A Salty Story

Like its crystals, salt is multifaceted. It’s a seasoning, a time-honored home remedy, and for some of us, a potential medical malefactor.

In the kitchen cooks commonly have three choices: Table salt, Kosher salt, and sea salt. The first is mined from salt deposits and then processed to give it a fine texture which makes it easier to mix and use in cooking. [Kosher salt has a large, coarse, uneven large flakes that take some time to dissolve. What’s sold in your grocery store may or may not technically be kosher; for true kosher Kosher salt– salt manufactured under kosher guidelines and standards–look for a package that is labeled “kosher-certified.”]

Sea salt’s smaller but still coarse grains are created simply by evaporating seawater. This salt usually is not processed so it holds onto its darker color, plus as traces of magnesium, potassium, calcium, and other nutrients. Since 1924, iodine, a trace element found in seawater and seafood such as shrimp, has been added to most table salts to protect thyroid hormones and reduce the risk of goiter (an enlargement of thyroid tissue) in people living inland away from the sea and its riches.

Home remedies come naturally to salt. A tooth brush dipped in salty water won’t provide the fluoride that strengthens enamel, but it will clean your molars without scratching the surface.

Got a sore throat? As Grandma guaranteed, gargling with a warm solution of ½ teaspoon salt in eight ounces of warm water will work some minor magic by loosening irritating mucus and pulling excess fluids out of your swollen throat tissues. Moving on to muscles, if you’ve got one that’s aching, experts say to warm half a cup of salt, then pour it into a kitchen towel, wrap the towel into a compress, make sure it’s cool enough to touch, and apply to the ache.

Health problems may be linked to consuming more than enough salt. The sodium in sodium chloride (salt’s scientific name) is an essential nutrient that regulates the flow of water through your cells and sides in the transmission of the electrical impulses that power muscle s and nerves. But you can definitely get too much of a good thing. The typical American daily delivers a daily 3,5000-6,000 milligrams sodium, more than enough to send your blood pressure soaring, and while some foods such as celery are naturally high in sodium, the true blame falls on the common kitchen salt shaker.

According to the America Heart Association (AHA) shaking less frequently may even allow some people with high blood pressure to avoid medications. AHA recommends no more than 2,300 mg sodium a day and encourages most adults to head for an ideal limit of no more than 1,500 mg. How to do that? There are two paths to success. First, pin a small note pad to your fridge, track the sodium amounts listed on packaged foods, and watch how the total adds up. Second, a teaspoon of salt has about 2,300 milligrams of sodium (a teaspoon of sea salt or kosher salt may have less sodium simply because fewer crystals fit on the spoon). Then just cook all your food from scratch and use only the salt in your teaspoon for seasoning.

One last salt saving: Once you’re done cooking, clean up the dishes by wrapping about ½ cup salt in cheesecloth or a clean nylon stocking to make a dry scouring pad that scrubs without scratching surfaces. Then pour one cup salt down the kitchen sink drain and let it sit for about 10 minutes to neutralize odors. Neat.