Salt isn’t supposed to be white…

What type of salt do you use in your cooking?

Salt isn't supposed to be white Mineral Celtic Sea Salt Pink Himalayan

Despite all the warnings about how we should limit our sodium intake, if you eat a healthy unprocessed, natural diet, you may actually need more salt in your diet.

Salt shouldn't be the sodium chloride – a highly refined, processed white substance devoid of nutrients – which so many people consume. The common processed table salt that most people use in their cooking and to season their meals with, is missing over 80 minerals. Yet they only put ONE mineral back into processed table salts, and that’s iodine. So the only real benefit of table salt could be argued to be the iodine content (read what can happen if you get an iodine deficiency – and what to do to avoid it).

Natural Mineral Salt

Natural mineral salts can have as many as 84 minerals and trace minerals. That’s 84 minerals you might not get elsewhere.

There are so many different natural salts available, how do you decide which one to use? I like to try different types. I'm currently using Celtic Sea Salt in my cooking, and I have a Pink Himalayan Sea Salt grinder that I use to season my food.

I usually buy salt from iHerb as I find them so much cheaper and they have a much bigger range than my local health food store. IHerb currently have a Pink Himalayan Sea Salt grinder on sale for $3.24 – on which you can get a $5 discount* (or $10 if your order is over $40) using the promo code duv741.  So if you've not tried mineral salts, why not give them a go and let me know what you think.

Which salt are you using at the moment? I’d love to hear about your favourites in the comments below.

*Don't blame me if the price goes back up!

How Different Salts Affect the Flavour and Nutritional Profile of Your Food

Once you’ve made the switch from conventional table salt to a natural mineral salt, it’s hard to go back. Not only does real salt taste better, it enhances the flavour of your meals in a completely different way. That’s because those missing trace minerals don’t just add nutritional value — they also subtly shift the flavour profile, making food taste more vibrant and complex.

For instance, Himalayan pink salt tends to have a slightly earthy flavour, while Celtic sea salt carries a briny tang thanks to its moisture content. Try the same dish with each type, and you’ll notice how the salt can actually transform the overall taste experience.

What to Look for in a High-Quality Salt

When shopping for salt, here are a few features to keep in mind to ensure you’re choosing a high-quality, nutrient-rich option:

  • Colour: Unrefined salt is rarely pure white. It might be pink, grey, off-white, or even black depending on where it's sourced and the trace minerals it contains.
  • Texture: Good salt often comes in flakes or coarse crystals. These shapes preserve the structure of the salt and keep moisture locked in — something that helps retain both flavour and minerals.
  • Source: Look for salts harvested from clean, ancient sources like the Himalayan foothills or pristine oceanic regions. Many brands are transparent about their origin and mining process.
  • No Additives: Avoid any salt that contains anti-caking agents, bleaching agents, or added preservatives. These are signs of processing and usually mean minerals have been stripped away.

Is It Worth Switching Salts for Cooking vs Finishing?

Absolutely. Some salts are best suited for cooking, while others shine when sprinkled over a finished dish. Coarse grey sea salts like Celtic are ideal for cooking, as they dissolve well and impart deep flavour. Meanwhile, flaky salts such as Maldon are perfect as a finishing touch on grilled meats or roasted vegetables, offering a pleasing crunch and burst of flavour.

If you're using an unrefined mineral salt in both roles, you’ll not only elevate your dishes but also ensure you’re getting additional trace minerals in every meal — all without any synthetic additives.

Other Popular Natural Salts to Explore

If you’ve only tried Himalayan or Celtic salt, it might be time to branch out. Here are a few other mineral-rich salts worth experimenting with:

  • Red Hawaiian Salt (Alaea): This salt gets its reddish colour from iron oxide-rich volcanic clay. It’s particularly good with pork or grilled vegetables.
  • Black Lava Salt: Harvested in Hawaii or Cyprus and infused with activated charcoal, this striking black salt has a slightly smoky flavour and makes a stunning garnish.
  • Bolivian Rose Salt: Similar to Himalayan salt but harvested from ancient Bolivian salt flats, this variant offers a comparable mineral profile and flavour with a softer pink hue.
  • Persian Blue Salt: One of the rarest salts in the world, this salt forms naturally in ancient salt lakes and offers a sharp initial bite that mellows into a mild finish.

Salt and Hydration: The Missing Link?

