Is sea salt the answer to a low-sodium diet that tastes good? Depends on who you ask. I've been surfing around the Internet (so you don't have to!) in search of the answer to this question. Not surprisingly, the folks who are selling sea salt say yes, that it's lower in sodium and has all manner of trace minerals and nutrients that regular table salt doesn't have. Those who are marketing salt substitutes say that sea salt and table salt are both equally harmful. I was totally confused after a while so I headed to a trusted authority, the Mayo Clinic. Here is what I found on their website's Ask a Food & Nutrition Specialist section:
"Sea salt and table salt have the same nutritional value. The real differences between sea salt and table salt are in their taste and texture."
Read the whole article, it goes on to explain the different methods of mining (table salt) and evaporating sea water (sea salt), how they're both refined and some more interesting tidbits. Sea salt seems more "exotic" to me but I'll just continue keeping an eye on the total sodium milligrams from all sources in Mama's diet unless a reputable study in the future finds otherwise. I'm finding that fresh "real" food is plenty flavorful without so much added salt anyhow.
Is sea salt the answer to a low-sodium diet that tastes good? Depends on who you ask. I've been surfing around the Internet (so you don't have to!) in search of the answer to this question. Not surprisingly, the folks who are selling sea salt say yes, that it's lower in sodium and has all manner of trace minerals and nutrients that regular table salt doesn't have. Those who are marketing salt substitutes say that sea salt and table salt are both equally harmful. I was totally confused after a while so I headed to a trusted authority, the Mayo Clinic. Here is what I found on their website's Ask a Food & Nutrition Specialist section:
"Sea salt and table salt have the same nutritional value. The real differences between sea salt and table salt are in their taste and texture."
Read the whole article, it goes on to explain the different methods of mining (table salt) and evaporating sea water (sea salt), how they're both refined and some more interesting tidbits. Sea salt seems more "exotic" to me but I'll just continue keeping an eye on the total sodium milligrams from all sources in Mama's diet unless a reputable study in the future finds otherwise. I'm finding that fresh "real" food is plenty flavorful without so much added salt anyhow.