Salt has been used worldwide for centuries. As the oldest form of seasoning, it is well known as a culinary staple. However, it may surprise you to learn that salt has also been used medicinally for thousands of years. It is a key ingredient in several classical Ayurvedic formulas, such as hingvastak, to promote digestion or clear congestion.
Despite the many benefits of this mineral, salt has been questioned and demonized by the modern medical system. But eliminating salt, or reducing it too much, can have great consequences.
From a holistic perspective, salt itself is not the problem. It is when salt is overused, misused, or used in a highly refined form (commonly called table salt) that health issues arise. Use this gift from nature in appropriate amounts and you’ll find it has tremendous benefits.
Here is a link to an extensive article by experts
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3331422/pdf/ASL-6-217.pdf
Saindhava Lavana or Rock Salt is considered the best among all salts. It is advised for daily use as per Ayurveda. Its qualities, usage, and health benefits are quite different from any regular table salt.
All the other salts are used in moderation, for the preparation of herbal remedies, treating ailments, etc.
Saindhava Lavana:
This salt is variously known as rock salt, natural mineral salt, and Himalayan salt. This is rock salt or Halite that comes from salt mines, Some of the veins of halite are white and some pink, so authentic saidhava lavana may be white, pink, or a combination.
Saindhava lavana is the most suitable salt for pitta to use in moderation. It is has a cooling energy, unlike other types of salt, and can help balance all three doshas when used judiciously. It is beneficial to the eyes, improves the sense of taste, has an aphrodisiac effect, calms hiccups, and benefits the heart. It is among the substances recommended in Charak Samhita for daily use. (Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 5/12).
Samudra Lavana:
This is sea salt. Although sea salt is not cooling like Saindhava salt, it is not excessively heating either, so used in moderation, it does not provoke pitta too much. It is purgative and slightly demulcent and helpful in alleviating colic. It improves the taste of food, aids digestion, and is beneficial for the heart.
Vida Lavana:
This is an artificially prepared salt with slight alkalinity to its taste. There is controversy about the identity of this salt. It seems that in ancient times it was also made from burning either mud or the dung of domestic animals, although in other places it may have been made from the residue from brick kilns. Whatever the method of manufacture, the end product is mostly sodium chloride.
Sauvarchala Lavana/ Kala Namak / Black salt:
Often known by its Hindi name, Kala namak, this is also called black salt and sochal salt. It has a slightly sulfurous taste and smell. It is harvested from halite ore, from the mines.
Sauvarchala lavana clears the channels of the body, improves digestion, and is beneficial for colic and constipation. It is good for the heart and helps clear the throat. It is heating, light to digest, and has a pungent taste.
Romaka Lavana:
Also known as Sambhar salt, it is harvested from salt flats on the shores of Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan, India's largest salt lake. Sushrut considers this to be an intensely heating and sharp salt. It is vyavayi--that is, it spreads rapidly throughout the body. Pungent and light, it calms Vata, coats the inner channels, and is purgative and diuretic.
Audbhida Lavana:
This is earthy salt, prepared from a salty, alkaline soil. It is even more heating and sharp than romaka, and can have a burning and corrosive action. It penetrates the minute channels of the body. Although it is somewhat alkaline and must be used with care, it has a Vata-soothing action and is used in certain Ayurvedic medicines such as Chitkrakadi Vati, used for indigestion and āma.
Saindhava Lavana or Rock Salt is considered the best among all salts. It is advised for daily use as per Ayurveda.
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