did some digging on this, it seems that salt is refined to improve its storage, basically, refined salt can sit on the shelf forever.
Also, if the salt is taken from a polluted area, the refining process, to your point, will remove some not-so-good elements, e.g. toxins associated with the salt. And an all-white salt product will look “purer” to the consumer and, therefore, might increase sales.
Unrefined salt becomes more and more popular as people tend to move towards "natural" product.
Pink salt may have traces of iron not found in grey salt, but this difference is not significant. Photo Credit Janet Rhodes/iStock/Getty Images
All salts share a similar chemical makeup -- they're made primarily from sodium chloride and serve as a concentrated source of sodium in your diet. Specialty salts, such as pink or grey sea salts, also contain trace amounts of minerals that affect the appearance and flavor of the salt. While pink and grey sea salts have minor differences in mineral content, they're both roughly nutritionally equivalent to table salt.
Pink and grey salts' colors come from their trace mineral content. Pink salt's hue is likely a result of its iron content, according to the University of Texas at San Antonio. Grey Celtic sea salt, on the other hand, has trace amounts of magnesium. While both iron and magnesium offer health benefits -- they're both important for energy production, for example -- the amount in sea salt isn't nutritionally significant.
The main difference between pink salt and grey salt is their textures. Pink salt is harvested from mines, has drier grains and is typically sold in larger grains with a texture similar to coarse sea salt. Pink salt works well sprinkled over roasted or grilled vegetables, chicken or fish, and the larger grains give bursts of salty flavor without the need to use much salt. Pink salt also works well as a crunchy and flavorful seasoning for air-popped popcorn.
Grey salt, which is made from seawater, has a higher natural water content than pink salt, so it has a more moist, crumbly texture that melts easily into your food. It retains some of its marine flavor, which makes it a good seasoning for bolder dishes, like lean cuts of beef, cheese and lamb.
Although salt has a bad reputation, it's not all bad as long as you enjoy any salt you use – grey, pink or other salt – in moderation. Sodium plays a key role in nerve communication, which is essential for brain function, muscle contraction and healthy digestion. Salt is also responsible for controlling blood pressure, and having enough sodium can protect you from low blood pressure. However, unless you're doing intense endurance exercise -- like competing in an Ironman triathlon -- it's unlikely that you'll develop a sodium deficiency as a result of low sodium in your diet.
It's more likely that you'll overdo it on sodium without meaning to. Too much sodium disrupts the mineral balance in your body, leaving you short of heart-healthy potassium and facing a higher risk of high blood pressure. Sodium also increases calcium excretion, so following a low-sodium diet might retain your body's calcium levels, promoting bone health. Because they're both very high in sodium, pink and grey sea salts can both boost your sodium intake to unhealthy levels if you're not careful.
You should treat both sea salts the same you would table salt -- as a concentrated source of sodium that should be used in moderation. Your total sodium intake, which includes the salt you add to your foods as well as the sodium found in breads and processed foods, should not exceed 1.5 grams daily. That's the equivalent of a little less than 4 grams of salt, or less than a teaspoon. Reduce your sodium intake by focusing on whole foods -- fresh produce, unsalted legumes and nuts, and lean meats -- and practicing moderation when you season your food with salt.
Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/535896-grey-sea-salt-vs-himalayan-pink-salt/
(NaturalNews) If you've been reading NaturalNews for long, you've heard me talk about the importance of switching from processed table salt to a "full spectrum" salt. Table salt -- or "white salt" -- is to real salt as table sugar is to dehydrated cane juice. Both white table salt and white sugar are devoid of the full spectrum of minerals and other nutrients that protect and enhance your health.
Here in Ecuador, I regularly drink jugo de caña, for example (fresh, raw sugar cane juice), but I would never think of eating refined white sugar. I don't use refined white table salt, either. Instead, I use Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt because it contains the full spectrum of 84 minerals and trace elements just like Mother Earth intended. It is an unrefined, unprocessed "raw" salt that's hand-mined from abundant salt caves that were formed 250 million years ago as ocean salt settled in certain geologic pockets around the earth.
Most of the western world thinks of salt as sodium chloride -- a highly refined, processed white substance that's devoid of nutrients. Salt is so devoid of nutrients, in fact, that in the early 20th century, doctors noticed that people who ate white table salt started to suffer chronic degenerative diseases such as goiter. This was caused by the lack of iodine in the salt.
Iodine deficiency, by the way, is the No. 1 most preventable cause of mental retardation. Eating processed salt that lacks iodine, in other words, can cause your offspring to be retarded.
