Scientifically, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. Table salt?! Ick! We'll talk about that more below.

First, let's understand exactly why salt is so important to the human body. Salt is the primary source of sodium, which is crucial for maintaining proper fluid balance, regulating blood pressure, and supporting nerve and muscle function throughout the body. Without sufficient sodium, vital bodily processes like nerve signal transmission and muscle contraction cannot occur properly. Ever wonder why you have horrible cramps after exercising and sweating for long periods of time? Yep, you don't have enough salt in your system. Sweating depletes the body's fluids, salt, and electrolytes, which can lead to muscle spasms and cramping.

If a lightbulb just went off in your brain, congratulations! Happy to help! Let's move on.

Now that we've established how important salt is to the human body, why are doctors always telling us to stay away from salt? Technically, they aren't right, BUT they aren't wrong either. What we really need to focus on is the type of salts we are consuming. Table salts are the "bad guys" as they are refined, laced with harsh chemicals such as anti-caking agents as well as pouring agents. By the time table salt makes it's way to your dinner table, it is truly an unhealthy option overall. Hence why our doctors encourage us to avoid "salt." Have you ever gone to the diner and ordered delicious DISCO fries? (DISCO fries = French fries covered in melted cheese with gravy & loads of table salt.) Suddenly you'll notice that your hands are swollen and you can't get your rings off. Your feet are swollen and you can't get your shoes back on... That's water retention and it's NOT from the salt! It's from those nasty chemicals in table salt. Once the table salt enters the body, all the organs begin to detect the harsh chemicals. Immediately, your organs begin to retain their water supply as your body ultimately believe it's getting sick and needs to protect itself from those nasty chemicals. After a few hours, the body realizes that it's not going to die (not at that exact moment, obviously) and releases the water retained. Typically, this will happen within 12 hours or less if you flush your body by drinking water.

Pretty scary, right?

What doctors should really encourage is reaching for Naturally Harvested Sea Salts instead of table salts. Naturally Harvested Sea Salts are found just about anywhere on the planet! Thank goodness for that since we can't live without the body's most essential mineral, it's great to know we humans can access it just about anywhere. The key difference with sea salt is that it has not been refined and stripped of its minerals which support the human body. Just be aware that many salt companies may sell "sea salt" but they have added those harsh chemicals to avoid customers complaining about "sticky salt." This practice may keep customers happy, but it completely contradicts and ruins pure sea salt altogether. Not to mention, there's no warning labels on these products letting customers know about the dangers of the harsh chemicals. Boo!

Salt is naturally STICKY!! If you go to the ocean for the day and sit on the beach, you'll notice the sand will stick to your skin. This only happens because of the salt in the sea water. If you happen to go to a freshwater lake and also sit in the sandy beach, no sand sticks to your skin due to the lack of salt in the freshwater. Ever visit a Caribbean island and wonder why restaurants have rice in their saltshakers? The rice helps keep the sea salt dryer and alleviate some of the stickiness. SALTOPIA never adds any anti-caking agents or pouring agents to any of our products. As a result, some of our flavors may become sticky over time, especially in humid climates. That being said, we always stand by our customers and our products. We will replace any salt that may have become sticky without questions or added fees. We care more about your health and happiness long term. We will always provide pure, chemical free salts, sugars and seasonings for the world to enjoy!

Check out our pure salt options here.