Salt is salt, isn’t it? I say yes

Salt is my food arch-enemy, driving up my blood pressure and likely contributing to my need for two stents in the past seven years. That’s why I have an entire page devoted to low-salt recipes and another that looks at how to minimize salt when eating out. But some people like to distinguish between types of sale, saying the most highly processed kind we normally consume is worse that other, more raw products that have other minerals in them.

Himalayan pink salt, yes there really is such a thing, fits in that category of the supposed better-for-you salts. Or does it? This article recently caught my eye on the website care4you.com.

Is pink salt better for you than regular salt? Don;t count on it.

“Many ads for Himalayan pink salt claim that it contains 84 minerals. This appears to be true, based on spectral analysis of the salt. But, most of these 84 minerals are found in very trace amounts. Also, not all 84 are beneficial minerals. Himalayan pink salt also contains trace amounts of toxic and radioactive substances, such as arsenic, mercury, uranium and plutonium,” the article states.

The article goes on to discuss the dangers of salt consumption at the levels most Americans eat it these days.

“it’s well-established that eating too much sodium can raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. High sodium intake has also been linked to many other health conditions, such as obesity and kidney disease. This is concerning, considering that the average American eats 3,440 mg of sodium per day, which is already about 50 percent more than the maximum recommended amount of 2,300 mg per day.”

For people with heart disease like me, better to stay under 1,500 mgs a day.