Salt is an indispensable component of most dishes on the tables of different peoples of the world. Its taste is familiar to every person since he switches from breast milk to adult nutrition, so this ingredient is so familiar that it seems that everything has been known about it for a long time. In fact, there are a huge number of interesting facts about this mineral, learning which you can take a fresh look at this familiar culinary ingredient.
Why do people need it
Salt dishes are present in the cuisine of all countries in different parts of the world. Wide distribution is explained simply: a person likes the food that contains the necessary for health and all the necessary components.
Adding salt to food, people saturate the body with sodium and chlorine - the main components of kitchen salt. They are quite rare in other natural sources, but are very important elements responsible for normal operation. nervous systems s, muscle contractility, cause an improvement in the secretion of gastric juice and maintain the body's water balance. That is why the taste centers of the brain, analyzing food, perceive sodium chloride as a very desirable element, and signal this. For this reason, salty food seems to taste better than unleavened food.
Opponents of this product often mention that in prehistoric times, mankind managed with unleavened food. But doctors argue that such an argument cannot be considered objective, since life expectancy was then very short, and death more often occurred from various diseases or injuries received while hunting. With the increase in life expectancy, the detrimental effects of sodium chloride deficiency on health became noticeable. Moreover, the vast majority of experts believe that adding salt to food has become one of the factors that could increase life expectancy.
How it was in the beginning
Historians know that primitive people could already be considered gourmets, since their food was salty. Of course, they could not buy kitchen salt in stores, as it is easy to do now. They had to be content with ashes accidentally falling on meat, which was cooked without dishes on an open fire. Many minerals are preserved in the ash, including sodium chloride.
Later they began to use white crystals that form on the shores of salt lakes and seas. Like animals that lick salt licks, Neanderthals tasted these stones with their tongues. Over time, primitive people began to break off pieces and add them to the meat. Through trial and error, a dose was determined that they liked. Since then, sodium chloride has never disappeared from the diet for long.
Price
Sodium chloride was first mined in ancient China. It happened 5 thousand years ago. Later, fishing spread both in hot countries and in permafrost conditions. The southern climate contributed to the fact that the crystals evaporated, and in the cold they were mined by freezing. Both methods were slow and did not produce as much product as people were willing to buy.
Huge caravans delivered this product to those countries where they could not extract it. Although the cost of delivery then did not depend on the price of gasoline, but journeys that lasted several months had to be well paid, so salt was very expensive.
After it was discovered to be an excellent preservative, its consumption increased and the cost increased several times more. From that moment on, she becomes not only culinary ingredient, but also a product for dressing leather, the main composition of embalming solutions, an antiseptic in medicine, etc.
The first salt mines, according to the requirements of labor protection, would not have passed a single test now: the work there was very dangerous and people were constantly dying in production. This also did not affect the price in the best way, since no one wanted to risk their own lives for a pittance.
In the Middle Ages, these crystals were increasingly called "white gold". The price of the product was so high that it could not be daily use only very wealthy people could. In Abyssinia, until the beginning of the 20th century, the official currency was the pound of sodium chloride. The Chinese minted their money simply from this mineral, even the German heller in the 13th century consisted of it. The disadvantage of such coins was that they could deteriorate after being exposed to rain. But there were also pluses: if necessary, they could be eaten.
Interestingly, the first generation that could afford salty food for different segments of the population was born only at the beginning of the last century.
"White Poison"
Excess salt in the diet affects health negatively - this is no secret to anyone. This component of the diet requires the same scrupulous attitude as, for example, vitamins necessary for life: with a lack, the condition worsens, and with overeating it is no better.
The lethal dose for a person is considered to be about 250 grams per person at a time. Sometimes this method was used for the death penalty. Interestingly, in China, such a “salty” method of suicide was considered “elite”, because due to the high cost, only a representative of the nobility could afford it.
Death from an overdose is painful: there is an irresistible desire to drink, pressure rises, malfunctions of the nervous system begin, which can provoke convulsions or hallucinations.
How much do they eat
Sodium chloride is the only mineral that a person can use in its pure natural form. In order to saturate the body with it, an adult needs only 3-5 grams in winter, while in summer the need increases to 20 grams. This is explained simply: in the heat, the sweat glands work actively, and salt comes out with sweat. That is why human sweat tastes salty and stings wounds and scratches.
Chlorine and sodium ions serve as "ferrymen" that transport water to the cells of the body. With a complete lack of salt in the diet, every cell can suffer from dehydration even if a person drinks enough water. It will enter the blood, but there is no one to deliver it to the cells.
With an average consumption, each person eats about 7-8 kilograms of this mineral per year. Upon reaching the seventieth anniversary, the hero of the day may know that in his entire life he has consumed at least half a ton of this mineral. To understand what this number looks like, you can compare it with 3.5 baths filled to the top.
To meet the needs of mankind in the world, more than 22 million tons of this mineral are mined per year, and only 1/3 of the total volume is evaporated from salt water, as was done at the dawn of the salt industry. Most of the extracted reserves rise from underground, where they have lain for millions of years after the seas and oceans dried up.
Everyone knows that salt is able to "pull" moisture, so it can not be stored at high humidity. However, an interesting fact is that sodium chloride itself is an absolutely non-hygroscopic substance and is not capable of absorbing moisture. This property is given to it by calcium and magnesium chlorides, which are present in a small amount in the mineral.
Sodium chloride is found in various physiological fluids of the body: in semen, saliva, blood, urine, tears, etc. It is from it that the ideal saline solution is used, which is used in medicine, which is easily accepted and not rejected by the body. But sometimes in wildlife, the use of this solution works wonders.
The experience that is put in the biological faculties and shown to students when studying at medical universities is really impressive. When the entire volume of blood is drained from a living frog, it dies within a short time, because breathing stops and the heart no longer beats. A miracle happens after its circulatory system is filled with isotonic saline: the frog literally comes back to life. Muscles begin to respond to stimuli and conduct nerve impulses, the heart “starts up” and breathing resumes.
