Salt is the most significant source of sodium in our diet and plays a crucial role in our health – it’s used to flavour and preserve food. But what’s with the misconception that salt is bad for our health?
Salt is a chemical compound made of sodium and chloride, also known as sodium chloride (NaCl), and it’s the main form in which we consume it in our diet – it’s sodium that’s often a concern. While our body needs a small amount of sodium to function, too much sodium puts us at risk of many illnesses.
We sat down with Hoon Choi, CEO of Insanga Canada, to ask him if salt really is bad for us and how he brought the famous Korean Bamboo Salt of Insanga to Vancouver.
What’s the biggest misconception about salt?
Salt is not bad – there’s good salt. It’s the bad salt that we need to watch out [for]. People think that salt is bad because it contains high levels of sodium. Too much sodium in the diet can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Korean Bamboo Salt isn’t like regular table salt.
Can you tell us about Insanga’s Bamboo Salt?
Traditional Korean Bamboo Salt is the good salt. Korea’s unique salt-making process produces salt that is free of contamination and bad chemicals unlike regular manufactured table-salt.
Bamboo Salt was originally created by Korean herbalist, Dr. Insan in 1917. It’s the original and the largest bamboo salt company in Korea. It’s a reliable company listed on KOSDAQ as well. Above all, I was fascinated by the philosophy and medicine of Kim Il-hoon, the creator of Bamboo Salt and founder of Insan.
He was treating various incurable diseases by making bamboo salt for the sick and poor during his lifetime. In Korea, jukyeom – or bamboo salt in English – is a long passed down traditional Korean medicine. Koreans have long believed and treated Bamboo Salt as a mineral treasure.
While his traditional medicinal teaching methods have been passed onto his sons, I also wanted to adopt his teaching and philosophy, which has become part of Korean culture. I believe in promoting traditional Korean medical methods while also believing in western medicine. It is my way of honouring Korean culture in Vancouver.
The way Insanga’s 9X Bamboo Salt is created in Korea is unique. The 9X Bamboo Salt is sea salt that’s sun-dried, deposited in bamboo tubes, and capped with mineral-rich clay. The bamboo tubes are then placed in a pine-wood furnace and roasted nine times under extreme heat of 1,700°C, hence it’s called 9X Bamboo Salt.
The reason why they roast the salt nine times is because during the process of roasting, it distills salt into its purest form and removes all harmful chemicals and pollutants, such as microplastic. The entire process takes around 25 days as it requires intensive meticulousness and manual labour.
The process and concept of roasting salt nine times in a bamboo tube and pine-wood furnace can only be found in Korea. Insanga’s bamboo salt is also unique in the way that the salt is from the Yellow Sea (Seohae). So Korean Bamboo salt can only be created in Korea through the combination of salt from the Yellow Sea, Korean bamboo from Jirisan, and Korean pinewood.
Can you tell us how you brought Insanga to Vancouver?
Yes, at first, I brought the Bamboo Salt over to Vancouver because I wanted to eat it continuously with my family and give it to my friends in Vancouver. My sister actually suffered from cancer for a long time and she consumed Insanga’s bamboo salt as one of the ways to get better.
I naturally found out about the salt through her and it just naturally became part of my diet. I thought, why not consume healthier salt if salt is an essential part of our food? But when I came to Vancouver, they did not have the salt in store at first. While I wanted it myself, I also believed that more and more people should try bamboo salt, too. So, that is how I came to start Insanga in Vancouver.
What are some benefits related to the product such as health, etc.?
According to a research study conducted by The Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition: “Bamboo salt (baked nine times) contained more potassium, calcium, magnesium, and manganese, compared to purified and solar salt” (p.1301). In addition, “Bamboo salt revealed alkaline properties, more OH groups, and antioxidative activity” (p.1301).
According to the research case study conducted by the Medicine and National Research Foundation of Korea (Kim et al, 2013): “Purple Bamboo Salt (the salt that is baked nine times) is reported to have therapeutic effects for diseases such as viral diseases, dental plaque, gastropathy, diabetes, circulatory organ disorders, cancer, anti-inflammatory disorders, allergic rhinitis, and cisplatin-induced ototoxicity” (p.4). Their case study “reported anti-inflammatory potential of PBS finally affected reducing blood pressure.”
Do you have any last messages to people who’ve never tried Korean Bamboo Salt?
I don’t want to promote Insanga’s Bamboo Salt as a product – I want to promote good salt to people.
I want people to choose good salt over bad salt but Insanga’s Korean bamboo salt happens to be the original Bamboo salt created in Korea. My last message to people would be: care about what you eat, especially the small but basic part of our diet such as salt. If you’re going to have salt anyway, use good salt rather than one that’s harmful for your body and your health.
The entire collection of Insanga’s bamboo salt can be found at its main store located at 678 Porter Street, Coquitlam, BC, V3J 5A9 and can also be found at the Hannam Supermarket (4501 North Rd #106, Burnaby, BC, V3N 4R7) or Shop Oronia (4501 North Rd #214B, Burnaby, BC V3N 4R7).
For more information on Insanga’s bamboo salt collection, you can check out www.bitandsalt.com or reach out directly at info@bitandsalt.com.
References:
Kim, Y.S., Lee, E.H., & Kim, H.M. (2013, May 27). Surprisingly, traditional purple bamboo salt,
unlike other salts does not induce hypertension in rats. Association of Humanitas Medicine and National Research Foundation of Korea
http://dx.doi.org/10.5667/tang.2013.0005
Zhao, X., Jung, O.-S., & Park, K.-Y. (2012, September 30). Alkaline and Antioxidant Effects of
Bamboo Salt. Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition. The Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.3746/jkfn.2012.41.9.1301