by Joseph Parish

Created on: March 19, 2008   Last Updated: September 19, 2008

All Salts are not created Equal

Many people believe that by using kosher salt or Sea Salt it is a healthier alternative to our common table salt. Many feel it is better for them should they be on a low sodium diet. Nothing could be further from the truth.

However you look at it kosher salt is still chemically sodium chloride but with a different name. It tends to be in sold in larger chunks than you would find with the normal table salt and it may even contain additional chemicals to added to it to prevent it from caking up.

Your common table salt is also chemically sodium chloride. As with the kosher salt the table salt may possibly contain additional ingredients that would prevent it from caking up. Other then for its smaller granule size the table salt also contains the chemical Iodide which has been known to prevent certain types of thyroid conditions. The Iodized salt addition is usually in the form of another type of salt known as potassium iodide.

Medically sea salt is worse then either the kosher or the table salt due to its chemical composition. Similar to the other salts sea salt is composed of' mostly sodium chloride however it also includes a large myriad of other chemicals such as potassium, sodium, magnesium as well as chemical elements known as metal salts. Sea salt may supply a certain number of trace elements which your body may require but due to the different salts involved in the makeup of the sea salt it does not yield any sort of reduction in sodium content. This salt could actually be worse for those with issues relating to high blood pressure.

I would like to point out that the regular sea salt may have various chemical compositions depending upon the particular area of the world that produces the product. This is due in large part to the vast differences in the sea water composition since all the oceans in the world are not chemically equal. In our real world the concept of one size fitting all does not hold water. This salt from various locations of the world may actually be dangerous to certain classes of medical patients. Sodium, magnesium, potassium, lithium and the various other metallic compounds all tend to affect each of us medically on an individual basis. What is medically okay for one person may not necessarily be good for another. Before using Sea salt make certain you check with your doctor to determine if there are any sort of health reasons why you should not use it.

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