An interesting experiment can be done with children. To do this, take a block of ice and sprinkle 1/20 of the salt on it. In an hour or two, the ice will completely melt and instead of it you will get a saline solution, which can no longer freeze at a temperature of -1 ° C. The fact is that saline solutions have a lower freezing point: salt prevents the formation of crystal lattices for the transition to a solid state. It is this interesting physical fact that comes to the aid of utility companies that sprinkle sodium chloride on roads and sidewalks during icy conditions in winter to melt the slippery layer.
What happens
Despite the fact that this mineral is present in the recipes of all countries of the world, it is preferred in different regions. different varieties. Sometimes there is a fashion for one or another variety, and they all have their own distinctive features.
Kosher
It is produced mainly in America, and is used most of all in Israel. It is obtained by a special type of evaporation, as a result of which the granules are much larger and resemble pyramids in shape. Thanks to this structure, it feels good with your fingers while salting dishes, which is why the most expensive restaurants use it on a regular basis.
Stone
It is the most common and is not endowed with excellent taste characteristics. Most often it is used for technical purposes: in order to make the water of the pool more salty or to fight during winter ice with slippery ice and packed snow.
Hawaiian
Previously, it was mostly mined in Hawaii, but now production has moved to an equally exotic place - to California, leaving only beautiful name. Due to clay impurities, it has a bright pink color. Experts say that it is very useful, and this affects its cost. But it is suitable only for those dishes that do not lend themselves to heat treatment, because at high temperatures most of the nutrients in the composition are destroyed.
The name is translated from French as "salt flower". It is mined only in the three most famous deposits: on the island of Ryo in France, in the southeast of England and in Portugal.
Only manual labor is suitable for production, as a result of which large flaky crystals up to 1 cm are formed, which are lighter in weight and effectively fall onto the dish. In this regard, fleur-de-sel is used mainly during the filming of commercials and other spectacular commercials. Occasionally it is added to confectionery dishes, because it emphasizes sweetness in a special way.
Bamboo
Another exotic salt that is made by human hands. In order to get it, sea minerals are baked inside hollow bamboo straws, during which they are impregnated with special substances and aromas. It is actively used in Japan and China, but recently European chefs have also paid attention to it.
In addition to these types, there are still a large number of other varieties of salt that can satisfy and surprise the most demanding gourmets.
Universal material
Now rock salt is used in various industries and areas, but even before it was not exclusively food product. In the Sahara desert, archaeologists discovered during excavations a small settlement created from salt boulders.
In Poland, in the city of Wieliczka, there is an interesting place - a 700-year-old mine with huge galleries, a chapel, amazing salt copies of masterpieces of famous artists, etc. It became an excursion object back in the 15th century, but then only noble persons, endowed with privileges from the king, could see it .
Another interesting object is in Bolivia. There, in 2001, the construction of the hotel, which consists of salt, was completed. Not only the walls and roof are made of this mineral, but also furniture and all interior elements. Interest in this place has not dried up for 17 years, and tourists are happy to relax in such an exotic place.
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Salt... This amazing substance is familiar to each of us from early childhood: we remember the taste of our very first favorite dishes, which, of course, could not be cooked without salt. Salt is understandable and ordinary for us, and today in the kitchen of any housewife you can often find even a few various kinds salt. But once upon a time, salt was such an expensive commodity that for a few small pieces of it you could buy a person's life - in Abyssinia, for example, for such a price you could buy a good healthy slave. In those distant times, salt was literally worth its weight in gold - there is reliable historical evidence that in some countries of the world it was used as a monetary unit (for example, in China, where a kind of coins were made from salt, baking them for greater wear resistance in the oven). In the Middle Ages in Europe, there was an unshakable tradition during a meal to put a salt shaker on the table in front of the most respected and honored guest. It is also reliably known that the famous Fike - Empress Catherine the Great loved to treat her guests with salt of a refined pink-raspberry hue, which was mined specifically for the royal table in Raspberry Lake - the property of the mistress of the throne herself.
Of course, in our time, salt is not equated with gold and is not worth such fabulous money. However, those who think that table salt can be the only “prescribed inhabitant” in our kitchen are deeply mistaken. After all, if you dig deeper, it becomes clear that table salt is the most harmful to our body. We invite you to conduct a fascinating study of the most popular types of edible salt with us, as well as learn a lot of interesting facts about one of the main products in the human diet!
Important Salt Facts Everyone Should Know
One of the most common myths about salt is the myth about its harm to the human body. However, in reality salt our the body needs almost like air, because it is with its help that the regulation of the water-salt balance is carried out. In addition, salt is also vital for proper metabolism at the cellular level, as well as for the good functioning of the digestive and nervous systems of the body.
Few people know that if salt is completely excluded from the diet (not just not to eat it, but to exclude any foods that contain it in one form or another), a person will simply die after a certain amount of time. With insufficient intake of it into the body, there will be a deterioration in the functioning of the digestive system, convulsions, shortness of breath, heart problems and other unpleasant symptoms.
Surprisingly, but true: the composition of human blood plasma is very similar to the composition of sea water.
Very few people know that the body of an adult contains about 250 g of salt (which is equal to about 3-4 full salt shakers). But since these “reserves” are constantly depleted, we need to replenish them regularly.
It is erroneously considered that any edible salt harmful to our body. In fact, this applies only to table salt, since it is she who undergoes thermal and chemical processing before getting to our table. As a result of such processing, all contained in the salt are completely killed. useful material(Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Cu) and natural iodine salts, instead, harmful bleaches, moisture evaporators and potassium iodide are added (the latter is very dangerous for humans if its content exceeds the permissible limit).
