What is the sea salt craze?

Maybe it’s similar to the kale craze lol. Sea salt might be trendy now.

It’s more meaningless hype. Every bit of the table salt we consume was once in a sea somewhere. It’s exhausting to be penned into a life of wading through bullshit.

Some salt has been refined to just be NaCl with idoine and anti-caking agents. “sea salt” has other salts, trace minerals and is arguably healthier. I tend to think this is probably the case but in the end salt is salt and any health benefit of one over the other is likely trivial. I have a huge bag of redman realsalt that’ll take years for me to consume so that’s what I use.

I am seriously considering taking iodine supplements as an experiment. I think the US population is moving towards being deficient again. It’s just a guess, due to all the packaged food we eat.

When I was diagnosed hypothyroid I called Stouffer’s frozen and Campbell’s soup out of curiosity. Both have foods fairly high in sodium, so I never add extra salt, except on rare occasion I buy a low salt soup. Neither uses salt with iodine. I bet none, or few, of the packaged foods do.

When I learned I was vitamin D deficient I can’t tell you how many MD’s, dietitians, and nutritionists, said to me when I told them I take a lot of vitamin D, “Americans don’t have to take supplements for D we get it in our food.” Then I would tell them my blood test information, and they said, “I guess you do need it.” Or, something similar. It became obvious medical science will go on assumptions. They didn’t know how deficient so many people were, because they weren’t testing patients. I have to wonder the iodine levels in people, because is anyone doing the testing to see if the averages have changed in the American population? If we don’t test we don’t know.

@JLeslie My doc tests for D he told me almost everyone he tests who does not supplement is deficient

I was tested and was deficient for D also. Do they test for iodine?
I think I should get serious about supplements.
I have been trying to eat smart, but sometimes… well, it is so darn easy to go with prepared foods.

@ARE_you_kidding_me The doctor’s who test for it know it. My husband used to always have normal numbers when he bothered to test, but in the last two year he has been slightly below normal. He is the whitest I’ve ever seen, so it makes sense. I’ve been giving him mega doses to help the plantar faciitis he developed, but he will have to go to the doctor, because I don’t believe in not monitoring, and it’s important he gets his calcium checked in my opinion.

They changed the normal parameters years ago, so now people who would have been normal 30 years ago, are now considered deficient. Some doctors hold to the idea that the old numbers were fine I guess. But, the doctors who test for it know they have many patients who feel better, especially muscle pain relief, when they get their D numbers up. Some people don’t see a difference, but that’s like anything, not everyone will see an effect.

@Here2_4 I think there is a test for iodine, but I don’t think it’s done often.

* * * * * Here are your extra GAs. That is a very informative answer,

One thing that @ARE_you_kidding_me neglects to mention about the “trace elements” is that they alter flavor slightly as well. While most people don’t care, there are some who like the distinctive flavor of a particular type of salt. It’s not just about health.

@jerv I gave my self a blind taste test a while back and could not discern the difference. Some may but I could not. it all tasted good

@ARE_you_kidding_me Fair enough. My in-laws can’t tell the the difference between a filet mignon and one of those brown things you get in a Salisbury Steak frozen dinner.

I’ve heard top chefs won’t use iodized salt because of the metallic taste. I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t taste metallic from iodized salt.

I don’t, either.

I do, though it’s not quite metallic to my palate.

As my line of work involves flying chips, I can tell aluminum from steel from titanium from Inconel by taste, and iodized salt isn’t even close. It tastes more sandy than metallic to me.

Before @jerv even said anything, I was going to mention the taste. This might sound strange, but a lot of sea salt has what I refer to as a much “creamier” taste. Which… is pretty much a bad description, but I honestly wouldn’t know how else to say it. It’s smoother and almost… more buttery? Sorry, I kind of suck at this.

Anyway, I thought because everyone else was sharing, it might be worth it to mention that I’ve known I’m deficient in vitamin D for quite a while now, and I’ve pretty much always hated salt and have gone out of my way for most of my life to avoid it. I just found out not too long ago that I also have hypothyroidism and that many people with hypothyroidism are both deficient in vitamin D and iodine. Very interesting.

So now, I specifically bought salt that has iodine added (because we had none), but I still keep my sea salt around for the taste – especially if I’m making certain kinds of chocolate treats at home, because nothing beats a tiny sprinkle of sea salt on the top. Regular table salt just does not do the same thing.

Edit: Oh, and yes, I agree with @jerv again. Salt with added iodine tastes different than regular table salt that doesn’t have it added. However, I actually prefer the way iodized salt tastes, compared to regular table salt without it added.

^^I’m not sure if hypothyroid are deficient in D more often than those who aren’t, or if hypothyroid patients go to the doctor more, especially endocrinologists, and so they are tested for D. Lots of GP’s don’t test for it. Vitamin D is directly connected to parathyroid function so I think endocrinologists jumped on the bandwagon of D early on.

Having said that I know a lot of women who are hypothyroid, and deficit in D, borderline B12 (which is deficient in some countries) and I find the number of people I know with this combination of problems staggering.

Less sodium.