Pink Himalayan salt is a variety of salt that is naturally pink in color and is extracted in Pakistan close to the Himalayas. Many people assert that it is rich in minerals and offers fantastic health advantages. These factors contribute to the perception that pink Himalayan salt is much healthier than regular table salt. Pink Himalayan salt hasn’t been the subject of much research, and some people are adamant that these extravagant health claims are just conjecture. Some also include Himalayan Salt candles in Massage Rooms and Spas.
What is Himalayan Pink Salt?
Rock salt (halite), also known as Himalayan salt, is mined in Pakistan’s Punjab province. In addition to being used as a food additive to replace refined table salt, the salt, which frequently has a pinkish tint from trace minerals, is also used in spa treatments, decorative lamps, cooking, and food presentation. The product is frequently advertised with erroneous health benefits claims.
The Salt Range mountains, which are at the southern tip of a fold-and-thrust belt that underlies Pakistan’s Pothohar Plateau south of the Himalayas, are where Himalayan salt is mined. The Salt Range Formation’s thick layer of Ediacaran to early Cambrian evaporites is where the Himalayan salt is found. Crystalline halite intercalated with potash salts, gypsiferous marl, beds of gypsum and dolomite, and infrequent seams of oil shale makes up this geological formation, which accumulated between 600 and 540 million years ago. The Salt Range was formed by the erosion of these strata as well as the underlying Cambrian to Eocene sedimentary rocks that were thrust over younger sedimentary rocks in a southerly direction.
How Himalayan Pink Salt is Used?
This kind of salt and regular table salt are both used in cooking, seasoning food, and food preservation. Pink salt blocks can occasionally be used as cutting boards, serving trays, and work surfaces. In addition, some people substitute pink Himalayan salt for bath salts. They even use Himalayan Salt Lamps for spas and yoga studios. Pink salt candlesticks and lamps are also available for purchase. Numerous dietary and non-dietary applications exist for pink Himalayan salt.
You Can Eat It or Cook With It
Pink Himalayan salt can generally be used in cooking in the same ways as regular table salt. Add it to your food at the dinner table or use it in sauces and marinades. Even as a cooking surface, some people use pink Himalayan salt. Large blocks of the salt can be bought and used to grill, sear, and give meats and other foods a salty flavor. Like regular table salt, pink Himalayan salt can be bought finely ground, but it’s also common to see coarse varieties sold in bigger crystal sizes.
Considerations For Cooking
It’s crucial to take the grind of the salt into account whenever you measure any kind of salt by volume. To match the saltiness of finely ground salt, you might need to use more coarse salt in your recipes. This is due to the fact that finely ground salt is more densely packed per unit volume than coarse salt. For instance, a teaspoon of any type of finely ground salt may contain around 2,300 mg of sodium, whereas a teaspoon of coarse salt may contain less than 2,000 mg of sodium depending on the size of the crystals. Additionally, you might need to adjust your recipes for pink Himalayan salt’s slightly lower sodium chloride content than regular table salt. The sodium content of pink Himalayan salt can vary significantly between brands, so it’s best to check the nutrition label before using it.
Non-Dietary Uses
While pink Himalayan salt has a variety of culinary applications, it also has a number of well-liked non-culinary uses. Some bath salts that promise to soothe sore muscles and improve skin conditions contain pink Himalayan salt. In addition, pink Himalayan salt is frequently used to make salt lamps, which are said to purge the air of pollutants. These lamps are made of sizable blocks of salt heated by an internal light source. People looking to treat skin and respiratory issues also enjoy spending time in man-made salt caves made of pink Himalayan salt. However, the evidence for these three non-dietary uses of pink Himalayan salt is not very strong. To support these claims, additional research is required.
Himalayan Pink Salt vs. Table Salt
There are numerous varieties of gourmet salts on the market, and they all make claims to help them stand out from the competition in the eyes of the consumer. Due to the presence of trace minerals, suppliers of some Himalayan pink salt assert that their product is healthier and tastes better in food than other salts. Although these salts and the majority of other sea and land salts primarily consist of sodium chloride, there may be slight variations in color and chemical composition compared to table salt. More than just a color difference may result from these minute variations in mineral composition and other impurities.
Production of Himalayan Pink Salt vs. Sea Salt
Ancient sea salt deposits in the Pakistani Himalayan Mountains are where the pink Himalayan salt originates. The salt is said to be hand-mined and stone-ground in caves, implying that there has been little processing done to it. The impurities in the salt from this area help characterize the physical characteristics of the salt and define the native geological features of the mountains. Himalayan salts, for instance, come in a variety of colors, including white, pink, and dark red. Iron oxide, copper, or red marl are typically blamed for the pink or red color. Ocean water is evaporated by the sun at the Cargill facility in Newark, California, to produce sea salt. Similar to this, brine can mechanically evaporate to create table salt. Because of the nature of the brine crystallization process, table salt is produced with fewer impurities and is therefore whiter than the hues of Himalayan salt.
Sensory of Himalayan Pink Salt vs. Table Salt
The descriptive flavor profiles and time-intensity curves of various sea and land salts in aqueous solutions were investigated by Drake and Drake (2011). The results showed a statistically significant difference in mineral notes, metallic notes, and saltiness between Himalayan pink salt and table salt. The table salt had a higher level of saltiness, while the Himalayan pink salt had more mineral and metallic notes. Additionally, these authors found no distinction between the time-intensity curves for table salt and Himalayan sea salt. The lack of testing in any food application is a limitation of this study, making it challenging to assess the impact of the minerals in any real-world context. However, a lot of substances have a very small impact on flavor. Therefore, depending on the food application, it is possible that the trace minerals found in salts may impart flavor changes even at very low levels. In conclusion, despite numerous claims regarding the advantages of Himalayan pink salt over other salts, no evidence-based science could be found to back up these claims.