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salt: yes or no
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Salt is like nearly everything in our diet. A little is very good, a whole lot is toxic. Name your beneficial supplement and I'll find you the toxic dosage.
The greeks knew this, "Everything in moderation." https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/642841-pan-metron-ariston-everything-in-moderation4 -
All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison.
Paracelsus7 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Your body needs salt. You will have serious and painful, possibly deadly, consequences if you don't get enough.
This isn't true. We need to consume sodium, not salt. Salt is just one way to get sodium. If you eat a well balanced diet you likely don't need any added salt, but unless you've been advised to abstain by a physician there is nothing wrong with adding it for flavor if you want.
Yes, that's true that it's actually sodium that we need.
But we do need to get enough of it or there are consequences which can cause pain and even death.
I mentioned in a different thread, a family member of mine was suffering severe leg cramps and one time even passed out during one of those attacks. The doctor discovered that his sodium level was far too low and prescribed salt pills to correct it, and told him to start adding more salt to his food. His habit previously had been to eschew salt because he didn't want to consume too much, but he ended up with the opposite problem.
Is there a big difference between ingesting sodium and ingesting sodium chloride?1 -
Vegplotter wrote: »mayoosh_primrose wrote: »First I heard that not consuming salt at all was the best for health, then I heard that no, a little salt was actually good for the body. So which is it? And why?
I'm currently consuming 0.5-1 teaspoon/day, is that too much?
For a start MFP gives you a measure of how much salt you should have each day. That's a MAXIMUM. You'll always get he minimum because it occurs naturally in many foods.
Salt is the slimmers enemy because it causes you to retain water - causing weight gain and bloating. For this reason it is also implicated in high blood pressure, heart disease and hypotension.
But in hot weather and when exercising you might need a little bit more. You can tell easily if you are lacking in salt. A salted potato chip will not taste of anything atall.
As a general rule most food doesn't need salt, though if your reducing diet is bland you may find yourself adding salt to liven it up. Try to resist.
A few rules:
1. Never use table salt - it flows too freely and is full of additives.
2. Use a good quality sea salt crystal and don't grind it up. You will find that a tiny pinch of sea salt crystals will add little explosions of flavour, without overdoing the sodium dose.
3. Don't offer salt to your family. Have pepper on the table, but no salt.
4. Note that salt content on foods can be in grammes (g) or milligrammes (mg). 1g=1000mg. Hundreds of MFP database foods get his wrong.
Just curious what additives are in table salt? Besides iodine.2 -
Just curious what additives are in table salt? Besides iodine.
Table salt in the USofA must between 97%-99% Sodium Chloride. The other agents. 3%-1% of the product are anti caking agents.
They don't have much, when it comes to additives, in them. But Whole Foods sells Kosher Salt for 9.00 a bottle so it must be better for you.3 -
mjneidlinger wrote: »Just curious what additives are in table salt? Besides iodine.
Table salt in the USofA must between 97%-99% Sodium Chloride. The other agents. 3%-1% of the product are anti caking agents.
They don't have much, when it comes to additives, in them. But Whole Foods sells Kosher Salt for 9.00 a bottle so it must be better for you.
Anti-caking agents, like corn starch or cellulose?0 -
Vegplotter wrote: »mayoosh_primrose wrote: »First I heard that not consuming salt at all was the best for health, then I heard that no, a little salt was actually good for the body. So which is it? And why?
I'm currently consuming 0.5-1 teaspoon/day, is that too much?
For a start MFP gives you a measure of how much salt you should have each day. That's a MAXIMUM. You'll always get he minimum because it occurs naturally in many foods.
Salt is the slimmers enemy because it causes you to retain water - causing weight gain and bloating. For this reason it is also implicated in high blood pressure, heart disease and hypotension.
But in hot weather and when exercising you might need a little bit more. You can tell easily if you are lacking in salt. A salted potato chip will not taste of anything atall.
As a general rule most food doesn't need salt, though if your reducing diet is bland you may find yourself adding salt to liven it up. Try to resist.
A few rules:
1. Never use table salt - it flows too freely and is full of additives.
2. Use a good quality sea salt crystal and don't grind it up. You will find that a tiny pinch of sea salt crystals will add little explosions of flavour, without overdoing the sodium dose.
