Every human needs sodium to live, as it is a vital basic substance for the organism. Thus, every person should consume approximately 6g of salt per day to cover the daily requirement. But how good is this white commodity for humans, how is it extracted, and why should one not eat too much of it?
A luxury good turned everyday product
The Egyptians, Sumerians, and Babylonians already valued the spice and used it skillfully as a preservative for their food. At that time, salt was still extracted from seawater or obtained from deposits in deserts. For the Egyptians, the "white gold" also had a special status, as they needed the white commodity to mummify corpses.
The Greeks, on the other hand, used only sea salt, which they obtained with the help of sun and wind in specially constructed facilities. Once the seawater had evaporated, only the salt remained on the ground. Although this method was extremely laborious, the white grains were considered an exclusive commodity here as well.
How important is sodium?
Salt has been considered a valuable spice for thousands of years. And even today, humans need a certain amount of sodium. Because if the proverbial "salt in the soup" is missing, the deficiency can have a negative effect on our health. For example, one can suffer from, among other things,
- chronic fatigue
- dizziness
- feelings of weakness
- arthritic complaints
. But why is sodium so extremely important? Quite simply: its components are necessary for human survival. The sodium in the spice regulates the water balance in our body. The basic substance chloride is also regularly needed by us humans, as it ensures the formation of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
How much salt should one consume?
Even though salt is healthy, one should only consume 5g-10g daily and avoid overconsumption. Scientific studies have shown that too little salt definitely affects short-term memory and concentration ability and can also lead to the physical symptoms described above. However, very few people need to worry about a low-sodium life: it is actually quite unlikely that one consumes too little, as we are constantly in contact with the spice in daily life. Whether in ready-made meals, fast food, or many other industrially produced foods, we encounter a quite high level of salt.
Rather, in today's world, the relevant question might be what happens to the human organism when it comes into contact with too much sodium. An excess can indeed lead to health damage. Particularly salt-sensitive individuals develop high blood pressure quite quickly. However, for many people, increased consumption does not matter much – rather, they feel at most a greater thirst.
When is the right time to salt when cooking?
When cooking, it is not always irrelevant when we season with salt. Here we have listed when it is right to salt:
- Soups and stews: salt right at the beginning
- Quick-fried meat: salt only at the very end
- Roasts and poultry in the oven: rub with salt before starting
- Vegetables: cook in salted water
Where does salt actually come from?
Fortunately, there is a raw material on our earth that seems to be available to humanity in unlimited quantities. While coal and oil are increasingly coming to an end, the occurrence of salt seems to be a never-ending process in nature. Our salt, as we know it, comes from the sea. This water evaporates, rain is formed, and the salts dissolve from the raindrops. Salt farmers still use partly ancient methods for extraction in so-called sea salt pans, just as the Egyptians did in their time.
But rock salt is also extracted in mines and obtained in salt works thanks to state-of-the-art techniques. This is how the spice finally reaches our households – whether as sea salt, Himalayan salt, or road salt for our sidewalks and streets.
Read also: Salt brine for skin diseases
Image by Janine, meinhaushalt.at