The daily salt intake required for normal life of an adult is approximately 5-6 g (of course, taking into account all food products that already contain salt). Please note that excessive salt intake, as well as its lack, leads to very negative consequences.
The lethal single dose of salt will be individual for each individual person, since it is calculated based on the weight of his body (various sources indicate a figure from 1 to 3 g per 1 kg of weight). It is known that in ancient China, it was salt that was an elegant way for the nobility to settle accounts with life (this way of dying was available only to very wealthy people, since, recall, at that time salt was very expensive).
Salt- is familiar to each of us, since it is she who is the most common "inhabitant" of our kitchens. Fine table salt is one of the most affordable types of salt for the consumer. At the same time, it is this salt, as we have already considered above, that is the most unhealthy. According to the method of extraction, it can be stone (mined in mines) and cage (with this method of extraction, water is evaporated from salt water of non-marine origin). It is garden salt that is considered the purest (purity from 97%), and in order to obtain it in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing white table salt, the brine undergoes repeated recrystallization. Rock salt, on the contrary, does not differ in such purity - as a rule, it contains various impurities in its composition (for example, small pieces of clay or stones) that can affect the taste characteristics of the product. The main advantage and at the same time the disadvantage of table salt is its pronounced salty taste: the possibility of accurate dosage during cooking various dishes is an undoubted plus, while a significant minus is some uniformity and "flatness" of taste.
Kosher salt(one of the varieties of culinary) got its name due to the use of meat in koshering. But, unlike its "parent", this salt has larger granules (flat or pyramidal), which are obtained due to the peculiarities of the evaporation process, as well as a slightly modified form of crystals. Due to the special shape of the granules, kosher salt is easier to feel with the fingers, which is why it has gained wide acceptance among professional chefs. As for the taste, such salt is very similar to table salt, but it is never enriched with iodine.
Rock salt is one of the largest "families" of salt. Most often, this category includes white table salt, popular among Ukrainians, mined in mines (one of the largest deposits in Ukraine is Artemivske). The color is white, sometimes with grayish or yellowish tints. It is worth noting that salt, which has a fairly bright impurity, can even get its own name (this applies, for example, to black Himalayan salt). Salt of this type is also often used for household needs: for sprinkling icy streets, salting the water in the pool, etc.
Sea salt can be obtained in several ways: naturally (water evaporates under the influence of sunlight), by evaporation, and sometimes even by freezing. Due to the fact that such salt is extracted from the sea, it contains the most beneficial minerals for our body. Depending on the place of origin, there are many subspecies of sea salt. And since the water in any sea has its own “chemical profile”, sea salt from each individual region will have exclusive taste characteristics and a unique composition. If necessary, table salt can be obtained from sea salt by recrystallization. The main advantages of sea salt are considered to be a wide range of flavors and the presence of various impurities in the composition, which can also enrich the “taste box” of salt of this type.
FleurdeSel. This type of salt is highly valued not only by haute cuisine professionals, but also by amateur cooks. As for the origin, it is precisely this that determines appearance, flake shape, moisture and salinity of the product. Most often, Fleur de Sel is of marine origin: its crystals grow on the edge of a salt bath, where they gradually grow into intricate growths from the slow evaporation of water. Then, depending on what kind of flake size is expected to end up (from coarse salt to impressive flake sizes), the growths are collected by hand at various stages of their growth. Fleur de Sel can be mined in various countries of the world, however, there are 3 largest deposits: on the French island of Re, the south-east of England (Maldon variety) and in Portugal.
Maldon(the correct pronunciation in Russian is “Mauldon”) is one of the most famous “representatives” of the famous Fleur de Sel. It got its name thanks to the area of the same name in the county of Essex (southeast of England), where it has been successfully mined for more than 100 years. Like Fleur de Sel, Maldon also has a marine origin, however, it differs from its famous “relative”, first of all, in the larger size of the flakes (up to 1 cm) and their unusual shape (flat crystals). Another difference lies in the richer salty taste and in the peculiarities of its disclosure: being a very gentle variety of salt, Maldon literally “explodes” on the tongue with a thousand salty sparks, creating a very pleasant sensation. Thanks to such exceptional characteristics, Moldonian salt is a wonderful finish to a great variety of refined dishes!
AmabitonoMoshio. This salt from the Land of the Rising Sun is considered almost the oldest in the world, and modern Japanese from the island of Kami-Kamagari continue to make it in strict accordance with the old technology, known for 2.5 thousand years. According to this technology, salt is evaporated from the water of the Sea of Japan by boiling it in a large clay tank along with algae (before that, the algae must be dried in the sun). As a result of this procedure, the water evaporates, and salt crystals mixed with algae particles remain at the bottom of the tank. Amabito No Moshio has a buttery texture and a rather distinctive flavor, making it a great accompaniment to meat and rice dishes, as well as fried potatoes and (surprisingly!) chocolate soufflé. It is also worth noting that this Japanese salt is one of the most expensive types of salt in existence.
Sugpo Asin- the famous salt, which is supplied to the world salt market by the Philippines (namely, the province of Pangasinan). Interestingly, this salt is used by every, without exception, Filipino housewife, while outside the republic such salt is mainly ordered only by “chefs” expensive restaurants. The main features of Sugpo Asin are the unusual shrimp flavor and aroma. The reason for this is simple: Philippine king prawn farms have a side production - they make salt. At the same time, the production of such salt is possible only a few months a year (during the end of the rainy season) - as a rule, this is December-May. First, the salt is evaporated under the influence of direct sunlight in shallow baths, and then the bizarrely shaped crystals are collected by hand and ground. Whatever you say, namely Sugpo Asin is wonderful for underlining refined taste seafood!
