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BTD Forums / Cook Right 4 Your Type / Himalayan Pink Salt vs RealSalt ?
Posted by: ruthiegirl, Monday, October 15, 2012, 2:59pm
I've been using RealSalt (finely ground) for years for most of my cooking needs, though I do keep Diamond Crystal Kosher salt on hand as well for some applications, since it's much cheaper.
Last time I was in Costco, I found Himalayan Pink Salt- very course crystals sold in a grinder, similar to a pepper grinder. It's very pretty but not as convenient to use as the finely ground salt in a shaker bottle. I can't taste a difference between the two kinds of salts, although both are much tastier than the kosher salt.
Is there a nutritional difference between the two?
Posted by: C_sharp, Monday, October 15, 2012, 4:17pm; Reply: 1
The difference is in the trace minerals.
The bulk of both products is sodium chloride.
Whether the additional minerals is worth the cost is up for debate. But some claim that you absorb the trace amounts in the salt better than minerals found in supplements.
Posted by: Victoria, Monday, October 15, 2012, 4:39pm; Reply: 2
I enjoy the taste of the Himalayan salt a lot. I used to keep both RealSalt and Himalayan pink salt, but gradually phased out of the Real. I imagine the mineral array varies between the sources but they are both good.
My health food store sells the Pink salt in a 'fine grind' form, just like other salts. Very convenient.
Posted by: deblynn3, Monday, October 15, 2012, 5:07pm; Reply: 3
I like Celtic sea salt, my sister got me started with it. It is kosher certified. Anyone know what the different minerals are between Himalayan and celtic. I've also got some "black salt powder" from India. It's pink!. Don't care for it as much.
Posted by: ruthiegirl, Monday, October 15, 2012, 5:31pm; Reply: 4
Does anybody know the differences in the trace minerals between these two sources of unrefined, mineral laden, all natural salt? I know that both are better than the refined sodium chloride; but I'm wondering if the Himalayan pink salt is better/worse nutritionally than the Real Salt that's mined in Utah. Or is it best to use both so we get a wider range of trace minerals?
Posted by: Jane, Monday, October 15, 2012, 5:48pm; Reply: 5
I also buy the Gray Celtic Sea Salt. You need less to get the same effect. It's expensive but seems to last a long time.
Posted by: C_sharp, Monday, October 15, 2012, 10:46pm; Reply: 6
RealSalt claims to have 60+ minerals, but it does not want to disclose what the minerals are or wheat their concentrations is.
There product appears to be 98% sodium chloride.
The Himalayan salts vary - There are different sources. There might be as much variation between different Himalayan salts as there is between Himalayan and RealSalt. Here is one analysis of Himalayan:
Hydrogen H 0.30 g/kg
Lithium Li 0.40 g/kg
Beryllium Be <0.01 ppm
Boron B <0.001 ppm
Carbon C <0.001 ppm
Nitrogen N 0.024 ppm
Oxygen O 1.20 g/kg
Flouride F- <0.1 g/kg
Sodium Na+ 382.61 g/kg
Magnesium Mg 0.16 g/kg
Aluminum Al 0.661 ppm
Silicon Si <0.1 g/kg
Phosphorus P <0.10 ppm
Sulfur S 12.4 g/kg
Chloride Cl- 590.93 g/kg
Potassium K+ 3.5 g/kg
Calcium Ca 4.05 g/kg
Scandium Sc <0.0001 ppm
Titanium Ti <0.001 ppm
Vanadium V 0.06 ppm
Chromium Cr 0.05 ppm
Manganese Mn 0.27 ppm
Iron Fe 38.9 ppm
Cobalt Co 0.60 ppm
Nickel Ni 0.13 ppm
Copper Cu 0.56 ppm
Zinc Zn 2.38 ppm
Gallium Ga <0.001 ppm
Germanium Ge <0.001 ppm
Arsenic As <0.01 ppm
Selenium Se 0.05 ppm
Bromine Br 2.1 ppm
Rubidium Rb <0.04 ppm
Strontium Sr <0.014 g/kg
Ytterbium Y <0.001 ppm
Zirconium Zr <0.001 ppm
Niobium Nb <0.001 ppm
Molybdenum Mo <0.01 ppm
Technetium Tc N/A unstable isotope
Ruthenium Ru <0.001 ppm
Rhodium Rh <0.001 ppm
Palladium Pd <0.001 ppm
Silver Ag 0.031 ppm
