The minerals contained in salt are one of the five major nutrients essential for human life, and are the only ones that cannot be produced in the body, so they must be ingested through food.
There are many minerals on Earth, but currently we know that 16 types of minerals, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, are essential for maintaining body function.
The minerals play the following roles:
- Produces blood and bones, and maintains and regulates bodily functions
- Maintains a constant salt concentration within the cell
-Keeps blood slightly alkaline
・Relieves fatigue and aids metabolism
・Prevention of aging through brain activation and antioxidant effects
・Prevention of anemia
Although the required amount of each is very small, they each play a very important role, so it is said that it is important to consume them in a balanced manner through your daily diet.
Mineral deficiency disorders
A mineral deficiency can cause a variety of symptoms known as "illness," including weakness, fatigue, headaches, dehydration, mental illness, chills, anemia, and menstrual irregularities .
Decreasing mineral content in vegetables
Minerals are found in abundance in soil and are also found in vegetables. However, it is said that the mineral content of vegetables these days is half to one-third of what it was 50 years ago . One of the reasons for this is modern farming methods that use large amounts of chemical fertilizers to produce faster, larger harvests.
If you can get vegetables grown using organic or natural farming methods, you can get high-quality minerals in a more natural way, but in reality, this is not so easy. That's why it's important to be conscious of getting a balanced amount of minerals from the salt you ingest every day.
Tips for choosing salt: Production method
But there are many different types of salt.
So, when choosing salt, the most important thing to pay attention to is the production method.
In Japan, the main method of making salt has been boiling seawater in a pot for a long time. However, in the 1970s, in order to ensure a stable supply of salt, the "ion exchange membrane method," an industrial method that uses electricity to extract only "sodium chloride" from seawater, was promoted.
Seawater naturally contains over 80 types of minerals, but this "ion exchange membrane method" removes all minerals except for sodium chloride. This is the "refined salt" that is widely used today and is cheap and readily available.
There is almost no difference in appearance or ingredients, but there are some major differences:
Classification by salt refining method
Refined salt
Salt sold as "table salt" or "table salt." It is made by electrolyzing seawater to extract only "sodium chloride," and is widely used because it can be mass-produced and is inexpensive.
Regenerated processed salt
This salt is sold as being rich in minerals by adding bittern (seawater) to refined salt or imported salt. It is a little more expensive than refined salt. Since it is added later, the balance is slightly different from that of nature.
Natural salt
This refers to salt that is not refined. It is called "natural salt" or "natural salt" but there is no set definition. There is salt made by drying seawater in the sun or boiling it down in a pot. In addition to sea salt, there is rock salt and lake salt, each of which contains different amounts of minerals.
This information may or may not be written on the back of the package. Often the information is not written in detail and can be misleading, so you need to do your research before purchasing.
In those cases, I always check the place of production, the ingredients, and the manufacturing method. If the salt is made with a particular manufacturing method, there will always be detailed information.
Recommended mineral-rich salt
Among them, the salt that met the store manager's approval was Yuki Shio , which has an exceptionally high mineral content, and Ishigaki Salt, which is dried slowly at low temperature for three days.
In particular, Yuki Shio is made using a new manufacturing method in which underground seawater drawn from underground through coral layers is sprayed onto a heated iron plate to instantly turn it into powdered salt. Because this groundwater passes through the strata over many years, the risk of microplastic contamination is extremely low, and it absorbs many of the minerals that have accumulated in the coral layers. Groundwater is such a precious water source that it can be called a kind of "gem of the earth." Snow Salt made from this groundwater is rich in these precious minerals.
summary
Licking salt can make you feel better? You may be skeptical, but please don't cut down on your salt intake and instead try using the excellent salt recommended by the store manager in your cooking.
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