The writer Isak Dinesen once said, "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea," but salt (or, more specifically, sodium) is also a source of blame for high blood pressure and kidney stones. Too much can make you thirsty, while too little can leave a dish lacking in flavor. What looks like a generic pile of granules is anything but simple.

作家伊萨克·迪内森(Isak Dinesen)曾说过，“盐水是治疗一切的良药:汗水、眼泪或海水。”但盐(或者更具体地说，钠)也是高血压和肾结石的罪魁祸首。盐太多会让你口渴，而太少会让一道菜缺乏味道。看起来像一堆普通颗粒的东西却一点也不简单。

A quick science lesson: what we colloquially call "salt" is NaCl, a combination of sodium and chlorine, and humans have natural receptors for it on their tongues. It is essential to life, both for fluid regulation and for its role in maintaining healthy nerve function (via Exploring Our Fluid Earth). But if you're not a scientist or physician, your main interest in salt probably has more to do with its culinary applications.

给大家上一节简单的科学课:我们俗称的“盐”是NaCl，它是钠和氯的组合，人类的舌头上有对它的天然受体。它对生命至关重要，无论是流体调节，还是维持健康神经功能的作用(通过探索我们的流体地球)。但如果你不是科学家或医生，你对盐的主要兴趣可能更多地与它的烹饪应用有关。

Believe it or not, the salt you've been consuming is likely sea salt — the difference is how long ago it was in the sea. For the last century, American table salt has typically been sold in a formulation fortified with the essential nutrient iodine (via Nutrients). It is procured from salt mines, which are essentially dried-up bodies of seawater. Other additives may be incorporated during processing, but these aren't bad for you, as the advent of the iodized version of table salt is responsible for millions of lives saved from iodine deficiency, which is linked to acute or chronic hypothyroidism, as well as congenital thyroid deficiency syndrome (via Healthline).

信不信由你，你一直在吃的盐很可能是海盐——区别在于它在海洋中的时间有多长。上个世纪，美国食盐通常以添加必需营养素碘的配方出售。海盐是从盐矿中获得的，盐矿基本上是干涸的海水。在加工过程中可能会加入其他添加剂，但这些对你来说并不坏，因为食盐加碘版本的出现使数百万人免于缺碘，缺碘与急性或慢性甲状腺功能减退以及先天性甲状腺缺乏综合征有关。

As for the stuff in the bottle at the fancy grocery store labeled "sea salt?" That kind of salt came from water that was forcibly evaporated from a moving body of water and thus carries more trace minerals (via Healthline). Because it's less processed, it does not have added iodine. If you're going to use it, chefs recommend using it as a finisher or for dishes that are already cooked — once it's dissolved by heat, you're not likely to notice much of a flavor difference between sea salt or table salt.

至于那些高档杂货店里瓶子里贴着“海盐”标签的东西?这种盐来自于从流动水体中强制蒸发出来的水，因此含有更多的微量矿物质。因为加工程度较低，所以没有添加碘。如果你要用它，厨师建议你用它来完成或者做一些已经做好的菜——一旦它被加热溶解，你就不太可能注意到海盐和食盐的味道有什么不同。