Research on Sea Salt

[Guest guest]

Hey all, I have this info in my files and wanted to share with you, I hope it is okay that I do so. I didn't have the links. You can Google Sea Salt or high quality sea salt and check into it yourselves. Love, Micki

 

 

 

The only true full-spectrum sea salts are those claimed to be Celtic (British and French), some Italian (Alessi), Greece, some other Mediterranean's, and from my limited care of other world sea salts ... I personally use De Souza, from Belmont, CA (near San Francisco).

 

I have found, others have tested and validated, that the De Souza salts have the higher energy patterns than the rest. Especially because they are more pure and clean, versus potential British and French oyster/clams/mussels and crap-to-ocean products .... Also CA salts have more sunshine, and direct (closer to equatorial) solar, lunar, and cosmic rays than the other higher northern latitudes, or those of the Mediterranean crappy waters. Hope this helps gang.

 

 

 

 

The sea salt scene by: Jeanne Rattenbury

 

 

MINED (REGULAR) SALT and solar (sea) salt come from different places, but by the time they make it to your grocery shelf, they are practically identical in every way, including nutritional value. (Unprocessed sea salt is a slightly different story--more on that later.) All salt originates in the ocean, which has covered different parts of the earth over time. But because some ancient seas have dried up and become covered with sediment, there are now salt deposits beneath the earth's surface.

Whether it comes from the sea or the earth, table salt is made through the process of evaporation. In the case of solar salt, sea water is put into shallow outdoor basins and allowed to evaporate until salt crystals emerge; in mined salt, water is pumped into salt mines to create a well of brine, which is then pumped into indoor vessels and heated until, once again, salt crystals emerge. Impurities are filtered, iodine and anti-caking agents are sometimes added, and--voila--table salt that is about 99 percent sodium chloride. Hain Sea Salt, for instance, is 99.99 percent sodium chloride, .005 percent calcium sulfate, .003 percent magnesium chloride and .002 percent sodium sulfate. (Federal standards require that all salt sold for table salt be at least 97.5 percent sodium chloride.)

Sodium is a necessary nutrient, one that helps maintain proper water balance and blood pH, as well as stomach, nerve and muscle function. Salt is a good source of sodium, but simple math indicates that it really isn't a good source of anything else, especially in the small quantities that people normally consume. Still, some extol the virtues of sea salt, heralding it for the trace minerals that are found in sea water such as phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, among others. But most sea salt (even the stuff sold in health food stores), is every bit as refined as mined salt, so the bulk of the trace minerals are processed out--a fact that is even recognized by some sea salt advocates such as Christiane Northrup, M.D., a physician specializing in women's health and editor of the newsletter "Health Wisdom for Women." Northrup, a strong proponent of the health benefits of minerals in sea salt, orders unprocessed Celtic sea salt through the Grain and Salt Society (14351 Wycliff Way, P.O. Box DD, Magalia, CA 95994; [916] 872-5800) for $56 per pound (less for members) and encourages her readers to do the same.

Is it worth it? Robert L. Wolke, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied salt extensively, says no. "In the quantities you use either in cooking or at the table, the amount you would get of these trace minerals is utterly negligible," says Wolke. "You'd have to eat a quarter pound of ocean solids [processed sea salt] to equal the amount of iron in a single grape or two pounds to equal the amount of phosphorus in that grape." Wolke does say that there are significant amounts of calcium and magnesium in unprocessed sea salt--enough so that he doesn't even consider them "trace" minerals--but says you'd get more simply by eating green vegetables.

Nutrition aside, sea salt does have a place in some chef's kitchens because it can impart a slightly different flavor, depending on its grind. According to Skip Niman, director of quality administration for Cargill Salt, sea salt crystals start out somewhat coarser than mined salt crystals; the larger the crystal, the more "biting" the salt taste. "It's a function of how quickly it dissolves in the palate," Niman says. So if you want coarse salt to grind on top of your focaccia, sea salt is the way to go.