Salt & sugar

mrspete15
mrspete15 Posts: 9
in Food and Nutrition
I am always hearing how sodium packed food or even things like fruit in relation to sugar are bad for you. I kinda understand the sugar side (maybe not why you should limit fruit) but the salt side doesn't make sense to me - can anyone throw any light on this?

tks

Replies

  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    sodium from prepackaged/preprocessed foods can be a compound of different sodium-related ingredients. Often, when you make food lower in fat, they have to add more sugar to it.

    When foods produced reduce a certain-something, they have to add salt to sustain it.

    Often referred to as "sustainable shelf life"... ever see those bricks of Velveeta sitting on a regular shelf at some stores? Yeah... thats preservatives and salt-based preservatives working...

    If youre gonna have salt, it really should come from natural sources that havent been tweaked (canned/prepackaged/processed)...

    I use kosher salt and sea salt in my cooking but to add flavor, not to kill it if you know what I mean. I make flavored salts as well.... like a Lime-Salt by grating lime zest into a bowl of salt.. TOTALLY AWESOME FLAVOR! Ill do that with orange and lemon as well!
  • adaplas
    adaplas Posts: 17 Member
    Excess dietary salt (or specifically sodium) is excreted by the kidneys. But there is a limit, and the excess salt not excreted by the kidneys stays in your bloodstream. Since sodium and water are intimately linked, excess sodium also causes water retention. The consequence of water retention is typically elevated blood pressure or hypertension.

    The recommendation is to limit sodium intake to 2.4 gm a day. Several studies show that if you limit sodium intake by that amount, one can lower your blood pressure by 2-8 mm Hg. Also a small but significant percentage of the population (around 10%) are salt sensitive, i.e. their blood pressure is very sensitive to the amount of salt they take in their diet. We don't know who they are though until a low sodium diet is tried.
  • AeolianHarp
    AeolianHarp Posts: 463 Member
    mrspete15: The problem is that the medical community has created a campaign of sorts to scare people from sodium. In all honesty, I wouldn't worry about it UNLESS you're sodium sensitive. if I recall correctly, you can test this by testing your blood pressure, taking sodium then testing it again. I swear I don't make numbers up but, if I recall correctly again, around 20-25% of the population is sodium sensitive, so at least 1/4th of the country should watch their sodium intake. It's easy to test and you don't have to worry if you have no sensitivity issues.
    If youre gonna have salt, it really should come from natural sources that havent been tweaked (canned/prepackaged/processed)...

    What's wrong with salts in prepackaged foods? That they're iodized or have fluoride and caking agents?
  • mrspete15
    mrspete15 Posts: 9
    mrspete15: The problem is that the medical community has created a campaign of sorts to scare people from sodium. In all honesty, I wouldn't worry about it UNLESS you're sodium sensitive. if I recall correctly, you can test this by testing your blood pressure, taking sodium then testing it again. I swear I don't make numbers up but, if I recall correctly again, around 20-25% of the population is sodium sensitive, so at least 1/4th of the country should watch their sodium intake. It's easy to test and you don't have to worry if you have no sensitivity issues.
    If youre gonna have salt, it really should come from natural sources that havent been tweaked (canned/prepackaged/processed)...


    That's great - thanks! I have no problem with sodium sensitivity - neither do I have high blood pressure / or high cholesteral - I therefore wondered if it was a huge hindersance in losing weight. I drink about 3 - 4 litres of water a day so i guess if I'm going to retain water whether I eat salt of not won't make that much difference ..!

    tks
    What's wrong with salts in prepackaged foods? That they're iodized or have fluoride and caking agents?
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    mrspete15: The problem is that the medical community has created a campaign of sorts to scare people from sodium. In all honesty, I wouldn't worry about it UNLESS you're sodium sensitive. if I recall correctly, you can test this by testing your blood pressure, taking sodium then testing it again. I swear I don't make numbers up but, if I recall correctly again, around 20-25% of the population is sodium sensitive, so at least 1/4th of the country should watch their sodium intake. It's easy to test and you don't have to worry if you have no sensitivity issues.
    If youre gonna have salt, it really should come from natural sources that havent been tweaked (canned/prepackaged/processed)...

    What's wrong with salts in prepackaged foods? That they're iodized or have fluoride and caking agents?

    Naturally occuring is always better. The processing involved in using sodium, sodium/salt alternatives within the prepackaged foods is just not a viable healthy source...

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