Il sale in recent years it has been branded an enemy of our health. On average, in fact, too much is consumed and often it is done unknowingly since processed and packaged foods are rich in "hidden" sodium. The usual suspects are cured meats and canned foods, but you might be surprised at the sodium content of packaged bread and many toppings.
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Common refined table salt: it is largely composed of sodium chloride and undergoes an intense purification process that removes minerals such as magnesium, potassium and calcium, which are considered to be impurities. After refining, the salt can be strengthened with disintegrating additives and very often with iodine, thus giving rise to iodized salt.
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Table sea salt: this salt derives from the evaporation of sea water. It exists in a refined version but also in a full version. The whole sea salt does not contain a greater quantity of minerals: such as, for example, magnesium, copper, zinc, phosphorus.
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Pink Himalayan Salt: its color is due to iron oxide. It is a fossil salt with very ancient origins: it was formed about 250 million years ago thanks to the drying up of seas and lakes during the construction phase of the Himalayas. Its flavor is balanced and tends to preserve the aroma of the food to which it is added. According to its admirers, the benefits of this salt are many: pink salt is healthier because it is rich in trace elements; it is pure because it was deposited millions of years ago when there was no pollution of the seas and it is easily assimilated by the human organism thanks to the structure of the crystals.
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Breton gray salt: it is produced in southern Brittany and its gray color is due to the clay content. It is therefore an Atlantic sea salt, very rich in magnesium and many other mineral salts and poorer in sodium than refined salt. The unique feature of this salt is the slight aftertaste of salt which makes it suitable for all dishes based on fish, white meat and boiled vegetables.
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Black salt from Hawaii: harvested on the small Hawaiian island of Molokai. Its color is given by the fact that the salt combines with activated vegetable carbon, to which detoxifying properties are attributed. In the kitchen it is also often used as a decorative condiment.
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Blue salt of Persia. Very rare natural rock salt that is extracted from the salt mines of Iran. Its coloring depends on the presence of sylvite. It has a spicy aftertaste.
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Smoked salt from Denmark: this salt is smoked with oak, juniper, beech, red elm and cherry. Its taste is therefore more decisive and it is excellent if used to season meat and vegetable dishes.
