) or the Canadian Centres for Health Evidence. Using the latest science, we can create better public health nutrition policy.

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Salt and Human Health

Sodium chloride, more commonly known as salt, represents an essential element of life, being one of the elements the human body cannot do without. It is present for 2/3 in the extra-cellular liquids and for 1/3 it is primarily fixed within the bones. Every imbalance in the extra-cellular hydration is connected to anomalies in the presence of sodium (that is, of salt). In the US, the consumption of sodium is on an average about 3 grams a day, corresponding to the ingestion of 7-8 grams of salt.

A certain amount of salt must be incorporated daily in our diet, not only because it is very rapidly eliminated by our organism and also because it enhances the taste of our food, but above all because the identification of salty taste triggers the production of the saliva and the gastric juices, essential for food digestion. In addition, the presence of sodium and chlorine is essential in the digestive processes, since they are both present in the gastric juices, in the saliva, in the pancreatic juice and in the bile. The sodium and the chlorine act then at different levels, along the digestive track, since sodium contributes to the absorption of glucides, while chlorine, in the form of hydrochloric acid, is essential for the digestion of solids.

The kidneys regulate the sodium balance. They are able to quickly adjust the sodium balance, when the quantity of salt varies between 1 and 16 grams a day. Under these conditions, there are no variations in the extra-cellular volume or in body weight. With quantities of salt higher than 16 grams a day, kidney adjustment requires 3-5 days, during which time an increase in the extra-cellular volume and in body weight is evident. After this period of time, the two values stabilize themselves to the new acquired levels.

Sodium chloride can also be used as treatment:

• In cases of glandular problems causing obesity, for instance, salt baths are very useful, even in cases of hypo function or hyper function of the thyroid.

• The application of dry or wet salt compresses reduces the excess liquid present in the tissues.

• For relief of swollen and sore feet, immerse them in a basin of warm water with a handful of salt.

• To reduce bags under the eyes apply compresses soaked in a teaspoon of salt dissolved in a 4 cups of warm water.

• Gargling with some salt and bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water disinfects the mouth, leaving a fresh breath.

• The inhalation of salt-water steam through the nose can relieve bothersome cases of phlegm or of inflammation of the respiratory mucosa.

• For an all natural peeling, try mixing a cream with agave nectar or golden syrup and salt and massage it gently over the interested parts of the face.

[Fauxmage]

Salt and Human Nutrition

Sometimes the two terms, "salt" and "sodium" are used interchangeably, but technically this is not correct. "Salt" is sodium chloride. By weight, it is 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Sodium is an essential nutrient, a mineral that the body cannot manufacture itself but which is required for life itself and good health. Because of sodium's importance to your body, several interacting mechanisms guard against under-consumption of salt and its threat to your body's nerves and muscles and interference with the sodium-potassium "pump" which adjusts intra- and extra-cellular pressures. If your salt intake varies widely, these mechanisms activate to assure that your body remains healthy, maintaining a relatively constant blood pressure. Chloride, too, is essential to good health. It preserves acid-base balance in the body, aids potassium absorption, supplies the essence of digestive stomach acid, and enhances the ability of the blood to carry carbon dioxide from respiring tissues to the lungs. Salt should be part of every family's food storage program. Salt has been a valuable weapon in our public health campaign against iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), iodizing salt has virtually eliminated IDD in North America and many other areas although the World Health Organization has targeted elimination of IDD globally as a top priority. Where public health authorities do not fluoridize water, adding fluoride to salt is common as in France, Switzerland and Latin America.

Years ago we thought that different societies have wide variations in salt intake. Current research shows that where salt is readily available, the vast majority of the world's population chooses to consume about 6-10 grams of salt a day. Including naturally occurring sodium in foods, people worldwide consume about 3,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium, Americans included. Some remote primitive peoples like the Yanamamo Indians of the Brazilian jungle who lack ready access to dietary sodium do have almost unbelievably small levels of sodium intake–far below that judged by the National Academy of Sciences to be safe for Americans. But for the rest of the world, our average intakes are typical. The National Academy of Sciences recommends that Americans consume a minimum of 500 mg/day of sodium. The European Union Population Reference Intake for males aged 18 years (an "acceptable range of intakes") is 575-3500 mg. Nutrition is important to good health. Salt is part of a healthy diet, a fact increasingly recognized by the public.

[Fauxmage]

Types of Salt


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Black Salt
Other Names: Kala Namak, Sanchal

Black salt is an unrefined mineral salt. It is actually a pearly pinkish gray rather than black, and has a strong, sulfuric flavor. Uses: Use in authentic Indian cooking. Available in very fine or coarse grain.

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Celtic Salt
Other Names: French Grey Sea Salt

Celtic salt refers to naturally moist salts harvested from the pristine Atlantic seawater off the coast of Brittany, France. These salts, which are rich in trace mineral content, are hand harvested using the Celtic method of wooden rakes allowing no metal to touch the salt. Celtic salts are available in coarse, stone ground fine and extra fine grain.


