Pink is pretty… but is it nutritious?
In terms of sodium content, our response would be “yes”, since pink salt does a good job of providing this essential nutrient (surprise surprise).
In relation to pink salt providing a significant amount of other essential nutrients.. the answer is underwhelming.
But why? Doesn’t pink salt contain an array of nutrients that humans require for health? E.g potassium, iron, magnesium and calcium? And aren’t some of these absent in standard white table salt?
The reason is because there’s a difference between a food containing a variety of nutrients, versus a food containing nutrients in abundance that can significantly influence overall nutrient status.
While pink salt contains over 25 different nutrients, none of these will meaningfully contribute to overall nutrient intake, apart from sodium, when following the guidelines of consuming <6g of salt per day.
Also note that pink salt naturally contains scarce amounts of iodine and is rarely fortified. In comparison to iodised table salt, which does significantly contribute to iodine status in the human population, this is extremely important. Iodine is a critical nutrient required for thyroid hormone production (aka. a “healthy metabolism”) and plays an integral role in development to avoid growth stunting. While iodine naturally occurs in some animal products and is added to select baked-goods, iodised table salt stands to be one of the best consistent sources of this nutrient for humans.
If you were to attempt to reach your essential nutrient targets through pink salt, you would run into sodium toxicity and severe hypernatremia (and potentially die) far before you hit the RDI for calcium, iron and the rest.
Given we all want our hearts to keep beating and to keep blood pressure under control, let’s finish with some practical recommendations:
▪️Aim to consume <6g of salt per day through food and beverages
▪️If salting your food, opt for iodised table salt most of the time
▪️Follow a dietary pattern that lets you achieve essential nutrient targets through FOOD
▪️If you enjoy pink salt, then have the occasional sprinkle - just don’t pend your life on it