3. Don't offer salt to your family. Have pepper on the table, but no salt.
4. Note that salt content on foods can be in grammes (g) or milligrammes (mg). 1g=1000mg. Hundreds of MFP database foods get his wrong.
1) Bolded, please explain the additives..
2) And why sea salt crystals only, will I die if I consume regular table salt or regular sea salt?
3) And I can no longer put a salt shaker on my table? Isn't that for individuals to decide if they like my tasteless cooking or not?
4) And if you actually use your brain and review your entries, sodium is usually right on most entries.
I feel like I have been over schooled on this one! And I have hit a MAXIMUM that exceed possibly 4 days worth and I am still here!
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mayoosh_primrose wrote: »First I heard that not consuming salt at all was the best for health, then I heard that no, a little salt was actually good for the body. So which is it? And why?
I'm currently consuming 0.5-1 teaspoon/day, is that too much?
sodium is an essential electrolyte...you can definitely have too little, just as you can have too much. If you're active, you will require more than someone who is not active because you'll sweat a lot out.4 -
I was wondering too about why only sea salt. What if I like Himalayan pink salt?
Salt is implicated in both hypertension and hypotension? If you have hypotension, a little more salt can be a good thing.
Finally, there is a reason why table salt is iodised. I hope your family has an alternative source of iodine, barring any health reasons for avoiding it, of course.Vegplotter wrote: »mayoosh_primrose wrote: »First I heard that not consuming salt at all was the best for health, then I heard that no, a little salt was actually good for the body. So which is it? And why?
I'm currently consuming 0.5-1 teaspoon/day, is that too much?
For a start MFP gives you a measure of how much salt you should have each day. That's a MAXIMUM. You'll always get he minimum because it occurs naturally in many foods.
Salt is the slimmers enemy because it causes you to retain water - causing weight gain and bloating. For this reason it is also implicated in high blood pressure, heart disease and hypotension.
But in hot weather and when exercising you might need a little bit more. You can tell easily if you are lacking in salt. A salted potato chip will not taste of anything atall.
As a general rule most food doesn't need salt, though if your reducing diet is bland you may find yourself adding salt to liven it up. Try to resist.
A few rules:
1. Never use table salt - it flows too freely and is full of additives.
2. Use a good quality sea salt crystal and don't grind it up. You will find that a tiny pinch of sea salt crystals will add little explosions of flavour, without overdoing the sodium dose.
3. Don't offer salt to your family. Have pepper on the table, but no salt.
4. Note that salt content on foods can be in grammes (g) or milligrammes (mg). 1g=1000mg. Hundreds of MFP database foods get his wrong.
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I only avoid excess salt due to the fact I bloat like a balloon if I consume too much lol.4
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Your body needs salt. You will have serious and painful, possibly deadly, consequences if you don't get enough.
This isn't true. We need to consume sodium, not salt. Salt is just one way to get sodium. If you eat a well balanced diet you likely don't need any added salt, but unless you've been advised to abstain by a physician there is nothing wrong with adding it for flavor if you want.
Yes, that's true that it's actually sodium that we need.
But we do need to get enough of it or there are consequences which can cause pain and even death.
I mentioned in a different thread, a family member of mine was suffering severe leg cramps and one time even passed out during one of those attacks. The doctor discovered that his sodium level was far too low and prescribed salt pills to correct it, and told him to start adding more salt to his food. His habit previously had been to eschew salt because he didn't want to consume too much, but he ended up with the opposite problem.
Is there a big difference between ingesting sodium and ingesting sodium chloride?
Quoting myself because I found the answer to my question.
http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/salt-vs-sodium-2/By weight, table salt is approximately 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride. About 90 percent of the sodium we eat is in the form of sodium chloride. The rest comes from other forms of sodium (like baking soda, which is the common name for sodium bicarbonate) that show up in our food. These sodium-containing ingredients are used in food to preserve it, enhance the color or give it a firmer texture, for example.
Too much sodium can hurt your heart. That’s why the American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of sodium you eat to less than 1,500 mg per day for ideal heart health. That’s about two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt.
And:
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/difference-between-salt-sodium-8358.htmlReducing your sodium intake takes more than just removing the salt shaker from the table, because most of the sodium in the average person’s diet comes from processed and packaged foods. When choosing these foods, take control of your sodium intake by reading the ingredient label. In addition to salt, sources of sodium include monosodium glutamate, MSG; sodium citrate; sodium nitrate; baking soda; sodium bicarbonate; and sodium benzoate.