Black Himalayan salt very famous. It is distinguished from other types of salt by an unusual brown-purple hue (it is determined by the content of iron sulfite) and a peculiar smell of hydrogen sulfide (due to the presence of sulfur compounds), which may seem rather sharp to Ukrainians. As the name implies, this type of salt is mined mainly in the Himalayas. In addition, Nepal and India are also rich in such salt deposits.
Pink Himalayan salt extremely popular all over the world, including among our fellow citizens, because it has unique useful properties: for example, it contains at least 25 valuable macronutrients necessary for the normal functioning of our body. This salt well removes toxins and toxins, prevents dehydration and is highly valued in cosmetology as an excellent cleanser and rejuvenator. Pink Himalayan salt is characterized by coarse grinding and a pleasing pinkish tint to the eye, imparted by impurities such as potassium chloride and iron oxide (in total, pink Himalayan salt can contain approximately 5% of various impurities). It is thanks to the beautiful pale pink color that this salt can become a worthy finish even for the most fine dining! The main place of production of pink Himalayan salt is the Punjab region (Pakistan and India). Initially, such salt is large blocks, which are then cut out. It is worth noting that the unique appearance of these blocks often makes them a tool for embodying the most daring design decisions.
Pink Hawaiian salt. Perhaps, it is this type of salt that can welcome the “title” of the most beautiful salt! Due to the stunning bright pink-brown color due to clay impurities, this sedimentary sea salt world-famous chefs are often used to decorate the most exquisite and expensive dishes. However, it is worth noting that the pink Himalayan salt itself is quite “biting” at a price, so the average Ukrainian can hardly afford to buy it all the time. Other characteristic features of this type of salt are also a slightly ferrous taste and medium-sized crystals. Interestingly, it is pink Hawaiian salt that many authoritative sources call the most useful. Nowadays, it is mainly mined in California, although in the past Hawaii was considered the main place of production.
And finally, in the last place of our list are flavored salts. There are a huge number of their types, and all of them, without exception, are the creations of human hands. Flavored salt can be of absolutely any origin (since this is not so important). The main functions of such salt are salting the dish and giving it a certain flavor. In order to give the necessary flavor to the salt itself, it is either flavored with special additives (flowers, spices, herbs, berries, wine, etc.) or smoked. A separate subspecies of flavored salts should be considered thursday salt , since the technology of its production is rather complicated: ordinary boiled salt is mixed 50/50 with kvass grounds or rye bread(you should first soak it in water), then the mixture is placed in the oven or in the oven (sometimes the mixture can also be heated in a pan). After the manipulations described above, you will receive salt in the form of a single monolithic piece, which should first be split, and then crushed with a mortar. And if initially this type of flavored salts was used only as a ritual salt, today it is used more and more often due to its unusual palatability. Flavored salts can also be called bright "representatives" of bamboo salt and salt, to which charcoal is added (very popular in Japan and Korea).
Finally, I would like to say a few words about a unique geographical point on the map of Ukraine - the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region. This town is known for the fact that one of the largest salt-mining enterprises in Ukraine is located here. However, Soledar is remarkable not only for this! After all, it is here that the famous Museum of the Salt Industry is located, or, as it is simply called by the people, the Museum of Salt. The museum is located deep underground (depth 228 m) in the spent salt underground mining "Artemsoli". We dare to assure you that the impressions of visiting the museum are simply indescribable! For example, only here you will see unique sculptures that amaze the imagination, entirely made of salt: a chic, as if coming from distant lands, palm tree, a magical lord of the dungeon - a kind dwarf, or symbols of eternal mutual love - a pair of white swans, a beautiful arc bending their graceful necks.
Another amazing miracle is the Salt Symphony speleological sanatorium, which specializes in the treatment of bronchopulmonary diseases (bronchial asthma, asthmatic bronchitis, pneumonia, etc.) and thyroid diseases. Allergic rhinitis, dermatitis and psoriasis are also well treated in the sanatorium. It is worth noting that, in addition to a pronounced therapeutic effect, you will also receive aesthetic pleasure from staying in a sanatorium, because it is simply unrealistically beautiful here!
Also, one of the main attractions of the mine, in addition to the museum and speleosanatorium, is an incredible salt room, in which, as in a photograph, ancient winds that blew many millions of years ago are captured. You will also see here a unique “ancient weather calendar” that can tell a lot about the vagaries of nature. By the way, it is this hall that holds the absolute Guinness Book of Records record - the first record was set here during the flight of a hot air balloon, the second record was “deserved” by the hall thanks to the performance of the Donbass Symphony Orchestra in it (the conductor was the famous Austrian Kurt Schmid).
Dear readers, we hope that this introductory article on the types and features different types salt will help you make a more conscious choice in relation to such, at first glance, an ordinary product! Remember that salt is different, and it turned out that salt is the last thing to save on!
Company "Eco-Rus-2012" wishes you a great mood and pleasant shopping in our online store, as well as the ability to always immediately determine "what is the salt"! :)
Often, when describing the taste of something, we say - salty. But how to describe the taste of salt itself? Putting a crystal of salt on the tongue, we will feel something that could be remotely called bitterness. You can’t eat a lot of salt, but if you add it to the dish, then the food will have new facets of taste. Walking on the seashore, we can feel it in the air. Having accidentally hurt ourselves and licked off a drop of blood, we also try it. Salt is the taste of life itself.
There are many sayings and signs related to salt. "Salt of history" - the meaning, the essence of this very story. Spilling salt is unfortunately. Guests have been greeted with bread and salt since ancient times. And if bread is a part of life that the guest is offered to share with the hosts, then salt is what brightens and fills this life. Feelings, emotions, passions. Many things would be different if there were no salt in our lives. But in our time, salt is increasingly called "white death."
Is it true? Northern peoples who do not use salt in their food do not have cardiovascular diseases. In 1960-6, salt was declared the culprit of hypertension, kidney failure, coronary heart disease, and obesity. To some extent this is indeed true. But do not forget that excluding salt from your diet is also very dangerous. So why is this and what should we do?
