Salt is one of the essential condiments in our daily life, which can make our food smell human. In our life, there are generally two kinds of salt, one is sea salt and the other is edible salt. We usually give priority to edible salt. There are two kinds of edible salt, one is iodized salt and the other is non-iodized salt. So what's the difference between sea salt and edible salt? Now let's look at Bian Xiao's works.
The difference between sea salt and edible salt
1, refined salt
Refined salt is divided into iodized salt and non-iodized salt. In the mid-1920s, in order to curb the spread of hyperthyroidism, people began to use iodized salt. Hyperthyroidism is thyroid hypertrophy, which is mainly caused by iodine deficiency. Children with iodine deficiency will also have symptoms of physical and mental retardation. Although iodine deficiency is still a problem worthy of attention in the world, few people in North America are troubled by iodine deficiency at present. In some areas, fluorine and folic acid are often used as salt additives. Refined salt is the most common salt. In its processing, impurities need to be removed and anti-caking agents such as calcium phosphate need to be added. The refined salt is exquisite, not only easy to weigh, but also easy to mix with food.
2. Sea salt
Sea salt is generally more expensive than refined salt because its collection method is more complicated. For example, "French salt flower" is scraped off the wall of a salt pond by salt pickers. Some sea salts are not deeply processed like refined salt, so they can retain more trace elements. Sea salt is divided into crude salt, refined salt and flake salt. According to the origin and minerals, the colors of sea salt are different, including white, pink, black, gray and variegated.
Some powdered salts (such as those produced in the Himalayas) are pink because they contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper and iron. Some powdered salt contains carotene from salt-tolerant algae, which makes it more colorful. Pink salts such as Hawaiian araya salt are mixed with iron oxide in volcanic clay.
Black salt is not black, but a little pink in pearl ash. Indian black salt is rich in trace elements such as sulfide and iron, and has a strong sulfuric acid taste. The black lava salt produced in Hawaii is dark in color and contains a small amount of activated carbon and volcanic rocks.
The color of gray salt comes from the trace elements it contains or the clay it comes from. "French grey salt" is produced in coastal cities of France, and it is an unfinished wet grey salt. Smoked salt is also gray, which is a new product in high-quality salt. This salt is smoked on charcoal, so the food cooked with it often smells of smoke.
Some gourmets think that sea salt containing more trace elements has a unique earthy smell. However, some gourmets think that the uniqueness of sea salt lies not in its taste but in its rich color and texture. Generally speaking, sea salt should not be added when cooking, but should be sprinkled on the dishes at the end of decoration.
How to distinguish non-iodized salt from iodized salt?
Iodine-free salt refers to refined salt containing no iodide. Iodized salt is added with a certain proportion of potassium iodate or potassium iodide (35 mg/kg iodine? 15 mg) is added to salt, and most of the salt packaged with iodine in the market belongs to iodized salt.
Why should edible salt be iodized?
As an important nutrient element in human body, iodine plays an important role in maintaining human health. Physiological functions of iodine include: promoting biological oxidation, regulating protein synthesis and decomposition, promoting sugar and fat metabolism, regulating water and salt metabolism, promoting vitamin absorption and utilization, enhancing enzyme activity and promoting growth and development.
When iodine is deficient in the body, it will cause a series of serious physiological injuries to people of different ages. If the fetus is serious, it will cause abortion, stillbirth, congenital malformation, perinatal mortality and infant mortality. Endemic cretinism; Neuromotor function development is backward; Fetal hypothyroidism. Newborns will have diseases such as neonatal hypothyroidism and neonatal goiter. People in childhood and adolescence will have symptoms such as goiter, hypothyroidism in adolescence, subclinical cretinism, mental retardation, physical retardation and simple deafness. Adults will have goiter and its complications, hypothyroidism, mental retardation, hyperthyroidism caused by iodine and other diseases.
Iodine exists in nature, and people mainly take it from drinking water, grain, vegetables and the surrounding environment. Due to the differences in age and physiology, the daily iodine requirement of infants under 4 years old is 70 micrograms, that of adults is 150 micrograms, and that of pregnant women and nursing mothers is about 200 micrograms. However, most areas in China are short of iodine, and continuous intake of iodized salt can improve intelligence, keep fit and prevent diseases. The simplest, economical, effective and safe way to prevent iodine deficiency disorders is to use qualified iodized salt. But it should be noted that the use of iodized salt or non-iodized salt varies from person to person.
Who should not eat iodized salt?
1. Residents in non-iodine deficient areas do not need to eat iodized salt.
2, hyperthyroidism patients do not need to eat iodized salt, because iodine supplementation will increase the synthesis of thyroid hormones and aggravate the condition.
3. Patients with thyroiditis (Hashimoto's disease) should not eat iodized salt. Iodine supplementation will aggravate inflammatory symptoms.
4. Patients with thyroid tumor. At present, the relationship between thyroid cancer and iodine nutrition level is not clear in medical research. Therefore, patients with thyroid cancer should be more cautious about whether to eat iodized salt, and it is best to follow the doctor's advice in combination with their illness.
5. Patients with hypothyroidism. Whether this kind of people need iodine supplementation is also controversial, because the pathogenic factors of this disease are diverse and cannot be generalized.
6. Other patients with thyroid diseases need to make choices according to their own condition and iodine nutrition status under the guidance of doctors.
7. Pregnant women and lactating women with thyroid diseases need to follow the doctor's advice according to their personal situation or take the method of supplementing iodine to lactating babies alone.
The above is the information about the difference between sea salt and edible salt. I hope I can help you understand the difference between sea salt and edible salt and let you know what the difference is. Although iodized salt is good, it should also be noted that those people can't eat iodized salt. Please pay attention to our website for more information.