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Coarse Salt
Other Names: Gos Sel, Sale Grosso

Coarse salt is a larger grained sea salt crystal. Most recipes calling for salt intend using finely ground salt, however, many professional chefs prefer cooking with coarse salt because they can easily measure it with their fingers. It is less moisture sensitive so it resists caking and is easily stored. Uses: Flavoring for soups, stews and pasta.


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Flake Salt
Other Names: Flaky Salt

Flake sea salt is a light crystal reminiscent of snowflakes. Seawaters are evaporated using the natural processes of sun and wind producing salt brine that is fed into an open evaporating pan. The brine is then slowly heated to the point where delicate pyramids shaped crystals of salt appear. The finished product is light, flaky sea salt.



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Fleur de Sel
Other Names: Flower of Salt, Flor De Sal (Portuguese)

Fleur de Sel (flower of salt) is the premier condiment salt. This artisan sea salt is comprised of "young" crystals that form naturally on the surface of salt evaporation ponds. They are hand harvested under specific weather conditions by traditional "Paludiers" (salt farmers). True Fleur de Sel comes from the Guérande region of France. Like fine wine regions, different areas within Guérande produce salts with their own unique flavors and aroma profiles. Uses: Ideal for salads, and cooked fresh vegetables.



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French Sea Salt
French sea salts are harvested from pristine Atlantic seawater. Unlike most American Sea salts, they are usually unrefined, so they retain more of the trace minerals that naturally occur in seawater. These minerals include natural iodine. Uses: Ideal for salads and cooked fresh vegetables. They are available in coarse, stone ground fine and extra fine grain.


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Grey Salt
Other Names: Sel Gris, Celtic Sea Salt

Grey Salt is a “moist” unrefined sea salt usually found on the coastal areas of France. Its light grey, almost light purple color comes from the clay found in the salt flats. The salt is collected by hand using traditional Celtic methods. Grey Salt has gained great fame in the mainstream culinary world in the last few years and is considered by many to be the best quality salt available. It is available in coarse, stone ground fine and extra fine grain.


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Grinder Salt
Grinder salts are typically large dry crystals suitable to a salt mill or grinder. The white salt crystals are easy to grind in the mills and the lower moisture content allows the salt to flow through with little hassle. Uses: For flavoring foods at the table when the host determines that a finer, higher grade finishing salt is not required. Note: Always use a salt mill with a ceramic or plastic grinding mechanism. Metal, including stainless steel, will corrode and adversely flavor the salt.


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Hawaiian Sea Salt
Other Names: Alaea, Alae, Hawaiian Red Salt

Alaea Sea Salt is a traditional Hawaiian table salt used to season and preserve. A natural mineral called "Alaea" (volcanic baked red clay) is added to enrich the salt with iron oxide. This natural additive is what gives the salt its distinctive pink color. The clay imparts a subtle flavor that is said to be mellower than regular sea salt. Uses: It is the traditional and authentic seasoning for native Hawaiian dishes. Hawaiian Sea Salt comes in fine and coarse grain.


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Italian Sea Salt
Other Names: Sicilian Sea Salt, Sale Marino

Italian sea salt is produced from the low waters of the Mediterranean Sea along the coast of Sicily. It is a natural salt rich in minerals such as iodine, fluorine, magnesium and potassium with a much lower percentage of sodium chloride than regular table salt. The salt pans are filled with the seawater in the spring and left to evaporate relying on the heat of the Sicilian sun and strong African winds. Harvesting takes place once the water has evaporated and it is crushed and ground without further refining. These salts have a delicate taste and plenty of flavor without being too strong or salty. Uses: Highlight salads and sauces. Great as a garnish on bruschetta. Available in coarse and fine grain.


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Kosher Salt
Kosher salt is regular salt that is so named for its use in the preparation of meat according to the requirements of Jewish dietary guidelines. It contains fewer additives, and has a more salty taste than ordinary table salt. It generally comes in flakes rather than granules. The flakes dissolve easily, and have a less pungent flavor than table salt. Due to the shape of the granules, there is simply less salt in a pinch of kosher salt than in a pinch of table salt. This is the kind of salt most often used on top of pretzels and on the rims of margarita glasses. It is important to note that all Kosher salt is not necessarily sea salt. Kosher salt comes in fine and coarse grain.


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Organic Salt
Although salt is not certified organic by the same standards as botanicals, agriculture or livestock, there are at least three organizations that have set up rigorous guidelines for the production of salt. This includes ensuring the purity of the water, cleanliness of the salt beds and strict procedures on how the salt is harvested and packaged. These certifications include:
Nature & Progres - France
Bio-Gro - New Zealand
Soil Association Certified - Wales


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Sea Salt
Other Names: Sal Del Mar, Sel De Mer, Sale Marino

Sea salt is a broad term that generally refers to unrefined salt derived directly from a living ocean or sea. It is harvested through channeling ocean water into large clay trays and allowing the sun and wind to evaporate it naturally. Manufacturers of sea salt typically do not refine sea salt as much as other kinds of salt, so it still contains traces of other minerals, including iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc and iodine. Proponents of sea salt rave about its bright, pure, clean flavor, and about the subtleties lent to it by these other trace minerals. Some of the most common sources for sea salt include the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean (particularly in France, on the coast of Brittany). Sea salt is thought to be healthier and more flavorful that traditional table salt. Available in coarse, fine & extra fine grain size.