The famous American specialist Paul Bragg believed that the human body absolutely does not need table salt, and called it poison. The erroneousness of such views is now considered fully proven.
Let's find out more interesting facts about salt...
1. Table salt is vital for human life, as well as all other living beings. It is involved in maintaining and regulating the water-salt balance in the body, sodium-potassium ion exchange. Subtle biological mechanisms maintain a constant concentration of NaCl in the blood and other body fluids. The difference in salt concentration inside the cell and outside is the main mechanism for the supply of nutrients to the cell and the removal of its waste products. The same mechanism of salt concentration separation is used in the generation and transmission of nerve impulses by neurons. In addition, the Cl ion in salt is the main material for the production of hydrochloric acid, an important component of gastric juice.
2. On the other hand, death is inevitable with a single overeating of salt. The lethal dose is 3 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight. For example, for a person weighing 80 kg, it would be fatal to eat approximately 240 grams at one meal. By the way, about the same amount of salt is constantly contained in the body of an adult.
3. The average daily salt intake for an adult is 3-5 grams of salt in cold countries and up to 20 grams in hot ones. The difference is caused by different sweating rates in hot and cold climates.
4. There are many different salts, some of which can also be eaten. But most of all, sodium chloride (NaCl) is suitable for eating, and it is its taste that we call salty. Other salts have an undesirable bitter or sour taste, although they too may be of some value in the human diet. In milk formula baby food three salts are included - magnesium chloride, potassium chloride and sodium chloride.
5. Table salt serves as a source of formation in the stomach of hydrochloric (hydrochloric) acid, which is an integral part of gastric juice.
6. With low acidity, doctors prescribe the patient a weak aqueous solution of hydrochloric (hydrochloric) acid, and with high acidity, he experiences heartburn and is recommended to take drinking soda. It neutralizes excess acid.
7. Table salt has weak antiseptic properties; 10-15% salt content prevents the development of putrefactive bacteria, which is the reason for its widespread use as a food preservative.
8. In ancient times, salt was obtained by burning certain plants in fires; the resulting ash was used as seasoning.
9. Ancient peoples valued salt worth its weight in gold. For example, part of the salary of Roman soldiers (lat. salarium argentum) was issued with salt (lat. sal); hence, in particular, came the English. salary ("salary").
10. Already two thousand years BC. The Chinese learned how to get table salt by evaporating sea water.
11. When sea water freezes, the ice turns out to be unsalted, and the remaining unfrozen water becomes much saltier. By melting ice, it is possible to obtain fresh water from sea water, and table salt was boiled from brine with lower energy costs.
12. Pure sodium chloride is non-hygroscopic; does not absorb moisture. Magnesium and calcium chlorides are hygroscopic. Their impurities are almost always found in table salt, and it is because of their presence that the salt becomes damp.
13. The largest salt marsh in the world is the Uyuni salt marsh in Bolivia (photo below). Due to its large size, flat surface and high reflectivity in the presence of a thin layer of water, the Uyuni Salt is an ideal tool for testing and calibrating remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellites.
14. World consumption of table salt exceeds 22 million tons per year. Each person on average consumes about 8 kg of salt per year. One third of the salt produced is evaporated from sea water.
15 . In stores, salt consists of up to 97% of NaCl, the rest is accounted for by various impurities. Most often, iodides and carbonates are added; in recent years, fluorides have been added more and more often. For the prevention of dental diseases, salt with fluoride is used. Since the 1950s, fluoride has been added to salt in Switzerland, and due to positive results in the fight against caries, fluoride has been added to salt in France and Germany in the 1980s. Up to 60% of sold salt in Germany and up to 80% in Switzerland is salt with fluorides. Other excipients are sometimes added to table salt, such as potassium ferrocyanide (E536 in the European coding system for food additives; non-poisonous complex salt) as an anti-caking agent.
16 . The systematic intake of excess salt compared to the physiological norm leads to an increase in blood pressure. Excessive salt intake causes heart and kidney disease. In the spring of 1648, the Salt Riot took place in Moscow, caused by an exorbitantly high tax on salt. Millennia ago, salt was so expensive that wars were fought over it. Now salt is the cheapest of all known food additives, except for water.
17 . Several types of "salt with a reduced sodium content" (low sodium salt) are sold in the United States. Despite the seeming paradox, it really is! Most of these products are mixtures of sodium chloride (at least 50% by weight) with potassium or magnesium chlorides. Salt Sense, however, stands out among them, providing a “reduced sodium content” without such tricks: thanks to a patented technology, sodium chloride crystallizes not in the form of characteristic prisms, but in the form of “snowflakes”, as a result of which its bulk density is lower (0.76 g/cm³ versus 1.24 g/cm³ for “regular” salt). As a result, in a spoon of Salt Sense, indeed, sodium (and salt as such) contains a third less.
It is unlikely that you have ever thought about the importance of salt, replenishing the salt shaker. If you dig a little into history, you can see that quite often the extraction of salt was accompanied by crime. These small white granules cause amazing reactions in the human body, and they can also be used to explore space and unravel the mysteries of the past. But there is a downside: salt kills millions of people every year, but at the same time it can be a budget solution to climate change on Earth. Today we will tell you the most interesting facts about salt.
antiseptic
When victims are admitted to the hospital with injuries, they are first treated for wounds, most often with simple soapy water. But after such treatment, infections often develop.
In 2015, doctors decided to test how effective it would be to use saline instead of soap. Of course, you should not pour saline solution if you cut your finger with paper, but surgeons were quite successful in applying it during operations. It turns out that saline solution can be an excellent antiseptic.
