The Salt conundrum
Salt Science
Good salts are those typically outside of what we might call table salt. Table salt can have a practical and pragmatic use. It is often the most familiar of all salts in the salt family repertoire. It is typically mentioned in baking as it is used in small quantities, but it certainly does not lend itself to savoury cooking as it would be needed in larger quantities.
Salt production is even older than the spice trade dating back to 6,000 BC. Salt is NOT a spice which is a common misconception as it does NOT come from a plant. It is organic, often used as a flavouring enhancement condiment. However, we should be careful on the context of how we use the word organic in this instance.
Salt Vs Sodium
It is important to understand that sea salt has as much sodium as table salt. However, you might have to use more table salt because the outcome might not be salty enough for the end user.
In all of the Camelēr blend formulations, the alchemy contains zero to low sodium. Table salt is made up of sodium plus chloride. 40% sodium mineral and 60% of the chloride mineral. It is the 40% that doctors have a concern with.
To make you feel completely discombobulated, your body does need sodium. It is in fact found in every cell of your body. Sodium alongside other ions regulate the pressure in your body that is related to blood pressure.
Nonetheless, in layman terms, not all salt is bad for you, and your body does need salt. As the old adage goes, too much of anything is bad for you. It is a complex balance that even the highest achiever would struggle to get right. It is because salt being the most common form of sodium, is often unnecessarily added in food manufacturing, cooking in the homestead as a taste enhancer, seasoning and the classic of being used as a product shelf-life extender.
Cutting down on salt. Why?
We now know that salt pretty much like sugar is often in so many products, across various food and beverage brands in disproportionate amounts and often just not needed at all. Research states that salt can be considered addictive in the same trajectory as sugar, nicotine and alcohol. Often is the case that people who enjoy eating salty foods typically crave more for reasons that are somewhat not their fault.
The average intake of sodium is considered to be double the recommended amount according to the British Heart Foundation. It is the hidden salt that causes the greatest number of issues, typically found in the convience processed variety of meals and food to go. Most of us could benefit on a reduction of salt intake because of the health implications associated with high levels of salt and sodium.
- Water retention
- Stomach Cancer
- Osteoporosis
- High Blood Pressure
- Stroke
- Cardiovascular death and disease.
Hidden Salt
Adults should try and consume no more than 6g of salt per day. This is literally one teaspoon. When you consider the hidden salts in products, this is where you are likely to get caught out. When it comes to children, you really should drastically reduce the amount of salt from the ages of 11 downwards. Check the NHS website to see the most up to date clinical answers.
Pantry Salt
We are not here to bombard you with nanny state advice. As co-founders we both recognise that we like salt. In our pantry we might have kosher salt, salt flakes and even Himalayan pink. In the UK, Maldon would be our go to healthier and artisanal sea salt because of taste and lower carbon footprint. Nevertheless, this is the research we have carried out across various respected authorities. It would be our recommendation to use salt sparingly as a flavour enhancer when cooking or baking alongside our spice blends. Please be sure to do your own research.
Our low sodium to zero spice mixes
Advieh Mahi, MITMITA and VEGETŌ are our only blends that contain celery salt which is low in sodium. All of our other blends contain ZERO amounts of salt. Our VEGETŌ is often branded as a finishing salt by our chief alchemist. It goes without saying that you should still consider how much salt is in food and beverage products and recipes when making in the kitchen. Our product range does give you the confidence to know that there is low to zero sodium. Fundamentally, feel free to add salt, but just remember that you should have a holistic approach when consuming salt.