Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#51

Post by Fnoord » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 6:29 PM UTC

JacobJans wrote: post #7

sasaf5 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have the chance, don't forget to taste the Korean "flower salt", which is basically salt in crystal flakes, as it naturally forms during evaporation. I haven't yet found a better salt for beef.

My favorite salt, and relatively affordable, is Celtic Sea Salt. There are so many varieties of salt out there!

Sure, as long as you don't claim its magically more healthy than other forms of NaCl. Not saying you do; just seen that regularly claimed by people who prefer/swear by certain salts.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#52

Post by JayNeely » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 6:33 PM UTC

kaycebasques wrote: post #28

rebuilder wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is just a host for affiliate links.

I wrote the article. Yes, I'm trying to use affiliate links to make this passion project more sustainable in the long term, but I'm definitely not just cranking out content for the sake of sales. I'm actually quite discouraged at the moment because I can't get any traffic to the affiliate. I'm 90 days in and my account will be canceled if I don't get 3 sales by 180 days. My general strategy is to write about books th…

I'd encourage you to expand the book-promoting paragraph to include a bit more info / some interest-generating hooks about what the book offers that the article itself hasn't already provided.

If you really want to make this model sustainable long-term I might even make the recommendation paragraph dynamically customized based on referring source (here's a WordPress plugin that would let you do this: https://wordpress.org/plugins/if-so/). History enthusiasts are likely to be intrigued by a different set of things from the book than HN's business & systems-thinkers or an RPG community interested in world-building inspiration.

Lots of people will read a general-interest article (quick & no cost), but to get conversions to an actual sale, you need to target specific interests.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#53

Post by Retric » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

hobs wrote: post #20

kaycebasques wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salary is another word that has its roots in salt. It harkens back to Ancient Rome, when soldiers got paid in salt.

The roman soldiers did not actually get paid in salt, or if they did, it was more like a ration, not their actual pay. People say this all the time, and its patently wrong - salt was not a rare resource in italy, the sea is everywhere.

It takes a lot of effort to turn sea water into salt.

You get 4.5 ounces of salt from a gallon of water and it takes a fairly long time or a lot of fuel for 1 gallon of water to evaporate.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#54

Post by rhinoceraptor » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

vfc1 wrote: post #17

With the advent of refrigeration, we need salt less than ever. The problem is that brands have used it to gain a comercial advantage, to the point where if we eat some processed food and dont add any extra salt, we are already exceeding the daily recommended limit. The link between salt and hypertension is well known by the general public, but less well know is that salt is a major cause of stomach cancer. There is j…

> The link between salt and hypertension

This idea is not supported by the evidence.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#55

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

giardini wrote: post #32

Wish we had used Kurlansky's book for European history: I now have some understanding of the Hanseatic League's origin! Who could have believed a book titled "Salt" could be so enlightening and fascinating: Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky https://amzn.to/2L2DO4N While this this sounds pedantic (who besides me would get excited about a good explanation the origins of "the Hanseatic League"?) but Kurlansky real…

[deleted]

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#56

Post by greggyb » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 7:13 PM UTC

elboru wrote: post #39

ghein wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salt to hypertension thesis has been hit with a number of problems recently. As have many other "known" results in dietary and epidemiological studies. Current research suggests that while salt is bad for people WITH hypertension the causal link between elevated consumption and hypertension isn't what was earlier believed. One study here https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317099.php

I reached a point where I don't know what to believe, everything cures and causes cancer at the same time, every week I'll ran into an article about a new study contradicting some random common knowledge. I guess the key is to live a balanced life, don't consume anything in excess and don't worry too much. "In medium virtus est"

My favorite guidance is Pollan's, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."[0]

Another piece of guidance I like is this (paraphrased): Eat absolutely anything you want. But make it all yourself. If you want cookies and cake and ice cream, great! Buy flour and sugar and butter and chocolate and milk and cream, and make them yourself.[1]

Now, these don't directly address your point about conflicting research. They give reasonable heuristics that work well, though. Now, clearly you can come up with pathological examples that follow the advice above - any of us could come up with dozens that are reasonable. But being precise and 100% correct is not the point of a heuristic.

[0] https://michaelpollan.com/reviews/how-to-eat/

[1] Paraphrased from an interview in Cooked. The 4-part series was produced for Netflix.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#57

Post by jobobgo » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 7:14 PM UTC

Salt is so important for every humam being TODAY and ALL time.

It makes it sound like it is less important today than before.

Without salt, mammals and humans alike die.

It is as important as water and food.

It's like the article could have been retitled:

"Why Food Was So Important Throughout History".

Duh! Because people got to eat. And with salt it is because our nerve transmissions operate on it.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#58

Post by cup-of-tea » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 7:28 PM UTC

kbutler wrote: post #35

cup-of-tea wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you remove the salt from one, it becomes crumbly and dry If you remove the salt it is not a sausage. The word sausage comes from Latin salsus meaning "salted". Salad and sauce also come from this root (more obviously in the Spanish salsa ).

> ... Latin salsus meaning "salted". Salad and sauce also come from this root ... so if you remove the salt, it's not a salad or a sauce? Hmm.

I don't think so. If you remove salt or sauce from salad then it's just cut up vegetables. And a sauce without salt won't be very popular too say the least.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#59

Post by KozmoNau7 » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 7:40 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #53

hobs wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The roman soldiers did not actually get paid in salt, or if they did, it was more like a ration, not their actual pay. People say this all the time, and its patently wrong - salt was not a rare resource in italy, the sea is everywhere.

It takes a lot of effort to turn sea water into salt. You get 4.5 ounces of salt from a gallon of water and it takes a fairly long time or a lot of fuel for 1 gallon of water to evaporate.

Which is why the best regions for making sea salt are areas where the sea water is naturally concentrated due to geography that traps it and lets the sun do a lot of the work.

Re: Why Salt Was So Important Throughout History

#60

Post by kaycebasques » Mon, Jul 30, 2018, 8:03 PM UTC

JayNeely wrote: post #52

kaycebasques wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wrote the article. Yes, I'm trying to use affiliate links to make this passion project more sustainable in the long term, but I'm definitely not just cranking out content for the sake of sales. I'm actually quite discouraged at the moment because I can't get any traffic to the affiliate. I'm 90 days in and my account will be canceled if I don't get 3 sales by 180 days. My general strategy is to write about books th…

I'd encourage you to expand the book-promoting paragraph to include a bit more info / some interest-generating hooks about what the book offers that the article itself hasn't already provided. If you really want to make this model sustainable long-term I might even make the recommendation paragraph dynamically customized based on referring source (here's a WordPress plugin that would let you do this: https://wordpres…

Great, thank you for the tips.