About 2.4 thousand patients took part in the experiment: some of them were treated with saline, and some with soap, in the next five years they were registered in case of infections. The study found that those whose wounds were treated with soapy water were more susceptible to infections later on. And for those who washed their wounds with salt water, the wounds healed faster and without consequences. The results of the study showed the simplicity and effectiveness of treating wounds with saline, which is very important for third world countries, because there, due to a lack of qualified medical care, most people die not because of the injury itself, because of the developed infection.
Salt triggers inflammatory signals
In 2018, scientists decided to conduct an experiment: a mouse was put on a high-salt diet. The results were horrendous. After the constant use of salt in large quantities, the mice could not cope with the passage of the maze, their sense of touch worsened and interest in new objects disappeared. 
Excess salt in the body can provoke unusual reactions
Previously, scientists were sure that the decrease in brain activity was due to high blood pressure. But studies have shown that salt has a powerful effect on the brain and pressure has nothing to do with it. The blood flow worsens and the cerebral cortex, together with the hippocampus, does not receive enough oxygen, so memory deteriorates and the ability to learn decreases. When the body recognizes too much salt in the intestines, signals of inflammation begin to enter the brain, they irritate the blood vessels and activate thinking.
The intestines can give similar signals in a number of diseases associated with the circulatory system, for example, in multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammation of the intestine. But such a reaction to salt was recorded for the first time.
Once the mice were placed on a low-sodium diet, their brain activity began to recover, and inflammatory signals were able to be neutralized with medication.
Do you like salty?
Many people are very fond of sweets, but there are those who cannot live without salty.
In 2016, a study was conducted in the USA. The subjects were about 400 people and all had heart problems. Participants in the experiment kept food diaries and submitted DNA samples. Among them were people with the TAS2R48 gene, which, as previously thought, is responsible for a heightened sense of bitterness. It turned out that all lovers of salty have this gene. 
Dedicated to lovers of salty
It turned out that its owners consume 2 times more salt than they should, in contrast to those who lack the TAS2R48 gene. The situation is worsened by the fact that people with this gene feel bitterness in food more sharply and salty food seems to them tastier.
We hope that this discovery will help salt lovers to regulate their consumption of this unsafe product and reduce the likelihood of heart disease.
salty stars
Simon Campbell, an Australian astrophysicist, accidentally discovered research records from 1980. The records said that the life cycle of stars within the same cluster is approximately the same. The same documents described the differences in the stars in the NGC 6752 group. And earlier studies claimed that sodium affects the life of a star. It is clear that then there was no technology that we have today. To verify the information, Campbell used very large telescopes in Chile to view a cluster of stars that were 13,000 light-years away. The results of the study were confirmed. It turned out that sodium kills stars. 
It turns out that stars also contain salt.
Stars with a low sodium content go through a full life cycle, burning occurs in which hydrogen is converted into helium and the star contracts, then it turns into a cloud of gas and dust, which is called a white dwarf. Stars with a high content of sodium do not reach the stage of compression, but immediately turn into white dwarfs. This discovery came as a surprise, scientists were sure that in the last years of existence, all stars first lose mass. So far, it has only been possible to establish the involvement of sodium in these processes in the star, scientists have not yet traced the algorithm of the reaction itself.
refrigerant
In 2018, scientists from the American Institute of Planetary Sciences proposed salting the air, as if it were a dried ham. What for? To cool the planet. Man uses a lot of fossil fuels, and this affects the temperature increase on Earth. The idea of scientists is simple - you need to spray salt into the troposphere, and its crystals will be able to reflect heat back into space. 
Salt crystals can also be useful for cooling our planet
The process of changing the environment to help delay global warming is called geoengineering. But unfortunately, even the greatest professionals cannot foresee all the consequences of intervention in the environment.
Perhaps salt is safer for humans than any other powders, but it contains chlorine, which can reduce the protective ability of the ozone layer. Salt might cool the Earth, but it can destroy the troposphere and stratosphere.
Is there life on Mars?
Deep in the bowels of Antarctica there are natural reservoirs with their own ecosystem - very salty underground lakes. In 2018, researchers discovered such lakes in Canada. At the moment it is not possible to take samples from these reservoirs, they are located at a depth of more than 610 meters under the glacier. These ecosystems have lived their lives for thousands of years without outside interference, it is not known what kind of microorganisms are there and what will happen if they are released to the surface. 
Underground lakes in Antarctica are very salty
Canadian lakes are special - according to scientists, the concentration of salt in them is 5 times greater than in the ocean, that is, they are the most salty on Earth.
Thanks to these lakes, scientists will be able to understand whether there is life on other planets of the solar system, because on the surface of Europa, the moon of Jupiter, there is also salt water under a layer of ice. And if there is life in these Canadian lakes, then it can probably be in other salty reservoirs of the solar system.
Salt spots on Ceres
Ceres is a dwarf planet in our solar system, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Long time scientists could not understand why there were spots on the surface of this planet, and there were about 130 of them.
In 2015, NASA sent an aircraft on an expedition and it helped find the answer to a spotty question. Analysis of the data showed that it was wet magnesium sulfate. Fans of foot baths know that it is this substance that is part of Epsom salt. 
Salt exists on other planets too
Most of the spots are in meteorite craters, and it seems that ice is involved in their creation. After sunrise, fog comes out of some craters, probably water evaporates. In addition, some of the spots reflect light in the same way as ice, which may indicate that there is a lot of water inside the planet.
Scientists have not yet fully unraveled the secrets of Ceres, but they are sure that there is a lot of salt and water under the planet's shell.
The worst drought
In 2017, during the sampling process in the Dead Sea, scientists discovered traces of two very severe droughts that could have wiped out any civilization. Researchers searched for salt deposits to determine when the last rain was. This is quite logical, in rainy years the salt layer becomes thinner. 
When excavating the salt layers, you can determine when there was a drought in this place.
