Open Instagram and you’ll see it within minutes: a wellness influencer solemnly instructing you to ditch your “toxic” white table salt for pink Himalayan salt, preferably scooped from a minimalist ceramic jar. Even Tom Brady’s TB12 diet insists on the rosy stuff. The implication is clear: this salt is purer, healthier, and possibly spiritually aligned with your chakras.
There’s just one problem. It’s mostly nonsense.
Pink Himalayan salt does contain trace amounts of minerals like potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and it’s true that it's less processed than standard table salt. It also has a pleasing hue and makes your kitchen look like a lifestyle magazine spread. But chemically speaking, it’s still about 97–99% sodium chloride, just like regular salt. Claims that it “detoxifies” the body, meaningfully alters blood pH, or provides substantial health benefits don’t survive even casual scientific scrutiny.
What does this scrutiny is what pink salt lacks: iodine.
Why Iodine Matters
Iodine is an essential micronutrient required for the synthesis of thyroid hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). These hormones regulate metabolic rate, heart function, temperature control, growth, and brain development. In short, iodine is not optional.
Canada learned this the hard way. In 1949, iodine deficiency was common enough that the government mandated iodization of table salt, dramatically reducing the prevalence of goiters and hypothyroidism. For decades, this subtle public-health intervention worked remarkably well.
But pink Himalayan salt is not iodized. Swap it in wholesale, and you quietly remove one of the most reliable iodine sources in the Canadian diet.
When the Thyroid Struggles
When iodine intake drops, the thyroid can’t make enough T3 and T4. The usual negative-feedback loop breaks down: low thyroid hormone levels prompt the pituitary to release more thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), pushing the thyroid to work harder. Over time, this constant stimulation can cause the gland to enlarge, forming a goiter, often without producing enough functional hormone to fix the problem.
The downstream effects of hypothyroidism are wide-ranging and unpleasant: fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance, dry skin, hair loss, slowed heart rate, depression, and cognitive slowing. During pregnancy, iodine deficiency is particularly dangerous; inadequate thyroid hormone exposure in early development can permanently impair brain development in the fetus.
This isn’t fringe physiology. It’s endocrine basics, as any first year studying life sciences can tell you.
Iodine Deficiency Is Making a Comeback
As wellness influencers push Himalayan sea salt over the regular stuff, they rarely mention the catch: iodine deficiency is once again on the rise in Canada.
A found that nearly 12% of Canadian adults had moderate to severe iodine deficiency. Dairy intake, long an incidental iodine source due to farming practices, was the strongest predictor of adequate iodine status. From their findings, the researchers suggested that public-health messaging that encourages salt restriction and reduced dairy consumption may be unintentionally worsening the problem.
Meanwhile, most dietary salt now comes from processed foods, and that salt is not iodized. The main remaining iodine contribution from salt comes from what you add yourself at home; exactly the salt wellness influencers are telling you to replace.
Moreover, pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to iodine deficiency. A found that two-thirds of women who began multivitamin supplementation only after conception had inadequate iodine levels in the first trimester, precisely when fetal brain development is most sensitive.
Final Sprinkle
This isn’t an argument for eating more salt. Most Canadians already consume more sodium than is good for cardiovascular health. It is an argument for choosing iodized salt when you do use it, and for being wary of aesthetic wellness swaps that quietly trade public-health successes for Instagram vibes.
Pink Himalayan salt won’t detox you. It won’t balance your pH. And it certainly won’t support thyroid hormone synthesis.
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Sophie Tseng Pellar recently graduated from Â鶹´«Ă˝ÍřŐľ with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in the physiology program. She is continuing her graduate studies in the surgical and interventional sciences program at Â鶹´«Ă˝ÍřŐľ. Her research interests include exercise physiology, biomechanics and sports nutrition.
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