The Salt factor

Everyone these days in on and on about salt and how we need to reduce it in our diets. I freakin LOVE me my salt!! I like adding so much salt that sometimes it burns my lips!! - a good example would be corn on the cob... ooooohhhhhhhh bbabbbyyyyyyy...... I think its one of those wee facts out there that anyone with a bit of German in their blood loves salt... I have no idea why, but it seems to be the case... Even before I started working with Elaine I had made the choice to start using Sea Salt in everything instead of table salt. Previously I had saved it for use on homemade salt and pepper chicken wings, so yummy... It made me finally think if I enjoy it that much on the wings, why wouldn't I try to use it elsewhere...?? So I whipped it out of the cupboard and it now has its very own wee place sitting with the table salt and the pepper grinder, and that's what i have been using everywhere I would normally add table salt. Now that it's out however, people have been asking me "why?"... and I say - "well its better for you..."... and they say... "oookkkkkk, but why?"... and I say "look, fuck off already ok? I just know that it is... shut up. But it must have to do with the processing....."  And I was right!! It does!! - here is some info that I have found:

Sea Salt
Sea salt is the unrefined salt that is obtained by simply evaporating the water from the seas or oceans. Sea water is channeled into man-made pools along protected shores, and is then left under the Sun till all the water gets evaporated. What is left behind in the pools is sea salt. Sea salt is 98% sodium chloride, while the remaining 2% is made of other important minerals like iron, sulfur, magnesium and other trace elements. Due to higher mineral content, sea salts are more flavored than table salt. Sea salts are used as crust for baked potatoes. Chefs also use it in French or Thai cuisines.

Table Salt
The common table salt is 99.9% sodium chloride. It is obtained from the terrestrial salt deposits which are mined, heat-blasted and chemically treated. Due to these processes, table salt is stripped of all minerals other than sodium and chloride. Some anti-caking agents are added to table salt to make it free flowing. Although, initially table salt which had just sodium and chlorine as the only minerals was consumed by people, later on, salt manufacturers started adding iodine to it to prevent people from suffering from iodine deficiency diseases.

So Basically, unless you have a known iodine deficiency there are no benefits to table salt at all. Here is one more line from the same article:

The refining process of table salt strips it of all of its minerals, other than sodium and chloride. This makes it an unnatural substance as compared to sea salt, and contributes to high blood pressure, heart and kidney diseases. On the other hand, health benefits of sea salt include, inducing proper sleep, promoting efficient working of the liver, kidneys and the adrenal glands. Sea salts also boost the immune system of the body and don't cause high blood pressure like refined table salt.

You can take it from me, an admitted salt-a-holic that sea salt still gives you that 'fix' that you may want even thought the flavour isn't quite as powerful as table salt. It still has a fantastic salty goodness taste that satisfies! (wow... that sounded like a commercial didn't it!!! bah ha ha ha! I swear I'm not getting paid for this...) I would think switching to this alone in your cooking, baking, and seasoning would help a great deal. Somewhere around 2300 milligrams of salt is the daily limit that is supposed to be healthy, although there are many experts that say half of that would be better!! - the 2300 works out to about one teaspoon of salt. Which is my world is a VERY small amount of salt!! ha ha!! Elaine promotes eating pure, fresh and natural; by doing this and staying away from processed foods, and prepared meals alone you can save on your salt intake! This way if you're making everything fresh at home, you know what you're putting in your body at all times. Without a doubt - that's the way it should be!! Humans existed before microwaves and the Hungry Man dinner!!! - it can be done people!!