Salt, what's in it and where does it come from?

So I get a lot of grief about my refusal to eat basic salt. The salt sold in most grocery stores and supplied in most restaurants is iodized salt. So you might think it's no big deal, salt is salt right? Nope not exactly. Iodized salt is not only salt and iodide. Iodized salt is full of dextrose which is a "flavor enhancer" made from corn. What's in dextrose you may ask? High fructose corn syrup and maltodextrin. Two ingredients that are not included in most lifestyles based on eating whole, natural, foods. 

Another thing I get a lot of grief about is the amount of these ingredients that are in iodized salt. Here's some food for thought. 1 (1/4tsp) serving of salt isn't a lot, right? Well 1 tbsp of peanut butter isn't a lot either, but who eats just one tbsp of peanut butter. Most people I know eat well over a tablespoon of salt per day. That's a ton of salt and most salt isn't real salt. Anything in moderation right? Sure, but we don't consider salt something we should be eating less of. It is calorie free, right? Yeah, but so is MSG and we all know that's no good, correct? So limiting/cutting out iodized salt is an important move if your striving to live a whole food lifestyle. 

Now I should probably talk about what kinds of salt are part of a whole food lifestyle. 

•Himalayan pink salt (yes, it's pink naturally)

•Sea salt (make sure the ingredients are just sea salt) 

•Hawaiian black salt 

•Celtic sea salt 

• Ok this one may surprise you. Salt! Yes if you can find just pure, natural salt, go for it. It's usually used in products like peanut butter and crackers but rarely available to purchase in large quantities. So if you find salt with just salt in the ingredients, that's perfectly fine. 

Much love, 

Riley.