Nutrition and healthy eating

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Beyond your grandmother's table salt

Many varieties of gourmet salt are finding a place in the kitchens of both everyday cooks and top chefs. Salt occurs naturally around the world as the mineral halite and in seawater and saline (saltwater) lakes. All salt contains a mix of sodium and chloride. Salt may also naturally contain small amounts of other minerals, giving it variations in taste. But salt is processed and refined in many different ways, resulting in different textures and colors as well as tastes.

Whichever type of salt you enjoy, do so in moderation. Limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams a day — or 1,500 milligrams if you're age 51 or older, or if you are black, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

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2. Sodium. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Sodium-Salt-or-Sodium-Chloride_UCM_303290_Article.jsp. Accessed Aug. 12, 2011.
3. Duyff RL. American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 3rd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons; 2006.
4. Nelson JK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 12, 2011.
5. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-PolicyDocument.htm. Accessed Aug. 17, 2011.