Is Pink or Celtic Salt Better Than Table Salt? And the Salt Trick

No salt has been shown to be better for your health than another. Pink, Celtic and sea salts are mostly sodium chloride, and in an analysis of 31 pink salts you would need more than 30 g a day, five times the NHS maximum of 6 g, for their other minerals to count.^{1, 2} The one trial that swapped pink salt for table salt, in 17 women with high blood pressure, found no difference in blood pressure.³ Table salt adds iodine only when labelled iodised, and fewer than half of the UK supermarkets surveyed stocked it.⁴ The pink salt trick has no trial behind it. Part of the Wellgard electrolyte guide.

Evidence at a glance

• Studies: one randomised crossover trial of pink against table salt; two laboratory analyses (31 pink salts; 10 speciality salts).
• Largest trial of salt type: 17 women with high blood pressure, about four weeks on each salt.
• Strongest measured outcome: no difference in blood pressure or 24-hour urinary sodium between pink and table salt.
• Not tested: Celtic or sea salt against table salt, the pink salt trick, or a salt-water flush.

Sources checked on 13 October 2026.

Is pink or Celtic salt better than table salt?

Neither is better or worse on the evidence there is: all are mostly sodium chloride, and sodium is the same ion whichever salt it comes from. Table salt is refined, usually with a listed anti-caking agent. Pink salt is rock salt, much of it from the Himalayan region. Celtic salt is the name shoppers use for grey, moist sea salt from the Atlantic coast.

The only trial is small. In a partly publicly funded Brazilian crossover trial, 17 women with high blood pressure cooked with Himalayan salt or table salt for about four weeks each; blood pressure and 24-hour urinary sodium did not differ between the salts.³ No trial has tested Celtic or sea salt against table salt, so the healthiest salt is an amount, not a colour: no more than 6 g a day for adults.²

What is actually in pink salt?

Mostly sodium chloride, plus small, variable amounts of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. Australian researchers measured 25 minerals in 31 pink salts against an iodised table salt; pink salt carried more of those four, darker and Himalayan-origin samples generally more again.¹ In the full results, an average 5 g teaspoon supplied about 13 mg of magnesium and 12 mg of potassium, against an NHS potassium need of 3,500 mg a day, hence the authors' threshold of more than 30 g of salt a day.^{1, 5} One sample, from Peru, held 2.59 mg/kg of lead, over Australia's 2 mg/kg limit.¹

An Italian analysis of ten speciality salts found iron and zinc higher in Atlantic grey and Persian blue salt, nickel higher in Persian blue and smoked salt, and lead above the EU maximum in every sample.⁶ Neither measured anything in people, or reports the 84 or 92 minerals quoted online.

Does table salt have anything pink salt does not?

Iodine, when the label says iodised. The NHS says adults need 140 micrograms of iodine a day and lists cows' milk and dairy, eggs, sea fish and shellfish as good sources; salt is not on its list.⁷ A survey of 77 UK supermarkets found iodised salt in 32 (41.6%), and the main UK iodised salt carried 11.5 mg of iodine per kg; the authors concluded it is unlikely to add meaningful iodine.⁴

Iodine matters most in pregnancy. In the ALSPAC cohort of 1,040 UK pregnant women, children of mothers with a low iodine-to-creatinine ratio in early pregnancy were more likely to score in the lowest quarter for verbal IQ (odds ratio 1.58) and reading accuracy (1.69); that is an association, not a trial.⁸ None of this is a reason to eat more salt; iodine in pregnancy is a question for your midwife or GP.

What is the pink salt trick, and does it work?

The pink salt trick is a social-media drink: a pinch of pink salt in water, often with lemon, taken first thing or before bed and promoted for weight, energy and hydration. No trial has tested it, and no trial has tested salt water of any colour for belly fat or weight. Salt carries no calories; the drink is mostly a glass of water.

The sodium arithmetic is what is known. A level teaspoon is about 6 g of salt, the NHS maximum for a whole day, and the UK average is already about 8 g.^{2, 5} Sweat is different: in 506 athletes, sweat carried about 36 mmol of sodium a litre, roughly 0.8 g, at about 1.2 litres an hour.⁹ Salt is salt for hydration: what matters is the measured sodium in the drink, and a sweaty hour is where that belongs. Do you need to drink electrolytes every day? sizes it.

