When it comes to salt, you’re probably doing it wrong. And I say that from a place of love because I’ve been doing it wrong too. For years.
Over the past few years, I’ve become more aware of what’s in my food. I stopped looking at carbs and fat (not because I don’t care but because there are more important things to look at) and started looking at ingredients.
It was about five years ago that I wrote a post about why the grocery store scares me and it was all about the ingredients. Food has become big business and in an effort to make more convenient, cheaper food, we’ve replaced the simplicity of what we want to eat with a version of it laced with chemicals and preservatives.
Now, I know that “chemicals” aren’t a bad thing. Everything around us is technically made of chemicals but it a matter of what chemicals are put into our food and why that concerns me. (I’ll be attending the Natural Products Expo East in September so stay tuned for newer, better for you foods!)
Let’s get back to salt, though. Because this is another “food” that you might need a little education on.
We’re taught that salt is bad. It can dehydrate you. It can lead to high blood pressure. It’s just bad. And yet, we find it on almost every restaurant table in America. Because salt tastes good. And, believe it or not, our body needs salt.
Sodium and chloride, which are two required components for salt, are necessary electrolytes in your body and they play an important role in nerve transmission. And that’s mostly what you’re getting with your average table salt. You’re getting naturally occurring sea salt that has been stripped of all of the other naturally occurring minerals.
So where can you get real salt or salt as nature intended? There’s a place in the United States that provides some of the best salt I’ve ever had and coincidentally it’s some of the best for you.
In the late 1950s, a Utah farmer plagued by drought decided to bulldoze his cornfields and stumbled upon a large salt deposit 30 feet below his farm. It was once part of an ancient seabed and had lain under the surface, protected by a layer of bentonite clay, remaining completely protected from environmental toxins.
This discovery led to the creation of Real Salt, about as simple and accurate a name as you can get. Take five minutes and learn about why this is actually real salt.
Now, if you’re like me, you’re probably like Yes! I need to use Real Salt! But then your supersmart brain stops and asks two crucial questions.
Don’t I normally buy iodized salt? This doesn’t look iodized and the salt packaging always says “iodide, a necessary nutrient.” What do I do? Where am I going to get my iodine?Â
Yep. That’s right. You do need iodine but it occurs naturally in a lot of foods like cheese, yogurt, milk, eggs, and soy sauce. And it’s much easier to get your necessary nutrients where they naturally occur. I learned all about iodine right here!
Okay. I’m mostly convinced but should I give up my healthy Himalayan Sea Salt? I mean, how does it even taste?
You can keep your Himalayan sea salt if you want. It’s actually very similar but it comes from Pakistan. So if you’re into “buy local, think global,” Utah is way more local than Pakistan.
And, there is a difference in taste. I’m no salt connoisseur so I’ll have a hard time describing the difference. I’ll just say it’s better. It’s almost a touch sweet and it’s very powerful so you don’t need much when you’re cooking.
Since I received my sample, my husband has been begging me to let him take the Real Salt shaker out of my office and into the kitchen. I finally let him and once I tasted it, I knew why he was so anxious.
Last night, I cooked corn on the cob on the grill (like, no foil, no husks, just straight on the grill for 10 minutes). I coated it with a little unsalted organic butter (because that’s the kind of girl I am) and added a little Real Salt and it was the damn corn I’ve ever had.
Healthwise, I’m convinced by the Real Salt story. But for cooking and taste, I can’t see myself using another type of salt again. I just hope those salt mines will keep churning for many years to come!
Redmond, the parent company of Real Salt, sent me a box of goodies to review including samples of Real Salt and natural products made from bentonite clay. All thoughts and opinions stated here are mine and are 100% honest and true!
