Rick Strong asked:
>does sea salt contain enough iodine to prevent thyroid related deficiency??

I don't have those figures at my finger tips, but I believe it has some, as
does sea water.  Eating ocean fish provides iodine in the diet.  We also eat
sea vegetables and have for years.  There are many varieties and some (like
dulse and wild nori) are delicious raw or lightly toasted. Many traditional
peoples who lived by the sea ate sea vegetables (aka seaweeds).

jean claude said:
>Are you sure about 86 % ? i thought he will be more than that. Would you
>have the exact composition of 14 % left.

I got that information from an article in the now defunt magazine MACROMUSE,
Summer 1986. The lab analysis was done by the University of Nantes and the
word of Prof. L.C. Kevran and the book by Rene Quinton, *Seawater, Organic
Medium* published by the Library of the Medicine Academy, Paris, France.   I
also have other documents on this but think you can get it from the listing
below.

I suggest you contact The Grain & Salt Society, started by the late Jacques
deLangre.  They have a lot of detailed documents, lab reports, etc.  If they
have not moved, their may be reachged at 273 Fairway Drive, Asheville, NC
94704.  (800)867-7258.  You can also get info on the Celtic Sea Salt from
the two companies I posted earlier:  Natural Lifestyle Supplies & Gold Mine
Natural Foods.  Tell them how much information you want and what kind.

The material I have says it comes from the Bay of Biscay on the shores of
the Celtic Sea and was proclaimed a National Treasure by the French Govt.
It is made by the practice you describe (dating back to the ninth century).
It was interesting and poetic to hear how the wind and sun dry the
salt....how they harvest it, etc. The French name for the salt is Fleur De
Sel (Flower of the Ocean!)

Erik Hill asked:
I wonder why human beings have such a taste for salt?

Jacques de Langre believed that it is because our  Our bodies have 3 oceans:
 1) one forms the plasma of our blood; 2) another the lymphatic and
circulatory system; 3) and the extracellular fluid that bathes every living
cell.  I'd add that, I've read that healthy blood is salty as is the
embryonic fluid in which we are bathed as fetuses.

There is a fascinating book I read many years ago on salt by a nurse. It was
about salt throughout history, man's desire for salt, all sorts of strange
ailments that make people crave or need HUGE amounts of salt.  I'll have to
see if I still have it somewhere.  I think Paleo People would like it.

Well, gotta go for now.

Rachel