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Smoked Sea Salt
Smoked Sea Salts are a relatively new and exciting gourmet salt in the US! They are naturally smoked over real wood fires to infuse the salt crystals with 100% natural smoke flavor. Smoked Sea Salts add a unique flavor to a wide range of dishes including nut roasts, salads and sandwiches. Unlike artificially infused smoke flavored salts all of our smoked sea salts are naturally smoked. Uses: Great when grilling or oven roasting. Also adds an authentic smoke house flavor to soups, salads, pasta and sandwiches. Available in coarse grain size.


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Table Salt
Table salt is the most common kind of salt found in the average kitchen. It usually comes from salt mines and once it's mined, it is refined and most minerals are removed from it until it is pure sodium chloride. Most table salt is available either plain or iodized. American salt manufacturers began iodizing salt in the 1920's, in cooperation with the government, after people in some parts of the country were found to be suffering from goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland caused by an easily-preventable iodine deficiency. People require less than 225 micrograms of iodine a day. Seafood as well as sea salt contains iodine naturally and the supplement is unnecessary if there are sufficient quantities of either in one's diet. Note: Natural sea salt is a healthy replacement for ordinary table salt.

[thevegantwins]

That's really nifty, Faux. The first time I ever tried anything besides regular table salt was maybe 10 years ago and I couldn't believe that different salts had different tastes. It was an eye-opener. I love the fleur de sal, very tasty!

[paul]

good lord i never knew salt was that intresting. nice one Faux:rock:

[vavaving]

Note: Natural sea salt is a healthy replacement for ordinary table salt.

Is ordinary table salt unhealthy for some reason?

Also, I don't think any scientific debate has actually led to public confusion about salt. It is more likely due to the marketing of so many products as "low sodium", and such that constantly misleads people. Just like all of the "fat free" candy and soft drink labels do most everyone a disservice.

Lately I've been drinking saline instead of salting my foods, because my tongue has become sensitive to it for whatever reason. Saline is an acquired taste, but now I like it! I'm still experimenting with my intake; 1/2 tsp twice a day usually. I had more than that yesterday and then ran several miles in the sun today, but did not sweat much, and felt super strong. Weird! :hyper:

[Bowwowmeow]

Is ordinary table salt unhealthy for some reason?

Also, I don't think any scientific debate has actually led to public confusion about salt. It is more likely due to the marketing of so many products as "low sodium", and such that constantly misleads people. Just like all of the "fat free" candy and soft drink labels do most everyone a disservice.

Lately I've been drinking saline instead of salting my foods, because my tongue has become sensitive to it for whatever reason. Saline is an acquired taste, but now I like it! I'm still experimenting with my intake; 1/2 tsp twice a day usually. I had more than that yesterday and then ran several miles in the sun today, but did not sweat much, and felt super strong. Weird! :hyper:
Oh that was all copied from a site selling salt. I think people are worried about the lack of iodine in natural sea salt. Though I have read plenty of material stating the opinion that highly refined table salt is no better than pure white sugar, because all of the naturally occurring minerals are removed. I do tend however to stay somewhat down the middle path between avoiding table salt like the plague and eating nothing but Celtic sea salt because its a miracle mineral.

I agree that marketing is responsible for much misinformation. Look at how many people think "carbs" are evil. :disbelief:

[vavaving]

Right, marketing can kill you. :skeptical:

Would you say that table salt has the same sodium content as other varieties? I'm thinking this is the essence of its dietary value.

[Bowwowmeow]

Well, the chemical composition of sodium salt itself, NaCl, is always the same, no matter how it is processed. By weight, if there were enough other mineral salts, it might be possible to have a lower proportion of sodium salts to other salts in natural sea salt, but it would be negligible. There is that low sodium variety that is made from a mixture of sodium and potassium chlorides, but that is manufactured purposely to offer a lower sodium salt product.

[LetsEat]

wow, ms enclyopedia. :) Thanks for all the stuff I didn't know.

I never thought too much about just using table salt, tho I knew of a couple of other kinds (tho not all she wrote about above by a long shot). Untill a couple of years ago and bought some sea salt amazinlg from the regular grocery store. It is not too expensive at all. Lasts longer it seems tho smaller container than table salt.

AND WOW. my god, it just bammed up everything. seems like it amped up the natural tastes of veggies and stuff I never tasted in that *depth* before. With a clarity that made things taste fresher. And then I got a feeling that WAS what salt orgionally did, no wonder it was such a gold mine for ancient people. Cuz if you had salt, you had close to gold to trade, etc.

So, on to the next type of salt I can find there and afford.