RCE wrote:
>
> Does anybody know how sea salt compares with regular table
> salt in terms of sodium content,
The mineral content of sea water is very roughly 90ish% sodium
chloride, 9ish% potasium chloride, 1ish% all sorts of other minerals
in solution. Therre are tiny differences in the third or fourth
decimal
place from regional variation.
But, and it's a huge but, some of the methods used to extract salt
from sea water end up purifying it to very roughly 99ish% sodium
chloride. The other dissolved minerals could be anywhere in the
1-10% range depending on exactly how it was evaporated.
> water retention characteristics
Human kidneys eject all minerals and then actively pull back a
specific level of sodium. Osmosis ensures that all of the other
minerals retained in the blood stay at that (90/9/1)ish ratio.
That means there is an indirect effect. The more purely sodium
chloride the salt you use, the more other essental salts can
leach from the body in the urine. The body can use water
retention to attempt to control this. It's doubly indirect but
using sea salt can reduce water retention a bit. Not much but
some.
> or other diet/health related considerations?
If you're not getting your essential minerals from your foods, it can
come from the trace minerals in sea salt. This should not apply
to low carbers eating their assorted veggies but it might make a
difference in someone who lives off fries but salts them with sea
salt.
> I know it is supposed to be "purer" in terms of other mineral/metal content
Table salt is purer in the sense that it's closer to 100% sodium
chloride than to 99%. But that sort of purity isn't always the
goal. The liquid in the blood and inside the cells is close to the
sea salt mixture from when life evolved in the sea. The ratio of
minerals hasn't changed all that much in the billion+ years since
our ancestors left the sea.
If our only minerals were from salted foods, sea salt would be far
healthier. As it is we get our minerals from enough mixed
sources that it only matters if we are near a deficiency in some
essential mineral.
> and is not ionized,
All dissolved minerals are ionized. You probably mean iodizied.
Fish, shellfish, crustfish all pull iodine ions from the sea water
to use in the organs. The result is sea water is deficient in
iodine and so sea salt is as well, but not seafood. Eat seafood,
don't care about the iodized table salt. Avoid seafood, iodized
table salt is probably better for you than fancy sea salt.
> but I am curious if it is generally better for you or is
> it just marketing hype.
A mixture of both. Really good brands of sea salt might be
enough better for you to notice. At the cost of being 5-10 times
the price of regular table salt.
I offer a different suggestions -
Assuming our veggies have assorted minerals, and restaurant food
uses table salt maybe even kosher salt that is not iodized, our
mineral needs are handled maybe altogether maybe some of the
"big 3" aren't covered enough. The"big 3" are calcium,
magnesium
and potassium. Cal/mag tables will cover two of them. That leaves
potassium. Potassium tablets are limited to 99mg because some
old diruetic blood pressure meds caused the body to hoard potassium
towards toxic levels. As long as you're not on diuretics, use "Lite
Salt" or one of the similar brands at home. It's 50-50 sodium and
potassium. Low fatters often use Lite Salt to avoid the sodium.
Low carbers often use it to pursue potassium.
Sea salt 
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