Sea Salt Benefits You Don’t Know About!

Salt has been used as a natural flavoring for thousands of years, and it’s so vital to our existence that a portion of our tongues is even designated to taste saltiness. However, in recent years, salt has come under fire and has been characterized as an unhealthy substance that we should cut out of our diets in favor of heart health.

That being said, not all salt is created equal and there is definitely a difference between unrefined, mineral-rich varieties like sea salt versus salt that has been heavily processed and stripped of all of its natural nutrients.

So is sea salt good for you? Does sea salt have iodine? And which types are best when it comes to your health? Keep reading for everything you need to know about this common kitchen ingredient in Malaysia.

What is sea salt?

All types of salt — including table salt — originate from a sea or a salty body of water, but not all salts currently on the market actually come from the oceans in existence today. What does that mean? Salts that are not sea salt are often derived from underground salt deposits left behind by seawater at some point.

Sea salt is a type of salt produced from the evaporation of current seawater. The evaporation is accomplished by either open-air solar evaporation or by a quicker vacuum evaporation process. Some of the pricier sea salts available today often come from the slower sun-fueled evaporation method. When you eat a sea salt that has experienced very little processing, you have a salt that contains health-promoting trace minerals. It also has natural flavors and colors that make it a lot tastier and more interesting to use for cooking as well as homemade beauty products.

Sea salt can be either unrefined or refined, although unrefined sea salt is generally recommended to maximize its potential health benefits. Refined sea salt, on the other hand, is washed to strip it of its trace minerals and often contains harmful food additives trigger leaky gut.

Thus with all that said, here are the benefits of sea salts:

1. Keeps you hydrated
Contrary to popular belief, sea salt is extremely beneficial in keeping us hydrated. The amount of nutrients in sea salt also satisfies our thirst for a longer period of time and keeps us holding on to the fluids for longer.

Table salt, on the other hand, dehydrates us and actually leeches essential minerals from the body. It also makes us crave it more (I used to be a salt addict!) because our bodies is in need of nutrients that it wants in natural sea salt that cannot be satisfied by processed table salt.

2. Reduces fluid retention
Some people think that salty food makes you bloat or retain water, and yes, this happens when you consume white table salt and refined salt used in processed foods. I remember the days I would wake up feeling groggy and bloated after a late night pizza binge with friends.

However, with real sea salt, the opposite happens because of its balanced ratio of minerals, especially potassium and sodium, which help release retained water. Eating real food and salting your own food with sea salt will help eliminate bloat and water retention.

3. A great source of minerals
Did you know that high-quality sea salt has 84 trace minerals that nourish and strengthen our body? We used to be able to get enough minerals from the food we eat. However, with monocropping and improper farming methods, our soil has been depleted of these essential minerals and doesn’t provide the nutrients to our food like it used to.

However, we can supplement with sea salt and replenish our bodies with these easily absorbable minerals. I even put a pinch of sea salt in my water each day for that extra nutrient profile!

4. Balances electrolytes
Because of its amazing mineral content, sea salt is a great source of electrolytes like magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium. These electrolytes are vital for muscle, brain and heart health, because of its critical role in the nervous system. Instead of the typical sugar-filled electrolyte drinks you can find at the supermarket, try adding sea salt to water with a squeeze of lemon juice.

5. Prevents muscle cramps
When your electrolytes are low, you can experience muscle soreness, cramps, charley horse, and even restless leg syndrome. The lack of minerals keeps the muscles from relaxing and cause contractions that are out of your control. This is why epsom salt baths are recommended for any kind for muscle fatigue. The magnesium in epsom salt plays a huge role in loosening and calming the muscles and your entire body.

If you know you’ll be doing a strenuous activity, make sure to add sea salt to your water before and after to replenish your body with the minerals that it loses during the exercise.

6. Great for your skin's health
Because of its potent mineral content, sea salt has anti-inflammatory properties that are beneficial for skin health. There are many beauty products that use sea salt, because it has the power to detoxify the skin, while exfoliating, increasing circulation, and providing the skin with nutrients. Sea salt has been shown to be especially beneficial for acne, psoriasis, eczema, and anti-aging.

7. Improves digestion
Sea salt is necessary in the role of digestion, and it starts in the mouth. The salivary amylase, an enzyme which helps break down carbohydrates in the saliva, is activated by the flavor of salt.

Also, salt plays a huge role in the making of hydrochloric acid, which is secreted in the stomach for the breakdown of food, especially protein. Most people are insufficient in hydrochloric acid, and this can cause numerous digestive issues like bloating, gas, heartburn, indigestion, and can eventually lead to leaky gut and chronic disease.

8. Nourishes the adrenal glands
Adrenal fatigue of varying degrees is extremely common today, resulting from stress and poor diet. With adrenal insufficiency, one of the main symptoms is salt cravings. This is because the body is craving the nutrients it needs from sea salt.

Among their numerous demanding functions, our adrenal glands release hormones that regulate sodium and potassium in the body. So in order to make this particular job easier, the adrenals need a balance of these minerals through high quality sea salt. This is especially important when they are already tired from the stress we put through them everyday.

9. Regulates blood pressure
Yes, high quality sea salt is greatly beneficial for regulating blood pressure. The rise in blood pressure is the result of inflammation in the body, which is primarily caused by a high sugar, processed food diet, which also includes white table salt that’s devoid of most nutrients.

Real sea salt actually reduces inflammation by bringing in the necessary minerals that the body uses to boost its immunity. By providing the body with enough water and potassium, it actually helps prevent heart disease and improve cardiovascular health. ‘