Sea Salt Neti Pot Guide

Once again, it just might come down to purity. Just because something says "sea salt" on the label doesn't guarantee it's truly 100% pure -- or the right of sea salt for your neti pot.

As an illustration, let's look at a few popular options recommended by sea salt neti pot fans, and consider the benefits and potential drawbacks of each.

About Gourmet 'Grocery-Style' Sea Salt

Is your sea salt neti pot friendly? To find out, you'll have to check the label. But don't assume that just because it says "non-iodized sea salt" on the front, it's okay. Check the fine print, not just for iodine, but also for those sneaky anti-caking agents with names like calcium silicate or in this case, yellow prussiate of soda. Photo Credit: www.neti-netti-pot.com. Ok to use with attribution.

Non-Iodized sea salt is a tricky one. You can find it relatively easy these days in your baking aisle, especially if your area is known for gourmet tastes.

Cooking sea salt isn't quite as cheap as regular table salt, but it's not terribly expensive either. In this photo, this 17.6 oz. (500 g.) container of Mortons Sea Salt cost just a little over two dollars at the local grocery store.

In relative terms, this is about the price of three candy bars. The container has 357 quarter-teaspoon servings, which means I could irrigate my sinuses once a day all year for one low price.

And then I checked the label, paying particular attention to the fine print. Its ingredient list says this: Salt, yellow prussiate of soda (anticaking agent).

Uh-oh.

So, this isn't quite "pure" either. Now, I'm not saying anything against its quality. I certainly wouldn't let that stop me from cooking with it or sprinkling it on my popcorn. I'm just saying it wouldn't be my first choice for nasal irrigation.

About Coarse 'Bathing-Style' Sea Salt

You might have to visit a specialty store, whether in person or on-line, but it is possible to find sea salt that hasn't been altered (with anti-caking agents) to flow easier for cooking. But it's unlikely you'll find this type of salt for the low price of a few candy bars. That's because pure sea salt (meaning without anti-caking additives) is not generally available in the mass-produced, grocery-aisle scenario.

But that doesn't mean pure sea salt is is out-of-this-world expensive. Instead of three candy bars, you might have to spend the equivalent of a dozen candy bars to get yourself a decent stash of neti pot salt of the sea-salt variety.

And if it's REALLY exotic, it might even come from the Dead Sea. (I used to work in a metaphysical store, and we sold Dead Sea Salt specially packaged for salt baths, sometime with splash of essential oil. Lavender-scented oil was particularly popular, because lavender is known to have relaxation qualities. Our customers swore by them. See, and you thought salt was good only for seasoning your fries or putting salt water up your nose...)

About Sea Salt Neti Pot Style

If you're especially wary and want guaranteed neti pot comfort, there are sources for sea salt packaged specifically for nasal irrigation. Usually, what this means is that it has no iodine or anti-caking agents, and is often more finely ground than the coarse variety that people use for salt baths.

It's made this way to dissolve easily in water, which can save you some time and potential trouble when using your neti pot.

Look for sea salt neti pot style in your health food stores or of course, on-line.

Sea Salt Neti Pot Trivia - What IS Sea Salt?

Technically, all salt has come from the sea at one time or another, but sea salt is harvested directly from the sea, or ocean as the case may be. Photo Credit: www.neti-netti-pot.com. Ok to use with attribution.

It all depends on how one defines "at one time."

These days, the term sea salt is used mainly for those salt products that were harvested directly from seawater." Morton goes on to add that they offer a refined sea salt from the waters of San Francisco Bay in California, USA.

So by the sea, we can also mean the ocean, surfer style. (I'm resisting the urge to add, "Duuuuuuude." Whoops, I guess I didn't really resist, did I?)

In unrelated news, other specialty suppliers sell "gourmet" sea salt from exotic places, even including the Dead Sea as mentioned above. But these tend to be more expensive than what you can find in your local grocery aisle. And in fact, you're quite unlikely to find them in your grocery aisle, but would have to buy them from a health store, metaphysical shop, or from an on-line retailer.