Thank you @Need2Exerc1se for making me curious enough to learn something new!1 -
So what I understood is:
Salt is essential, but in moderation, like 2/3-1 teaspoon per day or what equals 2300 mg.
Sea salt is better than table salt? Certainly it looks better
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Your body needs salt. You will have serious and painful, possibly deadly, consequences if you don't get enough.
This isn't true. We need to consume sodium, not salt. Salt is just one way to get sodium. If you eat a well balanced diet you likely don't need any added salt, but unless you've been advised to abstain by a physician there is nothing wrong with adding it for flavor if you want.
Yes, that's true that it's actually sodium that we need.
But we do need to get enough of it or there are consequences which can cause pain and even death.
I mentioned in a different thread, a family member of mine was suffering severe leg cramps and one time even passed out during one of those attacks. The doctor discovered that his sodium level was far too low and prescribed salt pills to correct it, and told him to start adding more salt to his food. His habit previously had been to eschew salt because he didn't want to consume too much, but he ended up with the opposite problem.
Is there a big difference between ingesting sodium and ingesting sodium chloride?
IDK What constitutes a "big difference"? The difference is as big or little as it would be for any other nutrient source. Would you say "your body needs chicken" because your body needs protein and chicken is a source of protein?0 -
Salt is neither good nor bad. It's all about the dose.
Too little = bad, Too much = bad.4 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Your body needs salt. You will have serious and painful, possibly deadly, consequences if you don't get enough.
This isn't true. We need to consume sodium, not salt. Salt is just one way to get sodium. If you eat a well balanced diet you likely don't need any added salt, but unless you've been advised to abstain by a physician there is nothing wrong with adding it for flavor if you want.
Yes, that's true that it's actually sodium that we need.
But we do need to get enough of it or there are consequences which can cause pain and even death.
I mentioned in a different thread, a family member of mine was suffering severe leg cramps and one time even passed out during one of those attacks. The doctor discovered that his sodium level was far too low and prescribed salt pills to correct it, and told him to start adding more salt to his food. His habit previously had been to eschew salt because he didn't want to consume too much, but he ended up with the opposite problem.
Is there a big difference between ingesting sodium and ingesting sodium chloride?
IDK What constitutes a "big difference"? The difference is as big or little as it would be for any other nutrient source. Would you say "your body needs chicken" because your body needs protein and chicken is a source of protein?
I did find the answer to my question, as posted above. Basically I was wondering if you were just splitting hairs because the OP asked specifically about salt, and while I know sodium is what the body needs I didn't see any harm in saying that we need salt. So I decided to see where you were coming from and ended up with a clearer picture of the matter, for which I thank you.2 -
mayoosh_primrose wrote: »So what I understood is:
Salt is essential, but in moderation, like 2/3-1 teaspoon per day or what equals 2300 mg.
Sea salt is better than table salt? Certainly it looks better
Sea salt tastes different than table salt and can have a different texture. It's not demonstrably better or worse from a health standpoint presuming you're not needing to limit minerals that are found in either. If you're getting some of your essential iodine requirements from salt then you need to be using salt that's been iodized - pretty much all table salt, some sea and kosher salts.2 -
I try to eat less salt as I used to have high blood pressure (since resolved after 100lb loss). I had my bp taken yesterday before I donated blood and it was 107/91 and I've been getting dizzy if I was kneeling for more than a minute or two. My hubs thinks its because I eat too little salt now.1
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I never monitor salt. With what I eat I am usually good.4
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shinycrazy wrote: »I try to eat less salt as I used to have high blood pressure (since resolved after 100lb loss). I had my bp taken yesterday before I donated blood and it was 107/91 and I've been getting dizzy if I was kneeling for more than a minute or two. My hubs thinks its because I eat too little salt now.
It's quite possible, especially if you are active. But one should not just eat salt, but increase consumption of potassium, magnesium and calcium for complete electrolyte balance.
I don't worry about salt since I exercise hard and I typically sit at 4000-5000mg a day.2 -
I honestly care little about what any studies say/show, because I LOOOOOVE salt, and I have a very healthy/low blood pressure
2
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