Salt can be a fairly polarizing ingredient. We often hear about the health risks associated with high-sodium diets, namely the increased risk of hypertension.
But, are there healthy salts?
It seems like there are certain types of salt that are touted among the nutrition and health industry to be not just not unhealthy but actually beneficial for your health.
For example, Himalayan sea salt is widely purported to be a healthy alternative to regular table salt and abound with health benefits.
So, what is the healthiest salt? What is a healthy salt choice if you do want to season your food but don’t want to negatively impact your health or blood pressure? Is there a healthy salt?
In this article, we will discuss the healthiest salts and how to choose a healthy salt.
We will cover:
- What Is Salt?
- What Is the Healthiest Salt?
- Common Types of Salt
Let’s get started!
What Is Salt?
All types of salt are minerals made from the crystallized bonding of sodium and chlorine, which are two elements.
Therefore, the chemical composition of salt is NaCl.
Most of the types of salt that you can purchase for consumption are produced by evaporating seawater to extract the salt or from salt mines.
In the early 1920s, manufacturers of table salt started enriching salt with added iodine to reduce the prevalence of iodine deficiencies.
Iodine is a mineral that is essential for human health but not readily found in most food sources. Therefore, iodized salt is a way to ensure that daily iodine needs are met.
Currently, you can purchase either iodized or uniodized salt in the United States. Iodized salt has about 71 mcg of iodine in a 1/4 teaspoon of salt, which is nearly 50% of your daily minimum.
Per the Harvard University School of Public Health, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for iodine is 150 micrograms (mcg) daily for adult men and women 19 years and older and 220 and 290 mcg daily for pregnant and lactating women, respectively. The maximum daily dose should not exceed 1,100 mcg.
An iodine deficiency can cause thyroid dysfunction and can lead to conditions such as hypothyroidism in the development of goiters.
What Is the Healthiest Salt?
Salt enhances the taste of foods by helping to bring out the flavor. It can also be used to preserve and brine foods.
Many people are only familiar with regular white table salt, chemically known as sodium chloride or NaCl.
However, there are actually quite a number of varieties of salt, ranging in color, texture, and even taste.
Any type of salt can be healthy in moderation. Although sodium is often demonized, and diets high in salt can increase the risk of hypertension, sodium is an essential nutrient that is required for many key functions of the body, including nerve conduction, muscle contraction, and maintaining fluid balance.
According to the 2020–2025 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, daily sodium intake should be no more than 2,300mg per day, but federal data reveals that the average sodium intake is closer to 3,393mg of sodium per day, ranging between 2,000–5,000mg.
The healthiest salts are thought to be those that are more natural (less processed), so they contain trace minerals that can be essential for optimal health.
Studies suggest that all types of salt have the same amount of sodium by weight, but the amount of sodium in various types of salt can differ by volume depending on the size of the crystal.
Salts with smaller crystals contain more sodium per teaspoon than salts with larger crystals because the salt crystals can pack closer together into a denser teaspoon of salt, but the sodium content will be identical when measured in grams.
This is because you’ll need more than just one teaspoon of big-crystal salt to equal the weight of small-crystal salt since the crystals aren’t so tightly packed.
Additionally, if you choose to eat a “healthy salt” that is natural and unprocessed, you will not be getting the iodine that is added to most conventional table salt.
Because it is vital to have iodine in your diet, if you do choose to eat an alternative salt, make sure you are getting iodine from elsewhere.
Examples of foods that contain iodine include seaweed, yogurt, cod, oysters, enriched bread, and eggs.
Let’s check out the different types of healthy salts:
Common Types of Salt
#1: Table Salt
Regular refined table salt is a fine, granulated salt used frequently in cooking and seasoning food.
It is highly refined to remove any impurities, which eliminates any trace minerals. Iodine and anti-caking agents are usually added.
#2: Kosher Salt
Kosher salt is a flakey salt with a much coarser texture than regular table salt, so it imparts a crunchier texture.
Because the size of the crystals is larger, there is less sodium per teaspoon than refined table salt, but the same by weight.
It is used in cooking and to season foods and drinks.
#3: Sea Salt
There are quite a number of different sea salts you can purchase, ranging in color and texture from dark black and gray to white and fine grains to large crystals.
Examples of sea salt include Celtic sea salt, Black Sea sea salt, French (fleur de sel), and Hawaiian sea salt.
Sea salt is less refined than conventional table salt, so it often contains some trace minerals such as iron, zinc, and potassium, which may impart different nuances in the flavor, but will not change the nutritional profile in any significant way or provide any health benefits because the levels are just too low to have any impact on your body.
#4: Himalayan Pink Salt
Many people believe that the healthiest salt is Himalayan salt or pink Himalayan salt.
Pink Himalayan salt does not come from the sea; rather, it is mined at the second largest salt mine in the world, located in the red rolling hills of the salt range in Khewra, Pakistan.
Himalayan pink salt is typically used as a finishing salt because it has a beautiful color and large crunchy texture that imparts exquisite detail and unique appearance, flavor, and texture to dishes.
The pink color of Himalayan salt is due to trace amounts of rust, which is iron oxide.
Despite the fact that pink Himalayan salt is touted as the healthiest salt with many special health benefits, studies have not found any unique health benefits of this salt.
That’s not to say that Himalayan pink salt is unhealthy, but believing that you are eating a healthier salt is also probably a stretch.
Note that there is also a pink salt that hails from salt mines in the Andes mountains. However, ambient pink salt is paler in color than Himalayan pink salt. There is also some concern that this particular type of salt may contain lead.
#5: Seasoned Salt
There are also commercially available salts that are pre-seasoned.
Seasoned salts—such as garlic salt, onion salt, and celery salt— are salt products that contain salt mixed with herbs and flavorings.
Seasoned salts are used to flavor dishes, but be mindful that these are nearly as high in sodium as regular salt by volume, so if you’re trying to reduce your sodium intake, use plain herbs, not salted seasonings.
#6: Smoked Salt
Smoked salt is salt that has been infused with a smoky flavor by smoking it on different types of wood (hickory, mesquite, oak, and applewood) for a couple of weeks.
The sodium content is identical to regular table salt, but the flavor is smokier.
#7: Himalayan Black Salt
Himalayan black salt, known in Nepalese as “kala namak”, is made by cooking Himalayan salt in a furnace for 24 hours along with charcoal, bark, herbs, and seeds.
This preparation method gives Himalayan black salt its distinctive reddish-black color and its sulfurous (eggy!) smell.
In fact, because of the boiled-egg odor and flavor, black Himalayan salt is often added to vegan dishes to amplify the believability of any vegan egg substitutes used in the dish.
This type of salt contains trace amounts of potassium and calcium.
#8: Black Hawaiian Salt
Black Hawaiian salt, sometimes called black lava salt, is made by evaporating seawater in pools formed on hardened Hawaiian lava flows.
It has a strong earthy flavor, black color, and mild sulfurous smell due to the addition of activated coconut charcoal.
It contains trace minerals like potassium and calcium and is usually used as a finishing salt.
So what is a healthy salt?
Although many people seek the healthiest type of salt, most nutrition experts and evidence suggest that salt is salt. Pretty much any type of salt will provide the same amount of sodium and chloride.
Although less processed salt may contain other trace minerals, the concentration of these minerals is usually so small that it makes very little difference. You would have to consume a lot of salt to really increase your levels of these micronutrients.
Are you looking to improve your nutrition in general? If so, take a look at our long list of nutritional information and diet guides here.
Korean bamboo salt is missing on your list of healthy salts!