Be it sea salt or pink salt, they are often labelled as healthy salts. They may be actually bad for your heart, which is one of the potential side effects of salt.
Sodium, a key element in salt, is important to maintain your body’s fluid balance and regulate blood pressure. However, consuming too much of salt may lead to all sorts of health problems. One of the side effects of salt is that it can be harmful for your heart. It may raise your blood pressure, which is one of the main risk factors for heart disease. But with so many varieties of salt available in the market, you may wonder if they are better than the table salt that you use for cooking. Let’s find out if salts like pink salt, sea salt and celtic salt are better than table salt for your heart or not.
What are the different types of salt?
There are many varieties of salt. Here are some of the popular ones:
- Sea salt: It is produced by evaporating seawater and typically undergoes minimal processing. “This allows it to retain natural trace minerals like magnesium, calcium and potassium,” says clinical nutritionist Susmita N.
- Pink salt: Also known as Himalayan salt, is a type of salt that is sourced in the Punjab region of Pakistan, near the Himalayan foothills. It gets its distinctive pink colour from trace minerals, especially iron oxide along with small amounts of magnesium, potassium and calcium.
- Celtic salt: It is a natural, unrefined sea salt known for its grayish colour. It contains trace amounts of minerals like magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron.
- Table salt: It is the most common type of salt used in households across the globe. It is a highly refined form of salt, and made mostly of sodium chloride (NaCl).
Are there benefits of salts for the heart?
Salt is essential for life, but excess intake can harm the heart, which is one of the side effects of salt. You should not consume more than 2300 mg of sodium a day, according to The American Heart Association.
“In moderation, all salts supply sodium, which is needed for fluid balance, nerve signals, and muscle contraction, including the heartbeat,” says cardiologist Dr Abhijit Borse. Salt in the diet helps maintain blood volume and pressure, which in turn prevents dehydration, and provides essential electrolytes.
Side effects of salt: How can it affect the heart?
All types of salt provide sodium chloride despite different minerals, so the side effects of salt are similar. Here’s how they may be harmful for the heart:
- Table salt: It is primarily sodium chloride (about 40 percent sodium). During a study, published in Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, an association was found between lower dietary sodium intake and a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease in the general population. Excessive consumption of sodium may worsen high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing heart failure, according to Harvard Health Publishing. High blood pressure or hypertension may also lead to other types of heart disease, and even kidney failure. “Table salt is usually iodised, which helps prevent goiter (enlarged thyroid), but it has no additional cardiovascular benefit beyond sodium itself,” says Dr Borse.
- Sea salt: Coarse sea salt (larger flakes) contains roughly 2000 mg sodium per teaspoon. “Like all sodium, it can raise blood pressure if overused,” says Dr Borse. It typically lacks added iodine, so relying on it exclusively can risk iodine deficiency.
- Pink salt: Coarse pink salt provides around 1700 to 2000 mg sodium per teaspoon. It contains iron, which gives the pink colour plus dozens of other trace minerals, but these are so minute that they have no proven health effect. Like sea salt, Himalayan salt is not iodised. From a heart perspective, it poses the same risks — too much raises blood pressure.
- Celtic salt: It supplies about 2000 mg sodium per teaspoon. It contains magnesium, calcium, and potassium, but again in small amounts. Heart-health-wise it’s no different, as the sodium can raise blood pressure, and it contains no added iodine.
What are the other side effects of salt?
Here are other side effects of salt that can be experienced especially when eaten in excess:
- Bloating and water retention: These side effects of salt can happen due to excess sodium.
- Increased thirst: You may feel very thirsty as the body tries to balance sodium levels.
- Kidney strain: High sodium forces kidneys to work harder. “This increases the risk of kidney stones and chronic kidney disease,” says Susmita.
- Calcium loss: Excess sodium can lead to calcium leaching from bones, which can increase the risk of osteoporosis.
- Thyroid problems: If you consume salts like sea salt or pink salt instead of table salt, they may lead to thyroid-related issues primarily hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) over time. Hypothyroidism is one of the side effects of salt, which can be experienced if you take salt with no iodine.
Be it pink salt or other type of trendy salt with trace minerals, you need to ensure you don’t exceed the recommended amount. After all, there are side effects of salt. The different types of this common kitchen ingredient can negatively impact your heart and even lead to other problems like bloating.
Related FAQs
Does sea salt raise cholesterol?
It does not. Sodium and chloride in salt have no direct effect on blood cholesterol levels. Salt influences blood pressure and fluid balance, while cholesterol comes from dietary fat and body metabolism.
Which salt is best for a heart patient?
All salts behave the same way on the heart because of their sodium content. The key is quantity, not variety. That said, medical experts often recommend iodised table salt to ensure adequate iodine intake. Iodine is needed for thyroid health, and replacing all iodised salt with gourmet (non-iodized) salt could risk deficiency.
Is pink salt better than sea salt?
Both are mostly sodium chloride and supply essentially the same sodium amount by weight. Himalayan salt does contain many trace minerals, but these occur in very small amounts.
How much salt can cause a heart attack?
Consistently eating salt well above recommendations (for instance, regularly exceeding 5 to 6 g of salt/day, roughly 2,000–2,500 mg sodium) is associated with more high blood pressure and heart attack.
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