This article first appeared in Kannada in ಕ್ಷ ಕಿರಣ, Dr Shashikiran Umakanth’s column in the Vishwavani daily. The Inside Story is its English edition. ಈ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿ
These days, many people have pushed aside the humble iodised white salt that costs about ₹20 a kilo, and are instead paying ₹200 for “Himalayan pink salt” to use in their daily cooking. They have read in WhatsApp forwards that it “lowers blood pressure” and “cures a host of diseases”, and have come to believe it is nothing short of a sanjeevini, a miracle cure.
But how much of this actually stands up to medical science? Let us take a closer look.
The Sodium Truth
Whether your salt is white, pink or even black, its basic chemical identity is the same: sodium chloride. Our regular white salt is about 99 percent sodium chloride. Pink salt is about 98 percent.
In other words, eat too much pink salt and your blood pressure will rise just as surely as it would with white salt. The claim that pink salt lowers blood pressure is a plain and simple lie.
The Secret Behind the Colour
What gives Himalayan salt its pretty pink shade is iron oxide, the same compound that gives rust its colour, along with tiny traces of other minerals. These minerals may be useful to the body, but they are present in such minute amounts that to get enough of them to meet your daily needs, you would have to eat a dangerous quantity of salt.
A Doctor’s Worry: Iodine Deficiency
A few decades ago, goitre (a swelling of the thyroid gland) and other thyroid disorders were rampant in our country. Thyroid problems were even affecting the brain development of our children. To put a stop to this, the government, as a public health measure, made it mandatory for white salt to be sold with added iodine. Thanks to this one simple step, our country largely freed itself of these diseases.
Here is the catch. This expensive pink salt contains no iodine naturally, and most brands do not bother to add any. If your household gives up white salt altogether and switches entirely to pink salt for everyday cooking, pregnant women and growing children are at real risk of iodine deficiency, and the very thyroid problems we worked so hard to eliminate could come back.
Myths and Facts
Myth: “Pink salt does not raise blood pressure.”
Fact: What raises blood pressure is the sodium in salt. White salt and pink salt contain more or less the same amount of sodium.
Myth: “Pink salt contains 84 minerals that the body needs.”
Fact: Test it in a laboratory and you may well find those minerals. But they are present in such tiny quantities that they make no meaningful difference to your body. This is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. If it is minerals you are after, you will get far more benefit, medically speaking, from eating greens, vegetables and fruits than from eating salt.
So, What Should We Do?
For your everyday home cooking, for your saaru and sambar, make it a rule to use iodised white salt. If you like the taste and colour of pink salt, by all means enjoy it, but limit it to a sprinkle over salads or fruit.
A Final Word
Do not gamble with your health, and especially with your children’s thyroid health, on the word of social media salesmen. Do not fall for marketing tricks dressed up in pretty colours and attractive packaging. The humble, everyday iodised salt in your kitchen is your best protection.
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