Cadmium Cd <0.01 ppm
Indium In <0.001 ppm
Tin Sn <0.01 ppm
Antimony Sb <0.01 ppm
Tellurium Te <0.001 ppm
Iodine I <0.1 g/kg
Cesium Cs <0.001 ppm
Barium Ba 1.96 ppm
Lanthanum La <0.001 ppm
Cerium Ce <0.001 ppm
Praseodymium Pr <0.001 ppm
Neodymium Nd <0.001 ppm
Promethium Pm N/A unstable isotope
Samarium Sm <0.001 ppm
Europium Eu <3.0 ppm
Gadolinium Gd <0.001 ppm
Terbium Tb <0.001 ppm
Dysprosium Dy <4.0 ppm
Holmium Ho <0.001 ppm
Erbium Er <0.001 ppm
Thulium Tm <0.001 ppm
Ytterbium Yb <0.001 ppm
Lutetium Lu <0.001 ppm
Hafnium Hf <0.001 ppm
Tantalum Ta 1.1 ppm
Wolfram W <0.001 ppm
Rhenium Re <2.5 ppm
Osmium Os <0.001 ppm
Iridium Ir <2.0 ppm
Platinum Pt <0.47 ppm
Gold Au <1.0 ppm
Mercury Hg <0.03 ppm
Thallium Ti <0.06 ppm
Lead Pb <0.10 ppm
Bismuth Bi <0.10 ppm
Polonium Po <0.001 ppm
Posted by: BHealthy, Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 3:47am; Reply: 7
We use Himalayan salt exclusively now for several reasons:
1. Sea salt harvested from our current oceans may be contaminated with the garbage that's in those oceans. Is the Celtic sea from which the Celtic salt is harvested pollution-free? Since pollution didn't exist when the millennial-old salt deposits were formed (Himalayan and Utahan), I believe they more likely to be pollution-free.
2. We have tired RealSalt several times and find it's too 'sandy' for us -- we don't like crunching grit between our teeth. When I asked RealSalt about this, first she tried to convince me that silica was so beneficial that I should try and get over my aversion. When I explained that I took a silica supplement and didn't need to get it from my salt, she told me that I should try again from a part of the mine that had less silica. That didn't work either, so she recommended their powdered version but DH didn't like the fact that it stuck to itself and was too hard to 'sprinkle.' If you don't take a silica supplement then you might want to consider RealSalt for that reason -- it's silica content is higher than the Himalayan salt. If you Google 'RealSalt too gritty' you will see that I'm not the only one with that complaint.
3. The iron content in RealSalt is supposedly higher than in the Himalayan Pink salt and since I'm menopausal I avoid any supplements with iron. If you're younger, that may not be an issue for you.
4. I REALLY wanted to find a way to 'like' RealSalt because it's made in the USA and I didn't want to risk supporting the Taliban by buying products from Pakistan. But, DH convinced me that by not buying the Himalayan salt, which he loves BTW, I was probably depriving some poor peasant of a living.
I buy our salt in bulk from
http://www.saltworks.us/himalayan-salt.asp. I buy the coarse ground for the grinders on our dining table, the medium grind for DH to sprinkle on stuff that he grills (he likes to see it), the fine grind for shakers, and the powder for the pig by the cooktop because it dissolves better in cooking water.
http://shop.thespicelab.com/p185/100-Himalayan-Crystal-Salt-Packets-Salt-2-Go!/product_info.html sells individual packets that I carry in my purse. In restaurants, I ask for my meal to be prepared salt-free and then use the packets to season it.
They also carry a 'white' Himalayan salt but I suspect it doesn't have any minerals in it. It might be useful for seasoning white foods where you don't want the minerals to show:
http://shop.thespicelab.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=himalayan+diamond&osCsid=7ced12a7cabc8a691c367ff1098e942aA friend of ours adores the Australian Murray River pink flake salt but I have not been able to determine whether the pollution in the Murray River has affected the salt beds so we use it sparingly. That is one delicious salt though.
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