Sea salt vs iodized salt? Brown salt, black salt, pink salt…
Q: mo, What do you think about salt? Is it better to eliminate it all together or is one salt better than another? What about lead in salt? Plus what salt do you use? Thanks– F.M.
A: F.M. Thanks for your salt questions. Let’s see what we can fit into today’s post.
First addressing if you should ‘just eliminate salt all together’.
Our Body Needs Sodium:
Our body needs sodium, right down to our cells.
“The human body requires a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles, and maintain the proper balance of water and minerals. It is estimated that we need about 500 mg* (a bit less than 1/4 teaspoon) of sodium daily for these vital functions.” (1)(bold and * added) *.
According to the Mayo Clinic:
“1 teaspoon of table salt, which is a combination of sodium and chloride, has 2,325 milligrams (mg) of sodium“(3)(bold added)
It works out that we ‘need’ less than a 1/4 teaspoon to meet the recommended daily requirement.
Most of us easily exceed that and are asked to stay under 2,300mg per day. (approx. 1 teaspoon per day)
For those trying to reduce blood pressure the typical recommendation is to stay under 1500mg per day.
Harvard provides this chart of a variety of popular salts. Sodium amount per teaspoon. (1)
Salt and sodium. The Nutrition Source. Harvard School of Public Health
“Sodium is the most abundant electrolyte ion found in the body.”(4)
