Salt

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Salt is a dietary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride that is essential for animal life, but toxic to most land plants. Salt flavor is one of the basic tastes, an important preservative and a popular food seasoning.

Salt for human consumption is produced in different forms: unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt. It is a crystalline solid, white, pale pink or light gray in color, normally obtained from sea water or rock deposits. Edible rock salts may be slightly grayish in color because of this mineral content.

Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are necessary for the survival of all known living creatures, including humans. Salt is involved in regulating the water content (fluid balance) of the body. Salt cravings may be caused by trace mineral deficiencies as well as by a deficiency of sodium chloride itself. Conversely, overconsumption of salt increases the risk of health problems, including high blood pressure.

For more information about Salt, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with salt

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The principle of generating blue energy by reverse electrodialysis.

Boosting the amount of energy obtained from water

Technology / Energy

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1

The energy generated in places where fresh water and salt water meet is known as blue energy. This is a relatively new but highly promising renewable energy source. Piotr Długołęcki of the University ...


Family partnership, education interventions lower heart failure patients' salt consumption

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Educating family members of heart failure (HF) patients about the health benefits of consuming a low-salt diet and providing skills for support and communication can effectively reduce HF patients' sodium consumption, according ...


Canadians finding it tough to shake the salt habit

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Canadians know that too much salt isn't good for their diets, but half still continue to shake it on, according to a new study by University of Alberta researchers.


Water-conserving irrigation strategies minimize overwatering, runoff

Water-conserving irrigation strategies minimize overwatering, runoff

Biology / Other

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Conserving water and reducing the environmental impact of runoff are two of the most important issues confronting container nursery operations. Current regulations and laws in five states limit water consumption ...


Solar power generation around the clock

Solar power generation around the clock

Technology / Energy

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (29) | comments 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Californian company, SolarReserve, is developing a solar power system that can store seven hours' worth of solar energy by focusing mirrors onto millions of gallons of molten salt, allowing ...


'Blue energy' seems feasible and offers considerable benefits

Technology / Energy

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (10) | comments 0

Generating energy on a large scale by mixing salt and fresh water is both technically possible and practical. The worldwide potential for this clean form of energy - 'blue energy' or 'blue electricity' - is enormous. However, ...


Synthetic Cells Shed Biological Insights While Delivering Battery Power

Synthetic Cells Shed Biological Insights While Delivering Battery Power

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Trying to understand the complex workings of a biological cell by teasing out the function of every molecule within it is a daunting task. But by making synthetic cells that include just a ...


Don't worry so much about limiting sodium, researchers say

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (12) | comments 3

University of California-Davis nutrition researchers are challenging the decades-old conventional wisdom that we should watch our salt.


New Evidence Shakes up Perceptions of Salt

New Evidence Shakes up Perceptions of Salt

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- As the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are currently under development and regulations surrounding sodium consumption are being considered, an analysis of evidence to be released online ...


Do lava lamps and actual lava share similar characteristics?

Do lava lamps and actual lava share similar characteristics?

Physics / General Physics

created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 2

When Imre Jánosi's teenage daughter asked him how her new lava lamp worked, she probably expected a quick explanation. But her innocent question sent Jánosi, a physicist at Loránd ...


Scientist increase the efficiency of a type of solar cell by incorporating ionic salts

Scientist increase the efficiency of a type of solar cell by incorporating ionic salts

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

A group of scientists are working on the optimisation of a type of photovoltaic cell (Grätzel cell) that artificially mimics photosynthesis.


Receptor activated exclusively by glutamate discovered on tongue

Receptor activated exclusively by glutamate discovered on tongue

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1

One hundred years ago, Kikunae Ikeda discovered the flavour-giving properties of glutamate, a non essential amino acid traditionally used to enhance the taste of many fermented or ripe foods, such as ripe ...


Could salt crusts be key ingredient in cooking up prebiotic molecules?

Could salt crusts be key ingredient in cooking up prebiotic molecules?

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 18, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

German scientists investigating the complex chemical mixture thought to be present in the early Earth’s oceans have found that amino acids can be 'cooked' into many other important chemical building blocks ...


Chloride found at levels that can harm aquatic life in urban streams of the Northern US

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Levels of chloride, a component of salt, are elevated in many urban streams and groundwater across the northern U.S., according to a new government study.


Salt and Paper Battery

Salt and Paper Battery May One Day Replace Lithium Batteries

Technology / Energy

created Sep 15, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Salt and paper battery can be used in many low-power devices, such as medical implants, RFID tags, wireless sensors and smart cards. This battery uses a thin-film which makes it an attractive ...