Sea salt vs. table salt
Because it is minimally processed, it contains some minerals, including potassium , iron, and calcium. This is one of the reasons why it's often considered nutritionally superior to table salt, which is heavily ground and has most of its nutrients removed .
However, the nutrients in sea salt are only present in trace amounts. You have to eat very large amounts of it to come close to the amount of potassium, iron, calcium, or magnesium that you can easily get from whole foods.
Sea salt particles are also larger than table salt particles. Therefore, regular salt provides approximately 2,300 mg of sodium per teaspoon (6.1 g), while sea salt contains 2,000 mg of sodium per teaspoon (4.2 g) .
This is because you can fit fewer grains of sea salt into a teaspoon compared to table salt. This is not because it has less sodium than table salt.
Still, most people aren't aware of the difference and think sea salt is healthier than table salt, as excess sodium intake has been linked to high blood pressure levels and increased risk of heart disease .
However, if you consume more sodium than the limit or your personal tolerance, there is no difference in using sea salt instead of regular salt .
In fact, some people find that they need to use more sea salt in their cooking to achieve the same flavor.
possible benefits
Some people claim that sea salt specifically has several additional benefits. However, most of these are not backed by strong scientific research.
Here are some of the most common claims about sea salt.
Hydration, blood pressure, etc.
In general, salt can help you maintain adequate hydration and blood pressure levels. Since sodium plays a vital role in body fluid balance, insufficient intake can lead to dehydration, especially during high-intensity exercise. Maintaining a proper fluid balance in the body is also important to maintaining healthy blood pressure levels. Therefore, consuming too much or too little sodium can cause changes in blood pressure in people who are sensitive to dietary salt. Eating sea salt can help you meet your sodium needs, but you can also get sodium from a variety of other foods.
Digestion
Some people believe that sea salt mixed with warm water can aid digestion.
Chloride is necessary for the production of stomach acid, while sodium chloride (salt) helps with the absorption and transport of nutrients in the intestines after it is broken down during digestion.
Therefore, adequate salt intake promotes optimal digestive health.
One study looked at the effects of drinking salt water on 54 adults preparing for colonoscopies.
Those who did certain yoga poses and drank 2 glasses (480 ml) of water made with 4.5 grams of salt had a bowel movement before surgery .
However, it's unclear to what extent salt water alone helps improve gut health.
While mixing sea salt with water may aid digestion in some cases, drinking too much salt water may cause you to consume too much salt. Getting enough sodium from other sources may be enough to support normal digestion.
Skin health and inflammation
Sea salt baths are thought to reduce dry skin and inflammation.
In fact, the National Eczema Foundation recommends adding 1 cup of salt to bathwater to help relieve the irritation of eczema, a condition characterized by red, itchy skin.
However, it's unclear how and whether salt baths help reduce skin inflammation and whether sea salt has any specific effects.
One study of people with dry skin found that bathing in a salt solution from the Dead Sea helped increase skin moisture and reduce roughness compared to bathing in tap water.
That said, the researchers attributed the positive results to the magnesium content in the Dead Sea solution, not the salt content.
Additionally, another study found that higher concentrations of sodium chloride in the body and skin may increase the number of immune cells, leading to an inflammatory response associated with dry and itchy skin.
These conflicting findings suggest that the ability of sea salt baths to improve skin irritation may depend largely on the mineral content of the salt.
For people with skin problems, sea salt high in magnesium may be the best type to add to your bath.