For those following a low-carb or Paleo diet, proper electrolyte balance is crucial — and salt plays a starring role. Many people cutting refined carbs experience a drop in insulin levels, which in turn leads the kidneys to excrete more sodium. This can result in symptoms like fatigue, headaches, and muscle cramps, often referred to as the “low carb flu”.

By including a good quality natural salt in your daily routine, you can help prevent this imbalance. A pinch added to your water bottle, or incorporated into bone broth or smoothies, can make a noticeable difference to your energy and hydration levels — especially during exercise or warm weather.

How Much Salt Do You Really Need?

It’s true that excessive sodium from processed foods can be harmful, but if you’re eating a whole-food, home-cooked Paleo diet, chances are your sodium intake is naturally lower than most. Rather than aiming to avoid salt altogether, the focus should be on choosing the right kind — and using it mindfully to season and support your body’s needs.

Signs you may need to increase your salt intake include low energy, light-headedness (especially when standing), cravings for salty foods, or even muscle spasms. Always listen to your body, and consider working with a practitioner if you're unsure where your intake stands.

Salt Storage and Shelf Life Tips

Natural salts don’t go “off” in the traditional sense, but proper storage is still important. Because many unrefined salts retain moisture, they can clump if left in humid conditions. Here’s how to keep your salt in perfect condition:

  • Store in an airtight container away from moisture.
  • Use a ceramic or glass grinder to prevent metal corrosion when grinding salt at the table.
  • Keep large bags or tubs in a cool, dry pantry and decant smaller amounts for everyday use.

Wrapping It Up: The Case for Ditching White Salt Forever

If you’re still using supermarket table salt, now’s the time to upgrade. Not only are mineral salts better for your health, they also elevate your meals with nuanced flavours that refined salt can’t match. Whether you stick with a favourite like Celtic or Himalayan, or explore some of the more exotic salts from around the world, it’s a simple change that pays dividends in both taste and nutrition.

So next time you reach for the salt shaker, take a moment to consider what’s actually in it — and what’s missing. Your body (and your tastebuds) will thank you.

Sticky Chilli & Apricot Salmon with Greens

Zingy Carrot Citrus Salad (Paleo Style)

Foaming Zucchini (Simple Paleo Side)

9 Creative and Unexpected Ways to Get More Veg and Fruit

We all know we're supposed to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Apparently it doesn't really matter what you choose for your five portions, more fruit than veg, it makes no difference. Whether your portions are frozen, canned, dried or part of a drink – it's all good.

Agree?

Well, in the interest of your health, I now present nine different ways you can get to your five a day. And of course once you've got there, you can eat whatever you like for the rest of the day!

1. A bottle of fruit juice

That's right, 150ml of processed fruit juice is enough to tick of one of your 5 daily portions of fruit and vegetables. So they may have up to 8 teaspoons of sugar in a bottle – but that's not important enough for us to worry about.

Paleo diet five a day fruit veg orange juice

2. Baked Beans

Who knew? Apparently the sauce alone is nutritious enough to count as a portion. Don't worry yourself about the added sugar, they're clearly a health food.

Paleo-diet-five-a-day-fruit-veg-heinz-baked-beans-min

3. Fruit Chips/ Crisps

Just replace the potato chips with fruit chips and you're winning! The best thing is that as they're dried, the sugars are concentrated making them even more appealing!

Paleo-diet-five-a-day-fruit-veg-apple-crisps

4. Sweets/ Lollies/ Candy

Why have broccoli as one of your portions when you have have the sweet stuff!
Paleo-diet-five-a-day-fruit-veg-sea-snacks-min

5. More Sweets/ Lollies/ Candy

Best to have two packets, rather than one, to get you closer to your five a day…
Paleo diet five a day fruit veg raspberry crispie tiddlers

6. Fruit Juice

Water you say? No – that won't help you get to your five a day target. Have a fruit shoot instead. (Ingredients: Water, Sugar, Orange Juice from Concentrate (8%), Citric Acid, Natural Flavouring, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Preservatives (Potassium Sorbate, Dimethyl Dicarbonate), Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Natural Colour (Carotenes) – that's all healthy good stuff, right?)
Paleo diet five a day fruit veg robinsons fruit shoot

7. McDonalds Soda

You know those days when it's really hard to find anywhere to buy fruit and vegetables? Well luckily for you McDonalds can help you get your five a day.
Paleo diet five a day fruit veg mcdonalds soda fruitizz

8. Pasta Shapes

Pasta. Shapes. Are. Good. For. You.
Paleo diet five a day fruit veg heinz pasta shapes

9. Strawberry Bars

Marketed directly at school children make sure you incorporate these in your diet. They've even got healthy vegetable oil them.