Now what's really interesting about processed table salt is that it's missing over 80 minerals. But they only put ONE mineral back in -- iodine. That's because iodine is the one mineral that causes the most obvious disease (goiter is sort of hard to not notice).
Iodine is a naturally occurring mineral in the ocean. It's abundant in seafood and in real sea salt, but it's completely missing from refined white table salt.
So they started adding iodine to table salt, creating "iodized salt."
But why would you want to eat salt that's been artificially enriched with ONE mineral when you could be eating salt that naturally contains eighty-four minerals?
Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt contains 84 minerals and trace minerals, including iodine! And below we share a link where you can get it at 33% off...
You've probably noticed a lot of processed salt companies now claiming to offer "sea salt." The truth is, virtually all salt is sea salt because it all came from the sea at one time or another in the Earth's history.
The term "sea salt" is essentially meaningless. White processed salt can still be called "sea salt" even though it is devoid of full-spectrum sea minerals.
The way to tell if your salt is really full-spectrum salt is to look at the color. If it's pure white, it's not full-spectrum. White salt is just like white sugar: It's missing the key supporting minerals and nutrients your body needs.
Full-spectrum salt always has a non-white color. Celtic Sea Salt, for example (which is really good salt) has a brownish sandy color. Our Pink Himalayan salt is a sort of sandy rose color. All the truly natural full-spectrum salts are sandy or brownish in color.
Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt normally sells for $14.95 per pound. With this week's special for NaturalNews readers, we've discounted the one-pound bag to $12.95 (a 13% savings).
When you buy three one-pound bags of Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt, the price drops to just $9.98 per bag. Three pounds of this full-spectrum salt are just $29.95 (a 33% savings!).
The 3-pack is our best price on full-spectrum salt, and if you don't need all 3 pounds for yourself, they make fantastic gifts for family or friends!
Some other things you may not know about full-spectrum salt:
• This product stores for years. It's naturally shelf-stable as long as you keep it relatively dry and unopened. Store in a dark, cool place for longest shelf life.
• Full-spectrum salt is a crucial preparedness item. Your body cannot live without salt, and in a crisis situation, real salt may be very difficult to come by in many areas. Storing full-spectrum salt is not only good for your health today; it's a type of nutritional insurance against future food shortages.
• If you exercise a lot, juice a lot or live in a very hot climate, your body may actually need more salt than you're getting. But processed salt doesn't provide all the minerals your body needs to replenish. Only full-spectrum salt fulfills your body's true salt needs.
• A craving for junk foods is often just a craving for full-spectrum salt. When your body lacks minerals, it urges you to consume more. This is often mistranslated in your mind as a craving for salty snack foods. But consuming full-spectrum salt (in a reasonable amount) can often ease your junk food cravings.
Our Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt comes from the Himalayan Region of the Karakoram mountain range located 400 miles from the Hunza Valley in Pakistan. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakoram)
Our salt is always stone ground. No metal ever touches the salt during grinding. All the salt is extracted by hand from the salt caves (ancient sea bed deposits). No salt from other sources is mixed with this salt. This is 100% from the Karakoram mountain range salt caves.
These salt deposits are roughly 250 million years old, meaning they were deposited long before the earth became polluted with heavy metals, pesticides and PCBs. While there is really no such thing as "organic" salt, this is probably the most pristine salt you'll find anywhere on the planet. Eating this salt is a lot like going back in time and consuming minerals from pre-industrial Earth.
This is the salt I use regularly. I actually add salt to raw foods recipes (like raw guacamole) in order to increase my mineral intake. That's necessary because I eat very few packaged foods that are high in salt. Plus, I exercise regularly so I'm losing a lot of minerals through sweating. This is why salt intake is a regular part of my diet. To me, it's actually a type of superfood, and I make sure I get enough full-spectrum salt on a daily basis.
Note: If you have high blood pressure or eat a lot of salty processed foods, then obviously don't add more salt to your diet. Instead, replace the junky processed salt in your diet with full-spectrum salt. Stop eating salty snack chips and canned soups (those soup cans are lined with BPA, too) and start eating fresh juice smoothies and homemade cuisine made with full-spectrum salt.
Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/028724_Himalayan_salt_sea.html
did some digging on this, it seems that salt is refined to improve its storage, basically, refined salt can sit on the shelf forever.
Also, if the salt is taken from a polluted area, the refining process, to your point, will remove some not-so-good elements, e.g. toxins associated with the salt. And an all-white salt product will look “purer” to the consumer and, therefore, might increase sales.
Unrefined salt becomes more and more popular as people tend to move towards "natural" product.