On salt...

Paul Pitchford on salt:

"In the past fifty years a controversy has raged in the West around salt. Most of the evidence is in, and it shows salt to be a true culprit. However, the salt being tested is not the whole salt used for millenia by traditional peoples but the highly refined chemical variety that is 99,5% or more sodium chloride, with additions of anti-caking chemicals, potassium iodide, and sugar (dextrose) to stabilize the iodine. We see the rising tide of information against salt as a warning about the overuse of refined salt."

"Most current guidelines for daily salt consumption recommend about 3,000 milligrams, while the average American takes in 17,000 mg., or about 3 1/2 teaspoonfuls of higly refined salt each day. This gross overuse of salt illustrates the tenet that when a food is not balanced (such as salt that has been refined), people have a tendency to overeat it."

"Common refined sea salt has been stripped of nearly all of its sixty trace minerals. (...) Whole salt from the sea has a mineral profile most similar to that of our blood.
In order to obtain this salt, one must usually seek it out. Salt labeled "sea salt" at health stores is typically the refined pure white variety. Whole natural sea salt is slightly grey and will be in large crystals, granules or a powder."

"Balanced salt usage is highly individual. Except when used therapeutically, salt should enhance, not dominate, the flavor of food; if food tastes salty, too much salt is being used."

Rebecca Wood on salt:

"[Unrefined] sea salt is concentrated ocean, with its water evaporated and its impurities removed. This is also true for salt mined from the earth, the deposits being remnants of ancient salt lakes and oceans. While primarily sodium chloride, sun-dried sea salt contains all trace elements - including iodine - balanced in the same ratio as sea water. Because iodine, a mineral needed for proper thyroid function, is less stable than the other minerals, it dissipates from refined, washed, or kiln-dried salt. To make iodine stick to processed salt requires chemical manipulation.

Health benefits.
Our blood, lymph, and extracellular fluids are like a miniature sea with a composition of sodium and trace minerals similar to ocean water. (...) Because we lose these minerals daily through normal body processes, they must be replaced. Using quality (unrefined, bva) sea salt, which contains up to 10% trace minerals, is an easy way to do so. Furthermore, the minerals from sea salt are far more easily assimilated than mineral supplements are. (...)

Buying.
Purchasing sea salt at a natural food store is not a guarantee of purchasing quality. (...) Fortunately, there are several small companies that manufacture quality natural (unrefined, bva) sea salt. Superior natural sea salt brand names include Celtic, Lima, Malden, Muramoto, and Si. (...) Two quick guidelines for determining quality are taste and, to some extent, price. The mellower the taste, the better the quality, and quality salts involve some degree of hand processing - hence price is a factor."(3)

Footnotes:
(1) Paul Pitchford, "Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition", North Atlantic Books; 3rd edition (2002), pp.196-198
(2) id., pp.203
(3) Rebecca Wood, "The new whole foods encyclopedia: a comprehensive resource for healthy eating", foreword by Paul pitchford, revised and updated ed., 1999, Penguin Books, pp. 302-304