Salt?
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i think adding salt is excess , sodium occuring naturally in foods is fine enough for sodium requirements IMO.
That would be correct when talking about the Standard American Diet. However, trace minerals would still be deficient. When one is eating all fresh, unprocessed food one can actually become deficient in sodium. There is a reason that humans at one time treasured natural salt more than gold; we actually had to seek out salt deposits at one time, just like wild animals still do. Adding natural, unprocessed salt in response to how much the body is craving is the right thing to do and we should not ignore our body trying to obey the "salt is bad" propaganda. It's just like so many things that we have been told about nutrition by mainstream sources; much over-simplified and often just plain wrong.
"Salt is bad" is not the same as "too much salt is bad". While you are right in a general sense, the fact is modern food is riddled with much more salt than the little amounts that were commonly added 'at one time'. While you may be right in listening to a body's craving - doing that presumes the body is craving a normal amount of salt to begin with, and I posit that most people who were raised on the SAD were trained to desire much more salt than is healthy. My stepson used to drive me crazy - he'd even salt his bacon because "it wasn't salty enough".
Seasoning foods generally will not provide too much salt for a diet - unless you are having problems with hypertension or edema (or other types of water retention), in which case you need to be a little more diligent.
Oh, and one last thought: the problem is not SALT, it's SODIUM intake. Sodium chloride may be the biggest offender but eaters of cured meats also ingest sodium nitrates/nitrites, and in addition there are a bunch of other sodium compounds (baking soda, preservatives) also added.
If one is eating a whole foods, organic diet - one with a minimum of processed foods - they do not have to worry about the amount of salt used to season their meals. If one is eating a LOT of cured meats (bacon ham, sausages, etc) they may wish to review their eating. If one is eating processed/manufactured foods - well they got more problems than just salt, eh?
You are correct. I was speaking to a diet that is based on a majority of completely unprocessed foods since most of us here would be minimizing them. When I used to eat SAD I drenched everything in loads of table salt and still always had "healthy" low blood pressure (so obviously blood pressure isn't a great indicator of health because I was SICK). Amazingly, my salt intake took no effort to get under control (in fact, it self regulates very well) after I stopped eating crap foods and adding crap salt.0 -
i think adding salt is excess , sodium occuring naturally in foods is fine enough for sodium requirements IMO.
That would be correct when talking about the Standard American Diet. However, trace minerals would still be deficient. When one is eating all fresh, unprocessed food one can actually become deficient in sodium. There is a reason that humans at one time treasured natural salt more than gold; we actually had to seek out salt deposits at one time, just like wild animals still do. Adding natural, unprocessed salt in response to how much the body is craving is the right thing to do and we should not ignore our body trying to obey the "salt is bad" propaganda. It's just like so many things that we have been told about nutrition by mainstream sources; much over-simplified and often just plain wrong.
"Salt is bad" is not the same as "too much salt is bad". While you are right in a general sense, the fact is modern food is riddled with much more salt than the little amounts that were commonly added 'at one time'. While you may be right in listening to a body's craving - doing that presumes the body is craving a normal amount of salt to begin with, and I posit that most people who were raised on the SAD were trained to desire much more salt than is healthy. My stepson used to drive me crazy - he'd even salt his bacon because "it wasn't salty enough".
Seasoning foods generally will not provide too much salt for a diet - unless you are having problems with hypertension or edema (or other types of water retention), in which case you need to be a little more diligent.
Oh, and one last thought: the problem is not SALT, it's SODIUM intake. Sodium chloride may be the biggest offender but eaters of cured meats also ingest sodium nitrates/nitrites, and in addition there are a bunch of other sodium compounds (baking soda, preservatives) also added.
If one is eating a whole foods, organic diet - one with a minimum of processed foods - they do not have to worry about the amount of salt used to season their meals. If one is eating a LOT of cured meats (bacon ham, sausages, etc) they may wish to review their eating. If one is eating processed/manufactured foods - well they got more problems than just salt, eh?
You are correct. I was speaking to a diet that is based on a majority of completely unprocessed foods since most of us here would be minimizing them. When I used to eat SAD I drenched everything in loads of table salt and still always had "healthy" low blood pressure (so obviously blood pressure isn't a great indicator of health because I was SICK). Amazingly, my salt intake took no effort to get under control (in fact, it self regulates very well) after I stopped eating crap foods and adding crap salt.
I think there's also a difference between adding a couple teaspoons of salt or anything with sodium to the entirety of a dish, and adding about as much to a single serving. Technically, they're both "added" salts, and as someone who's never been a big salt person, that's where some of my confusion on this discussion lies. Also, I think it's worth noting that technically, sodium chloride isn't the only compound referred to as "salt."
That said, here's your fun fact of the day: real soap is, chemically speaking, a salt.0
