How Healthy is Pink Salt?

It seems pink salt is everywhere, with ads and influencers claiming it makes food taste better and carries health benefits. But what do nutrition experts say about the trend?

Faris Zuraikat, PhD, an assistant professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia, explains how pink salt differs from table salt and whether it lives up to the hype.

What is pink salt?

Himalayan salt (halite) is a pink-colored salt mined from salt rocks. Other types of salt come from oceans, lakes, and other water sources.

Does pink salt have more nutrients than regular salt?

Salt is almost entirely sodium chloride. Yes, pink salt has more minerals—like calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium—than iodized table salt. However, the quantities of these nutrients in pink salt are so small that the amount of salt you’d have to consume to benefit would exceed the daily recommended intake of sodium.

There are better ways to get these minerals, like eating well with a balanced diet that includes a range of whole foods.

Why is it bad to have too much salt? And how much is too much?

The American Heart Association recommends the average adult limit salt to no more than 2,300 milligrams per day: about one tablespoon.

It’s important to have some salt in your diet because sodium plays important physiological roles, including helping the body hold on to water, which supports hydration, keeping us healthy.

Eating too much salt can:

• Raise blood pressure
• Increase risk of heart disease
• Cause the body to retain excess water, leading to bloating and extra strain on your kidneys

Speak with a health care provider or registered dietitian about your daily sodium needs and before you make diet changes. It is important to consider factors like personal or family history of hypertension, hydration status, and your current intake of sodium and other electrolytes. Notably, whether you choose table salt or pink salt, sodium has the same impact on your health.

Faris Zuraikat, PhD, is an assistant professor of nutritional medicine (in medicine and in the Institute of Human Nutrition) at Columbia.