I hear people raving about gourmet
salts, such as pink salt and rock salt.
Are these better for you than regular salt?
It’s the sodium in salt that raises our
blood pressure and damages health – that’s why
health experts recommend we reduce our intake to
no more than 6g a day. While many chefs use
‘posh’ varieties – and there are plenty, including
coarse, fne, sea, rock, Cornish and Himalayan salt,
as well as blends that contain exotic ingredients
such as truffe and vanilla – the truth is they contain
a similar amount of sodium to regular table or
cooking salt, so they’re no better for us.
The problem is many of the claims made on the
packaging of gourmet salts would lead us to believe
otherwise. A survey carried out by campaign group
Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) and
Which? found that, thanks to on-pack claims that
gourmet salts are ‘natural’, ‘contain minerals’ or
offer a ‘tastier and healthier alternative’ to table
salt, a massive 24% of adults think they’re healthier
and 39% believe they’re more natural.
Even more worrying is that we tend to use more
of these salts because the crystal sizes are larger.
The key to better health is to stop adding any type
of salt to your meals, and to eat fewer salty foods.
