Salt part I: What is salt?
In the next few posts I would like to talk a little bit about salt as it takes a very important part in sauce making and cooking in general.
The Oxford dictionary defines salt as a white crystalline substance which gives seawater its characteristic taste and is used for seasoning or preserving food. It is also known by its little chemical name; sodium chloride or NaCl.
Salt is a simple inorganic mineral that is part of all the basic cooking preparation from dough to batters, cured food, pickles, cheese making, soy sauce or enliven foods. It is an essential nutrient that our body cannot do without. But it can, also, damage it if in excess. Nowadays, salt is used in large amounts in industrial manufactured food of all sorts as well as being used to de-icing roads.
Salt has been gathered in its crystalline form from the seacoast since prehistoric times. Salt can, also, come from rock salt deposit (like this one in Poland, see picture) that formed when ancient seas were isolated and evaporated when land masses rose millions of years ago. Hen throughout centuries some of them were covered by layers of sediments or later geological processes.
Salt extraction from rock salt deposit has been industrialised in the 18th century. Salt deposit are mined or extracted by a process called: “mining by solution”. Most rock salt is done that way. Water is pumped into the deposit. Then, when all the salt is dissolved the brine is pumped and evaporated down in a vacuum chamber to form the solid crystals.
Sea salt is produced by gradual evaporation from open air salt pans in region where the climate is favourable. But nowadays, most of the sea salt production is made though vacuum evaporation too.
Salt producers have to overcome the many bitter minerals contained in seawater: the chloride and sulphate salts of magnesium and calcium. Two techniques are used to remove these bitter salts. The first one consists in dissolving the salt crystals in some water, and then ad some sodium hydroxide and carbon dioxide, which precipitate these bitter salts, and then evaporate this brine, usually using the vacuum evaporation process.
Salt is a simple inorganic mineral that is part of all the basic cooking preparation from dough to batters, cured food, pickles, cheese making, soy sauce or enliven foods. It is an essential nutrient that our body cannot do without. But it can, also, damage it if in excess. Nowadays, salt is used in large amounts in industrial manufactured food of all sorts as well as being used to de-icing roads.
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Salt extraction from rock salt deposit has been industrialised in the 18th century. Salt deposit are mined or extracted by a process called: “mining by solution”. Most rock salt is done that way. Water is pumped into the deposit. Then, when all the salt is dissolved the brine is pumped and evaporated down in a vacuum chamber to form the solid crystals.
Sea salt is produced by gradual evaporation from open air salt pans in region where the climate is favourable. But nowadays, most of the sea salt production is made though vacuum evaporation too.
Salt producers have to overcome the many bitter minerals contained in seawater: the chloride and sulphate salts of magnesium and calcium. Two techniques are used to remove these bitter salts. The first one consists in dissolving the salt crystals in some water, and then ad some sodium hydroxide and carbon dioxide, which precipitate these bitter salts, and then evaporate this brine, usually using the vacuum evaporation process.
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Furthermore, low-salt diets have side effects of their own, such as a noticeable increase in blood cholesterol levels. This is not all, a diet high in salt, on the top of raising the blood pressure increase the pressure on our kidneys. To get rid off the excess sodium in our blood, our kidneys have to work harder to filter it out. It can worsen chronic kidney diseases. This is why it is advisable to have serious control of its salt intake for people with such conditions. There is also evidence, that a diet high in sodium chloride can cause calcium losses. This factor is very important for people suffering from osteoporosis.
Finally, our body does not only have one way to excrete excess salt, we have seen that our kidney filter it out, it is also done through sweating, it also, done through our digestive system. Salty food exposes our intestines to potential cell damaging salt concentrations. Recent studies conducted in Asia show evidence that rich salt diets are linked to several cancer of the digestive system.
So, in view of all those scary conditions linked to a salt rich diet, it is important to understand that they are no drug free solutions to treat them and that moderation is the key. New regulations are coming to push the food industry to be more clear and truthful about the salt content of their products using clearer labelling and reducing the added salt in their food. A balance diet rich in vegetables, fruits and seeds will also, help to solve such health problems. And I would ad to these few recommendations: COOK your own food, you are sure to know what is in it!
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Studies have found that most young adults can identify as salty a water solution with a concentration of sodium chloride of 0.05%. It is the equivalent of a teaspoon of salt diluted in 10 litres of water. As we age our sensitivity to salt decrease. In comparison, a person aged 60 years of age needs up to twice the concentration of salt to detect saltiness, than a young adult one. This amount of sodium chloride represents the equivalent of the natural concentration of this ion in our plasma. Note that most food manufacturer use a concentration of 1 to 3% of salt in their products, which is 10 a 30 folds the natural concentration of our plasma. These concentrations can lead to an increase in the risk of developing high blood pressure. It also, gets our body used to these levels of saltiness. The body becomes dependent to a high concentration of salt in food. Sensitivity to salt can be, easily, weaned out by a gradual decrease of the salinity of the food someone have. It takes up to 2 to 4 months to train the body to a normal saltiness expectation.
To be continued....
Few links to web-sites about salt for further information: The story of salt and its political role in Brittany, Traditional salt gathering, Salt and health.
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