All Salt Comes From the Sea
By Kelly Barrett Coudert

Our vast oceans once covered the earth's surface leaving behind bounteous salt beds & underground salt deposits. The oceanic origins of salt reflect the fundamental origin of life, that which is our internal bodily fluids, our matrix. From the time of conception, we are never separate from salt. Our own internal oceans (blood, lymphatic fluid and extra cellular fluid) are in constant salinity and are replenished with salt. Real salt.

Common table salt does not stand up to the historic definition of real sea salt. Both having come from the sea, their differences are oceans apart. Common table salt is close to 100% sodium chloride in granular form. It tastes salty, looks pure, due to its white color, and contains only one of many constituents of real salt. Both sodium and chloride are essential elements of life, but too much sodium can cause hypertension in some individuals.

Common table salt is processed at high temperatures, stripped of its natural color, fed an anti-caking agent to create a free-flowing, easily pourable substance. This anti-caking agent turns the salt an undesirable purple color, thus inviting a bleaching process and the addition of glucose and aluminum silicate. Iodine is added back to table salt in order to make up for iodine that is lost in the purification process, and as a measure to prevent iodine deficiency and goiter. Iodine is essential for physical and mental development. However, too much iodine can disturb the thyroid, and individuals vary in the amount of iodine they need whereas the fortification of salt with iodine was calculated to meet the needs of 95% of the population, resulting in an iodine dose that may be too high for certain individuals, especially if salt consumption is high. 

By contrast, real sea salt is clean, evaporated seawater that is unadulterated. Using the example of salt farms in Brittany, sea salt is cultivated or harvested by salt farmers who rely on the tides, wooden eddying tools and generations of experience combined with the elements of sun and wind. The crystallizing of real salt takes form, guaranteeing high moisture and mineral content. 

A good salt will not have a bitter or "chemical" taste to it, but should be soft, sweet and complex in flavor. Real, unrefined ocean salt is the salt of life; a real food with life-giving property that meets with our own chemistry and replenishes our own bodily fluids (inner oceans). 

Today's culinary world offers many varieties of cooking and finishing salts that are much healthier than common table salt. All of these salts contain magnesium, potassium, calcium, and even iron, copper, and zinc, in addition to sodium, as well as other trace minerals.

Here are the profiles of a few real salts:

• Celtic Sea Salt - Light Grey - an authentic whole salt from one of the most pristine coastal regions of Brittany, France. Hand harvested by salt farmers (Paludiers) and dried by the sun and wind, Celtic Sea Salt contains no anti-caking or bleaching agents, or additives of any kind. It possesses a natural balance of minerals, trace elements and the moisture of the sea. This salt imparts a rich, exceptional flavor that enhances the taste of any dish. Great to cook with and even more excellent as a finishing salt.
• Fleur de Sel - The Flower of the Ocean…this salt is formed as the top layer of salt beds and considered the cream of the crop, and is a very delicate salt with lively flavor. Great as a finishing salt or in warm cup of water to help replenish Ph balance and restore electrolytes.
• Himalayan Salt - Since this salt is sourced from deep within the Himalayan Mountain Range (formed more than 200 million years ago) it has not been exposed to the toxins and impurities of today's environment, therefore it is considered the purest of all salts from the sea. The color ranges from off- white to lustrous pink depending on the depth from which it is mined. The salty, sweet, soft and subtle nuances make this a fabulous finishing salt while also helping to restore alkaline balance if used regularly.
• Hawaiian Salt - A pinkish-brown color derived from Hawaiian clay, called alaea, which is rich in iron oxide.

Kelly Barrett Coudert is a freelance writer and director of Natural and Specialty Foods & Supplements at Cal Mart in Calistoga.  Kelly has worked in the health food industry for 17 years and served as the owner/operator of her own Health Food Store for 11 of those years. Kelly enjoys good healthy foods and the great outdoors!