Ingredients: Concentrated Apple Puree (an average of 282g Apple used to prepare 100g of School Bars®), Dehydrated Apple (20%), Maltodextrin, Oligofructose, Vegetable Oil, Concentrated Juices of Apple (3%), Strawberry (1.8%) and Pear (1%), Gelling Agent (Pectin), Natural Colour (Anthocyanins), Natural Flavouring, Malic Acid, Preservative (Sodium Metabisulphite)
Paleo-diet-five-a-day-fruit-veg-fruit-bar-school-bars-min

I hope this post has helped you out. Have you had your five a day today?

9 surprising ways to get your five a day

Seared Pork with Pear & Fennel Salad

How to Make Brussels Sprouts Taste Amazing

Paleo Garlic & Tamarind Chicken Thighs

The 9 Craziest Fad Diets People Actually Tried

It always amuses me when people describe the Paleo Diet as a fad diet. Given that we’ve only been eating our current diets of junk and processed foods for the last two or three generations, isn’t the Standard American (or Australian) Diet the real fad?!

You can’t really argue with paleo, I mean who could possibly say not eating processed foods is harmful? The true fad diets out there – well, that’s a whole different story! Here are my all time favourite Fad Diets. Warning: some of them are seriously weird – and outright dangerous…

Crazy fad diets paleo network

The Cabbage Soup Diet

Perhaps the most popular diet on my list, it amazes me how many people have tried this. I guess it’s only popular because it’s viewed as a quick-fix thing. I mean who wants to actually eat healthy long term?

Cabbage soup diet

Basically, for 7-days you eat cabbage soup, drink water and can also add in a bit of fruit (not into the soup – that would be even more disgusting), veg, skim milk and a bit of brown rice. After seven days, people of the cabbage soup diet are promised that they’ll have lost loads of weight, though in reality it’s going to be water weight, not long term fat loss.

The Fletcherism diet

Basically lose loads of weight and avoid ill health, by Fletcherism. All you have to do is chew every single mouthful 32 times (not 31, or 33, or presumably it won’t work). I gather it works just as well whether you chew your grass-fed beef, or your Big Mac – so long as it’s 32 times.

Fletcherism What It Is Or How I Became Young At Sixty chew 32 times

The Baby Food Diet

Instead of eating normal, age appropriate food swap some, or all of your meals for a jar of baby food. I’m not kidding, people actually do this. What’s suitable for a baby, probably isn’t so good for a grown-up….

The Master Cleanse Diet

This was so popular a couple of years ago, remember? Another short-term fix, you’re supposed to swap eating, for a drink made from lemon juice, water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. It supposedly detoxes the body and magically removes excess fat. Yeah, sounds very sustainable.

The Hallelujah diet

Oh yes, there’s even a religious diet. All you need to do to lose weight is eat what Adam and Eve ate in the garden of Eden. Raw fruit and vegetables are in, whole grains are good, and bizarrely vitamin B12 supplements. They must be a whole lot older than I realised….

Hallelujah Diet Religious bible fad diet

The Vision Diet

Eating too much of the wrong thing? All you need to do is wear blue lensed glasses, to make food look as unappealing as possible and stop you eating it. Obviously. You don’t do this?

The Cotton Wool Diet

Dieting plans been led astray by feelings of hunger? Apparently some people actually eat cotton balls to fill their stomach and prevent them from eating real food. On what level is this supposed to be a good idea?

The Parasite Diet

Believe it or not, you used to be able to buy pills that were claimed to contain tapeworms! You’d swallow the pills, with the intention that your new parasite infection would eat all the food in your stomach, before you could digest it.

Breatharianism

Eating’s cheating… Breatharianists believe you can live on just spirituality and sunlight. They claim not to ever need any type of food, or even water. Scientists have not been able to confirm the claims… surprised?

Breatharianism Food-Free at Last How I Learned to Eat Air

Have you ever tried a crazy fad diet? I’d love to hear about it – please share your experiences in the comments below!

How to Make Bacon Coleslaw