When they got to the layers that were 10,000 years old, and then to those that were 120,000 years old, the salt layer was still very thick. Findings at a depth of 305 meters from the seabed showed an unprecedented drought. Both times the drought hit the Middle East and lasted for thousands of years. During the driest periods, only 20% of the normal precipitation fell. Humans and Neanderthals went through the first drought, only humans survived the second. Scientists worry that history may repeat itself and the region will die from dehydration. The salt layers showed that these terrible droughts happened by themselves, without human influence. Today, when human activity affects the environment so much, fresh water may disappear again.
How did oxygen come about?
As you can guess, before the advent of oxygen, there was nothing to breathe on Earth. Thanks to the Great Oxygen Catastrophe, bacteria learned photosynthesis and began to produce oxygen.
Scientists were able to establish the exact time of this oxygen catastrophe only in 2018, when they discovered the oldest salt in the world. The fossilized salt was taken from a depth of 2 km in one of the mines in Russia. 
This piece of salt is many thousands of years old
After analysis, it turned out that these are salt crystals formed 2.3 billion years ago, after the ancient ocean evaporated. The crystals contained sulfate, which is formed as a result of the reaction of oxygen and sulfur. These samples not only helped to establish the period when the oxygen catastrophe occurred, but also showed the presence of a large amount of sulfur and its rapid spread.
The fact that there was a very large release of oxygen into the atmosphere raised new questions. Did it really take bacteria millions of years to bring the level of oxygen in the atmosphere up to 20%? Samples of ancient salt found in Russia show that the appearance of oxygen was sudden, as if someone poured it out of a hose.
Reasonable use of salt
In 2012, at the World Nutrition Congress in Rio, researchers suggested that the government or companies should regulate salt intake, since most premature deaths are due to an excess of sodium in the body. We are talking about millions of people dying from hypertension, the cause of which is a huge amount of salt in food. 
Salt is very useful for humans, but its excessive consumption is life threatening.
A person needs only 350 milligrams of salt per day, while the average American consumes 3.5 thousand milligrams per day. And everything would be fine, but salt contains sodium. For example: in a piece of bread bought in a store, there are 250 milligrams of salt, and in a can of canned vegetables, its amount can reach up to a thousand milligrams. There is even more salt in fast food.
Many manufacturing companies add salt to low-quality food to make it taste better, or soak meat in salt water to make it weigh more. Drink manufacturers also add salt, because it causes thirst. The average consumer does not even think about the huge amount of salt found in ordinary foods, so the only way out of this situation is to regulate the amount of salt at the state level.
It turns out that white death is not sugar at all, but salt. So next time, think carefully before salting the dish you are preparing, the caring manufacturer has most likely already added salt to most of the ingredients.
The famous American naturopath Paul Bragg believed that the human body absolutely does not need table salt, and called it poison. The erroneousness of such views is now considered fully proven. Salt is vital to man, as well as to all other living beings. Salt is involved in maintaining and regulating the water balance in the body. With a chronic lack of salt in the body, a fatal outcome is possible.
On the other hand, death is inevitable with a single overeating of salt. The lethal dose is 3 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight. For example, for a person weighing 80 kg, it would be fatal to eat approximately 240 grams at one meal. By the way, about the same amount of salt is constantly contained in the body of an adult.
The average daily salt intake for an adult is 3-5 grams of salt in cold countries and up to 20 grams in hot ones. The difference is caused by different sweating rates in hot and cold climates.
There are many different salts, some of which can also be eaten. But most of all, sodium chloride (NaCl) is suitable for eating, and it is its taste that we call salty. Other salts have an undesirable bitter or sour taste, although they too may be of some value in the human diet. Milk formula for baby food includes three salts - magnesium chloride, potassium chloride and sodium chloride.
Table salt serves as a source of formation in the stomach of hydrochloric (hydrochloric) acid, which is an integral part of gastric juice.
With low acidity, doctors prescribe the patient a weak aqueous solution of hydrochloric (hydrochloric) acid, and with high acidity, he experiences heartburn and is recommended to take drinking soda. It neutralizes excess acid.
Already two thousand years BC. The Chinese learned how to get table salt by evaporating sea water.
When sea water freezes, the ice becomes unsalted, and the remaining unfrozen water becomes much saltier. By melting ice, it is possible to obtain fresh water from sea water, and table salt was boiled from brine with lower energy costs.
Pure sodium chloride is non-hygroscopic; does not absorb moisture. Magnesium and calcium chlorides are hygroscopic. Their impurities are almost always found in table salt, and it is because of their presence that the salt becomes damp.
The largest salt marsh in the world is the Uyuni salt marsh in Bolivia. Due to its large size, flat surface and high reflectivity in the presence of a thin layer of water, the Uyuni Salt is an ideal tool for testing and calibrating remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellites.
In Japan, salt is sprinkled on sumo wrestling platforms to ward off evil spirits.
Before the advent of canning, pasteurization, and refrigeration, salt made it possible to preserve food. Therefore, it has become a symbol of longevity.
Millennia ago, salt was so expensive that wars were fought over it. In particular, in Russia in the 17th century there was a Salt Riot caused by exorbitantly high prices for salt. Now salt is the cheapest of all known food additives, except for water.
In most Indo-European languages, the words for salt go back to the same proto-linguistic root. These are Latin sal, Irish salann, Welsh halen, Breton holen, Gothic salt, Old English sealt, Dutch zout, Old High German salz, Latvian sāls, Russian salt, Czech sůl, Polish sól, Armenian ał, Tocharian A sāle, Tocharian B salyiye. The ancient Greek word ἅλς (hals) ‘salt’ also goes back to this root, because the initial Indo-European sound s- in ancient Greek turned into the so-called “thick breath”, which in Greek is conveyed by a sign above the vowel, and in Latin by the letter h. From the Greek name of salt, for example, the chemical term halogens, that is, "giving birth to salt", or the name of the mineral rock salt - halite are formed.
