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Food/Health & Wellness
Is Sea Salt Nutritionally Better Than Ordinary Table Salt?
The major difference is in extraction and processing
What if I tell you that both sea salt and ordinary table salt(not fortified with additional iodine) have the same nutritional content? The difference is in method of extraction and processing.
The Processing Factor
Sea salt is extracted from the sea, and excess water is filtered or evaporated out, with little or no further processing. This makes sea salt retains most of its natural traces of minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium. Hence the crystals is bigger and bolder.
Table salt is however mined from rocky salt deposits, and processed for purification. This processing unfortunately removes the traces of natural minerals. And before reaching our table, it is further processed by adding anti-caking agent to prevent clumping together and flow freely.
Some table salt are fortified with some minerals, the most common is iodine, potassium iodide or potassium iodate, an element needed to make thyroid hormone. The body needs iodine to make the hormone, which only comes from food. However not all table salts are fortified. Lack of iodine in the body can inflame the thyroid gland, a disease called goiter.
