The "Superfood" Salt
Himalayan Pink Salt has become a staple in wellness kitchens. Mined from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan, it is marketed as a healthier, "mineral-rich" alternative to "toxic" processed table salt. The label often claims it contains 84 trace minerals.
This is true. But it is also a classic example of how to lie with statistics.
The Evidence: The Spectral Analysis
In 2020, researchers published a study in the journal Foods titled "An Analysis of the Mineral Composition of Pink Salt Available in Australia." They used mass spectrometry to scan 31 different samples of pink salt.
The Findings:
- The Pink Color: Comes from traces of iron (rust) and magnesium.
- The Concentrations: The minerals are present in parts per million (ppm).
- The Verdict: While pink salt contained higher nutrients than white salt, the absolute amounts were negligible.
The Math: Why It Doesn't Matter
Let’s look at the numbers. To get a clinically significant amount of nutrients (defined as >10% of your Recommended Dietary Intake), you would need to consume 30 grams of pink salt per day.
The Problem:
- 30g of pink salt contains roughly 12,000mg of Sodium.
- The WHO recommended limit is 2,000mg per day.
- To get your "healthy minerals," you would need to consume 6x the safe limit of sodium, risking hypertension, kidney strain, and cardiovascular disease.
The Iodine Issue
The biggest risk of the pink salt trend isn't what's in it, but what's missing. Since the 1920s, table salt has been fortified with Iodine to prevent goiter and thyroid dysfunction. Pink salt is natural, meaning it contains very little iodine.
If you replace all your salt with pink salt and don't eat iodine-rich foods (like dairy, fish, or seaweed), you risk developing an iodine deficiency—a problem we solved 100 years ago.
The WellFact Verdict
Pink salt is a luxury item, not a health food. It offers no physiological advantage over table salt and carries the risk of lower iodine intake. Buy it for the texture, not the "minerals."