Is drinking salt water harmful?

A strong salt drink can be. A flush made with two teaspoons of salt in a litre of water carries about 12 g of salt, roughly 4.8 g of sodium, twice the NHS daily maximum in one go.^{2, 5} A drink that salty pulls water into the gut, hence the urgent loose stools flush videos describe. In a systematic review of 15 case reports of salt toxicity after one large load, 7 of the 14 with known outcomes died, with salt water taken to induce vomiting among the commonest causes; those were massive loads, and salt toxicity is rare.¹⁰

The NHS says too much salt can cause high blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes.^{2, 11} How much salt you should have a day sets out what the blood pressure trials found. With high blood pressure, heart failure or kidney disease, or medicines for them, ask your GP or pharmacist before drinking salt water.

Which salt should you use in a homemade electrolyte drink?

Any salt, because the sodium barely differs. A quarter of a teaspoon is about 1.5 g of salt and 600 mg of sodium; in a litre of diluted squash that is about 26 mmol of sodium a litre, as can I just put salt in my water sets out.^{2, 5} Pink salt measured slightly lower in sodium per gram in both studies that compared it with table salt, too little to change the recipe.^{1, 3} A homemade drink is not an oral rehydration solution for a child with diarrhoea; ask a pharmacist or NHS 111.

What we don't know

• Only one trial has compared pink with table salt, in 17 women for about four weeks each; none has compared Celtic, grey or sea salt with table salt.³
• No trial has tested the pink salt trick or a salt-water flush for weight, energy or digestion.
• Neither mineral analysis bought its salt in the UK, and neither measured iodine in pink or grey salt.^{1, 6}
• No study has measured whether the lead found in speciality salts shows up in the people who use them.

Frequently asked questions

How much Himalayan salt can you have a day?

The same as any salt: adults should have no more than 6 g a day, about a level teaspoon, including the salt already in food, which the NHS says is around three quarters of what we eat.²

Is iodised salt better than ordinary salt?

It carries iodine and ordinary salt does not; the sodium is the same. The NHS says most people can get the iodine they need from a varied, balanced diet, with milk, dairy, eggs and sea fish among the good sources.⁷

Does pink salt have less sodium than table salt?

A little, per gram: in the full trial paper the Himalayan salt had 64 mg less sodium per gram than the table salt, and the 31 Australian pink salts averaged lower than the one table salt tested.^{1, 3}

Is Celtic salt good for hydration?

No trial has tested Celtic salt for hydration, and its trace minerals do not change how its sodium acts: water for most days, a measured sodium drink for the days that cost salt.

Sources

1. Fayet-Moore F, et al. Foods, 2020. Laboratory analysis, 31 pink salts and one iodised table salt; self-funded. PubMed 33086585.
2. NHS. Salt in your diet. Page last reviewed 17 April 2023 (review overdue); checked 13 October 2026. nhs.uk.
3. Loyola IP, et al. Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia, 2022. Randomised crossover trial, 17 women with high blood pressure, four weeks per salt, 14 analysed; partly publicly funded. PubMed 35137791.
4. Bath SC, et al. Public Health Nutrition, 2014. Shelf survey, 77 UK supermarkets. PubMed 23324480.
5. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: others. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue); checked 13 October 2026. nhs.uk.
6. Di Salvo E, et al. Toxics, 2023. Laboratory analysis, 10 speciality salts; no external funding. PubMed 37624210.
7. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: iodine. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue); checked 13 October 2026. nhs.uk.
8. Bath SC, et al. Lancet, 2013. Observational cohort, 1,040 pregnant women and their children. PubMed 23706508.
9. Baker LB, et al. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2016. Observational dataset, 506 athletes; authors at a sports-drink maker's institute. PubMed 26070030.
10. Metheny NA, Krieger MM. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 2020. Systematic review of case reports, 15 cases. PubMed 32340735.
11. NHS. High blood pressure. Page last reviewed 19 July 2024. nhs.uk.

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