Should you switch to pink salt or sea salt?

Everyone has a salt shaker in their home.  For years this shaker was filled with Morton’s
salt.  Everyone used Morton’s salt.  Then sea salt seemed to be popular.  Now the rage seems to be “pink salt”.  It has been around for a while. Apparently
Trader Joe’s started selling
pink salt in 2009.  If you read the
label, most pink salt seems to branded as coming from the Himalayas in
Pakistan.  However, one source said it
comes from just south of the actual Himalayas in Pakistan.  There are lots of health claims for using sea
salt and pink salt in place of Morton’s salt. 
What salt should people use? 

What is the benefit of using Morton’s Salt?

One reason to use Morton’s salt is to get enough iodine. If
you look at a package of Morton’s salt you will see the words: “Iodized
salt.  This salt supplies iodide, a
necessary nutrient.”   Why is iodine added to Morton’s salt?  Someone asked the Mayo
Clinic, “I rarely use salt anymore when cooking.  Instead, I like to use sea salt.  But I’ve noticed a lot of sea salts don’t
contain iodine.  Do I need iodized salt,
or are there other sources of iodine other than salt that are likely to give me
all the iodine I need?” 

Great question.  And
how did the Mayo Clinic answer this question? 
“Answer:  For most people, iodized
salt is probably the easiest way to maintain sufficient iodine intake.”  

Why do we need iodine?

As the Mayo Clinic
notes, we need iodine for proper functioning of our thyroid.  Our thyroid gland produces important
hormones.  Without enough iodine we can
get a condition called goiter or have low levels of thyroid hormones which is
termed hypothyroidism.  Thyroid hormones control
the body’s metabolism and thyroid hormones are needed for proper bone and brain
development during pregnancy and infancy. 
There is actually an organization called the American Thyroid
Association.  This organization
notes, our bodies can’t make iodine, we must get iodine from food.  At one time it was common for people around
the Great Lakes region of the U.S., around Appalachia, and other areas to get iodine
deficiency.  To prevent this iodine
deficiency, in the 1920’s,
iodized salt was sold in the U.S.  

Iodine is added to this salt.

How much iodine is in Sea Salt?

I just looked at the bottle of Morton’s Sea Salt we have in
our cupboard.  The label reads: “This
salt does not supply iodide, a necessary nutrient.”  According to Livestrong, sea
salt does not contain iodine. 
Livestrong recommends that people who use seal salt in place of iodized
salt, need to add other sources of iodine to their diet.  This wouldn’t really be that easy to do on a
regular basis as not many people eat kelp, nori, or wild cod routinely.  There is some iodine in eggs and shrimp.    

No iodine is added to this salt. 

How much iodine is in pink salt?

Pink salt is interesting as it is not as processed as other
salts.  Thus, some minerals
remain in pink salt such as “trace amounts of the minerals calcium, potassium,
magnesium and iron”.  Why is pink salt
the color pink?  Because it has some
trace amounts of iron in it.  But, like
sea salt, iodine is not added to pink salt.

Iodine is not added to pink salt.

What salt to use?

I like to be sure I get my iodine.  But I also like to use sea salt.  As a compromise, we use iodized salt for
cooking and often at the table.  But we
also have sea salt at the table as some foods just seem to taste better with
some sea salt.  Livestrong
notes that one can not only get some iodine from seaweed and saltwater fish but
also some from cheese, cow’s milk (not almond milk), yogurt made from cow’s
milk as well as eggs which were noted earlier. 
For extra insurance, I take a multivitamin/mineral supplement that has
iodine in it.  Livestrong recommends that
if you are replacing iodized salt with sea salt,you need to be getting iodine
from other sources. 

What salt are you using? 

Sources:  selling
, Mayo
Clinic , hormones,   American
Thyroid Association , 1920’s
, sea
salt , minerals,
Livestrong
Image Sources:  iodized
salt , Morton’s
sea salt , pink
salt

 

 

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