Salt mining has left a noticeable mark on geographical names different countries. One of the first Roman roads was called Via Salaria, along which salt was supplied to the Eternal City. In Russia there are Solvychegodsk, Soligalich (the first name is Sol-Galitskaya) and Solikamsk, in Germany there are two places called Salz (in the Westerwald and in Lower Saxony), as well as Salzenbergen, Salzwedel, Salzkotten, Salzweg, in Austria - the famous Salzburg. One of the regions of the Alps was called the Salzkammergut - "salt pantry". In the salt mines near Salzburg, salt was mined by the ancient Celts around 1300 BC. By the way, one of the names of the Celtic peoples - the Gauls, according to the assumptions of some scientists, goes back to the word for salt.
Salt has given its name to many dishes. Salad is originally pickled, salted vegetables, from the Italian salata ‘salted’. Salami sausage was made from salted ham in Italy. The birthplace of salami sausage is the Italian city of Felino. Another name also arose from the custom of salting food, but comes from a different root. This is a marinade. Initially, marinade was the name given to foods that were salted by being immersed in sea water (lat. mare ‘sea’).
Bars of salt called amol served as currency in Ethiopia until the end of the 19th century, along with metal coins. In Europe, salt did not serve as a monetary asset, but it also played a significant role in the economy, taxes on its production were especially important. In Rome, there was a term annona salaria ‘annual income from the sale of salt’. Salt also allowed the Egyptians, and then the Phoenicians, Romans, French, and so on, to trade in salted fish, which brought in huge profits.
The famous Italian traveler of the 12th century, Marco Polo, spoke about how money was made from salt in China. “For this,” wrote Marco Polo, “the brine is boiled in small cauldrons. After an hour, the salt takes the form of a dough, and something is made from it in the form of pies ... After the emperor’s brand is applied to the pies, so that they become like real metal coins , they are fried on hot tiles".
Roman legionnaires and civil officials were given a salt ration - a certain amount of salt, issued as a salary. This ration was called salarium. Then the meaning of this word expanded, and it began to mean the salary of a soldier, the salary of an employee, maintenance, per diem money, a fee (for example, a doctor). From this word came the Old French salarie, and then the English salary 'salary, wages, salary'. Such expressions as English worth his salt ‘cost your salt’, ‘not without reason to eat your bread’, earn his salt ‘earn your salt’ have a similar origin.
IN English language there are also expressions sit above the salt ‘to sit on the upper end of the table’, ‘to occupy a high position in society’ and sit below the salt ‘to sit at the lower end of the table’, ‘to occupy a very modest position in society’. They are connected with the fact that in the Middle Ages the salt shaker was placed on the table near the most honored guest. Once in France in 1378 such an incident occurred. The French king Charles V received the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and his son Wenceslas, who was at that time the king of Germany. Before the organizers of the feast, the question arose: next to which crowned guest should a salt shaker be placed? As a result, in order not to offend anyone, three salt shakers were placed on the table at once.
Wit serves as a seasoning for conversation, as salt seasons for food, so the Latin word sal in the meaning of “wit, wit, subtle joke, humor” is already found in Catullus. Hence similar meanings in many European languages: English. salt ‘salt, zest (sayings, etc.), sharpness’, Spanish. sal ‘sharpness’, Italian. sale ‘wit’, salso ‘salty’ and ‘sharpness’ and so on.
Perhaps, another figurative meaning of the word salt is connected with this meaning – ‘that which gives a special meaning, interest, to something’. There is a similar meaning in some languages that are not part of the Indo-European family. For example, it is noted in the Lezgi language (Dagestan): kel ‘salt’, ‘meaning’, kel kvachir ikhtilatar ‘stupid (literally ‘without salt’) conversations’. Among the Turkic languages, the word "salt" in Kumyk and Uzbek has such a meaning.
Salt used to be often associated with fertility. This belief may have arisen from the observation that fish living in the salty sea are far more fertile than land animals. Ships carrying salt were usually teeming with mice, and for centuries it was believed that mice could reproduce without sexual intercourse: they only needed to spend a little time in the salt. In the Pyrenees, the bride and groom, in order not to remain childless, came to get married with salt in their left pocket. In some areas of France, only the groom carried the salt, and in others, only the bride. In Germany, the bride's shoes were sprinkled with salt.
All historical documents, including those relating to North America of the 17th-18th centuries, testify: at various stages of human development, one rule remains unchanged - agricultural tribes extract or buy salt, while hunter tribes do not. The fact is that the tribes of hunters ate mainly killed animals, and received salt along with meat and blood. And there is almost no salt in vegetables and cereals.
When salt is scarce, animals obtain it in rather extravagant ways. Deer eat "yellow snow" with human urine, which is rich in salt. Gorillas and various rodents eat tree stumps and bark. Butterflies and moths drink the "tears" of large animals - crocodiles, deer, antelopes, etc. - and even sleeping birds.
The famous traveler N. Miklukho-Maclay said that the Papuans were looking for pieces of wood that had lain in sea water for a long time and absorbed salt, burned them and ate salted ash. This was considered by the Papuans a great delicacy.
Raspberry Lake is known, which was the property of Empress Catherine II. Every year, 100 pounds of this salt was supplied to her table, and only she was served at the table during foreign receptions, because the salt was an exquisite pink-raspberry color. This color is explained by the fact that Raspberry Lake is inhabited by the microorganisms of salinaria serration, which produce a pinkish pigment.
When studying the properties of soils, scientists found that, being impregnated with sodium chloride, they do not let water through. This discovery was used in the construction of irrigation canals and reservoirs. If the bottom of the reservoir is covered with a layer of earth impregnated with NaCl, then water leakage does not occur.
By mixing finely ground ice with table salt, an effective cooling mixture can be obtained. For example, a mixture of 30 g of NaCl per 100 g of ice is cooled down to -20°C.
