5 Different Types of Salt You Need To Know, Which One is Healthiest?

Salt is one of the ingredients we need in every dish. By adding salt, it creates a taste of good food to enjoy, so that your food become tasteful to eat.

Even so, adding too much salt to the dishes can make the dish salty. In addition, too much giving salt can also cause you to experience high blood pressure. Behind it all, there are actually various types of salt in this world.

5 types of salt

5 different types of salt you need to know

There are several types of salt that you can add to your dish,

1. Table salt

table salt

Table salt is the salt you normally use when cooking. This salt has gone through a lot of processing so it has a very fine texture and enriched with iodine. 

Iodine is one of the important minerals needed by your body. Lack of iodine can cause children to experience mental delays, hypothyroidism, and various other health problems. With the addition of iodine to salt, this disease caused by iodine deficiency can be prevented.

Table salt contains almost all pure sodium chloride, it is about 97% or higher. Usually, table salt is added with an anti-caking agent to prevent clumping, so you can get it as fine grains that don't stick together.

2. Sea salt

Sea salt is made by evaporating sea water. Not much different from table salt, sea salt also contains a lot of sodium chloride (natural) but contains little minerals. However, this depends on where the salt is harvested and how the salt is processed. Usually sea salt contains minerals such as potassium, iron and zinc.

Because pure sea salt is made in the sea, sea salt can also be contaminated with metals due to sea pollution. The darker the color of sea salt, the higher the content of mineral elements in the salt.

The disadvantages of this salt may be in the taste of sea salt which is different from table salt, especially if you never consume it. Impurities and minerals in sea salt can also affect the taste. The taste of sea salt may be stronger than table salt.

3. Himalayan salt

Himalayan salt

Maybe you rarely know about this salt, but this salt that comes from the second largest salt mine in the world called 'Khewra Salt Mine' in Pakistan, not from the Himalayas as you might guess. 

This salt has a pink color derived from the iron content in the salt. Himalayan salt contains lower sodium minerals than table salt. 

However, this salt contains approximately 84 important minerals needed by our body, including calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Because of its content, Himalayan salts are believed to help reduce muscle cramps, maintain healthy blood sugar, and maintain acid-base health in cells.

4. Kosher salt

Kosher salt has a coarser texture like an irregular crystal, unlike the table salt that you usually find. In addition, the difference is that kosher salts do not contain anti-caking agents so they are easier to clot and also do not contain iodine. 

However, kosher salts have a flavor that is not much different from table salt, but it is lighter.

5. Celtic Salt

This salt has a grayish color, not infrequently people know it as gray salt. Celtic salt contains a little water so it keeps it moist. 

In addition, this salt also contains a number of minerals, but has a lower sodium content than table salt. This salt has an alkaline nature and can be used to prevent muscle cramps.

Which salt is healthiest?

Basically, all salt have the same function, which is used to add flavor to your cuisine. You can choose which salts you like and add it to your cooking according to taste, texture, color, and habits. 

Nowadays, maybe you get used to consume table salt in your cooking, this is not a problem as long as you add it in sufficient quantities (not excessive). If you want to get attractive colors in your cuisine, you can sprinkle Himalayan salt on your cooking after cooking.

In addition, all salts basically also contain sodium chloride and various important minerals for the body. However, you should choose salt that contains iodine because this mineral is very needed by the body and iodized salt is already proven to prevent you from various iodine related diseases.

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