Thank you for this video. I have been wondering why salt has been so valuable throughout history. I mistakenly thought that salt was easy to produce if you were by the sea. We have all tasted salt on our lips during a trip to the ocean. The amount of work it takes to create usable sal’s was a surprise to me. Again, thanks for your wonderful videos.
Back when everyone was concerned with potential problems occurring from the upcoming turn of the century (Y2K), preppers were stocking up on everything. One of the preppers I knew bought dozens of 50 pound bags of salt. This was actually a smart move, because he could get it really cheap in bulk and he just needed a dry place to store it. Everyone uses salt in their food and it's needed to maintain your health. In a SHTF scenario only people located near salt production facilities would have access to it, as the transportation network would be down. Therefore, anyone who had a large supply of salt could demand a very high price for it! It would've been a great barter item!
Iodine is added to salt because it is a vital element for the regulation of the thyroid gland, but also salivary glands, lactation, mucous production, brain cells, thymus, and arterial walls. Iodine used to be a difficult element to find in mountainous terrain. In the middle-ages, there were whole Swiss towns and villages were almost everyone was suffering from iodine deficiencies, or cretinism.
if you happen to visit poland someday i'd recommend visiting wieliczka salt mine, i was there once and was impressed, its like a city hundreds of feet underground
12:28 Iodine is essential for health (thyroid function) -- a deficiency is associated with hypothyroidism and goiter. Thus, addition of iodide salts is not "allegedly" (meaning "merely claimed") for health benefits, it is *intended* for health benefits. Obviously, there will be a definite benefit only when the regular diet is otherwise deficient in iodine.
The only reason I said allegedly is that I had read that the amount of iodine that is added to salt is insufficient to contribute much to it’s health benefits, I didn’t look too much into this specific claim so I wanted to be safe which is why I added allegedly to the sentence.
@@KobeanHistory Ah! Thanks. Because "allegedly" is associated with criminal charges, I'd have used "intended", but that's just a matter of individual style. The prevalence of goiters has been reduced since I-supplementation was introduced, though the dose would not be adequate in some areas/populations. In medical school, we were told that goiters have an interesting history --- an Ancient Greek coin showing a woman in profile depicts an I-deficiency goiter (probably normal for the iodine-poor soils).
@@KobeanHistory The human body doesn't need much iodine (140 micro grams) so the amount in salt (45 micrograms per 1/4 teaspoon) actually makes a difference especially if iodine salt is used in the preparation of pre-prepared foods. The problem most people have is that, other than seafood, most things we eat have very little iodine in them. As a side note the military junta in charge of Myanmar restricts the rohingan people's access two products like salt meaning that iodine deficiency is a very serious problem in that population. As a result many rohegans are willing to participate in the trade of animal parts from endangered species in order to gain access to salt with iodine in it. Tragically most of the illegal traders sell them regular salt labeled as being iodized salt because it's cheaper.
iodine is stronger oxydizer than chlorium, so nowadays salt is not NaCl but NaI, sodium iodide, and instead of preservation have opposite effect on food
*I like your videos, but I keep getting thrown by your pronunciation of the word "iron". Iron is pronounce "Eye-Earn" or "Eye-Urn" and it is not pronounced "Eye-Run" or "Eye-Ron."*
![The Historical Newscasters, Weathermen and Time Tellers [Medieval Professions: Town Crier & Bellman]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XXrmIWeZ_S8/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Historical Newscasters, Weathermen and Time Tellers [Medieval Professions: Town Crier & Bellman]](/img/tr.png)
Thank you for this video. I have been wondering why salt has been so valuable throughout history. I mistakenly thought that salt was easy to produce if you were by the sea. We have all tasted salt on our lips during a trip to the ocean. The amount of work it takes to create usable sal’s was a surprise to me. Again, thanks for your wonderful videos.
dang this guy is committed
Your channel is a mine of fantastic knowledge.
Another great video, Kobe! Going right to my reference playlist!
This knowledge will help in my RPG games, thanks!
These videos are neat
I am checking out your channel and subscribing after seeing your introduction in the history group! 😉
Thank you, I subbed back :)
@@KobeanHistory You're welcome and thanks!
I like this channel. Thanks for well presented and informative videos. It's easy to forget how important salt has been in human history.
Very nicely done, thanks!
Thank you! :)
Back when everyone was concerned with potential problems occurring from the upcoming turn of the century (Y2K), preppers were stocking up on everything. One of the preppers I knew bought dozens of 50 pound bags of salt. This was actually a smart move, because he could get it really cheap in bulk and he just needed a dry place to store it. Everyone uses salt in their food and it's needed to maintain your health. In a SHTF scenario only people located near salt production facilities would have access to it, as the transportation network would be down. Therefore, anyone who had a large supply of salt could demand a very high price for it! It would've been a great barter item!
Iodine is added to salt because it is a vital element for the regulation of the thyroid gland, but also salivary glands, lactation, mucous production, brain cells, thymus, and arterial walls. Iodine used to be a difficult element to find in mountainous terrain. In the middle-ages, there were whole Swiss towns and villages were almost everyone was suffering from iodine deficiencies, or cretinism.
Such a mining worker must have been pretty salty at the end of the day.
if you happen to visit poland someday i'd recommend visiting wieliczka salt mine, i was there once and was impressed, its like a city hundreds of feet underground
I can’t believe I was so bored I googled this topic.
The salt mines of kessel...
great quality!
12:28 Iodine is essential for health (thyroid function) -- a deficiency is associated with hypothyroidism and goiter. Thus, addition of iodide salts is not "allegedly" (meaning "merely claimed") for health benefits, it is *intended* for health benefits. Obviously, there will be a definite benefit only when the regular diet is otherwise deficient in iodine.
The only reason I said allegedly is that I had read that the amount of iodine that is added to salt is insufficient to contribute much to it’s health benefits, I didn’t look too much into this specific claim so I wanted to be safe which is why I added allegedly to the sentence.
@@KobeanHistory Ah! Thanks. Because "allegedly" is associated with criminal charges, I'd have used "intended", but that's just a matter of individual style. The prevalence of goiters has been reduced since I-supplementation was introduced, though the dose would not be adequate in some areas/populations. In medical school, we were told that goiters have an interesting history --- an Ancient Greek coin showing a woman in profile depicts an I-deficiency goiter (probably normal for the iodine-poor soils).
@@KobeanHistory The human body doesn't need much iodine (140 micro grams) so the amount in salt (45 micrograms per 1/4 teaspoon) actually makes a difference especially if iodine salt is used in the preparation of pre-prepared foods. The problem most people have is that, other than seafood, most things we eat have very little iodine in them.
As a side note the military junta in charge of Myanmar restricts the rohingan people's access two products like salt meaning that iodine deficiency is a very serious problem in that population. As a result many rohegans are willing to participate in the trade of animal parts from endangered species in order to gain access to salt with iodine in it. Tragically most of the illegal traders sell them regular salt labeled as being iodized salt because it's cheaper.
iodine is stronger oxydizer than chlorium, so nowadays salt is not NaCl but NaI, sodium iodide, and instead of preservation have opposite effect on food
*I like your videos, but I keep getting thrown by your pronunciation of the word "iron". Iron is pronounce "Eye-Earn" or "Eye-Urn" and it is not pronounced "Eye-Run" or "Eye-Ron."*
Lead pans. No wonder why people had low life expectancy back then 😄