Salt

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I am curious if you can get enough salt in your diet without adding it? I never really gave it much thought before but I know that the iodine in salt is needed for proper thyroid function and that got me thinking can you get iodine from other things other than table salt?

[elmh23]

I'm sure some people probably can, because every person is different in the amount of salt they need.

I know for me, that I actually have to be really careful to get enough salt so I don't end up with a killer migraine and in the hospital trying to get it to go away.

[Rosehip]

I would say that you cannot get enough from a typical American diet. I believe seafood and seaweed are the richest sources. If you look at countries that don't put iodine in the salt (I know Haiti is one), you get pretty significant rates of goiters, which are nearly unheard of in countries with iodized salt.

You probably could get enough, it's just not a given.

Other than iodine, you'd generally get plenty of Na+ if you eat processed foods. Do you cook with salt? I need to eat quite a bit of salt or my blood pressure gets too low and I feel like heck and can get dizzy. That's not the norm.

[Rikki Jean]

I'm all for getting iodine from other sources, but also eating plenty of non-iodized Celtic sea salt. Salt really is important for your body to function properly.

[Jojo F.]

Salt is very important!!! It baffles me when people try to cut it out completely and when "they" tell pregnant women to cut it out too. Although, the "American table salt" is not all that healthy IMO. Sea salt is what you want. And most Americans are eating processed foods that are high in "table salt". Traditionally fermented foods use a lot of salt & I know I get plenty from my sauerkraut.

I guess it really depends on your diet- seaweeds, seafood as mentioned above & cod liver oil, milk, yogurt, eggs, strawberries, & mozz cheese are highest in iodine but, can also be found in much smaller amounts in other foods and drinking water. Iodine in the soil also determines how much is going to be in the food. Iodine is also added to animal feed.

Apparently selenium is also key in iodine absorption so in places where the soil is deficient in selenium and iodine is lacking in diet you see more goiters, etc. Someone who does not have a balanced diet, thyroid problems, a deficient intake of iodine and/or selenium needs to be careful about eating a lot of soy and cruciferous vegetables. The isoflavones (soy) & thiocyanates (cruciferous veggies) interfere with iodine absorption by the thyroid.

[treemom2]

You might want to check out The Iodine Thread. . .it has loads of helpful information regarding iodine.

[Sailor]

I eat sea salt ... but, I've never eaten the regular table salt. I also use the sea salt VERY sparingly ... like once in a blue moon, lol. I get my iodine from other sources. My blood work has never come back with problems, and I'm healthy.

[Magelet]

I eat a LOT of salt. (celtic or other unrefined sea salt now. before, standard table salt, before I learned that it wasn't as healthy). I have to. like many other posters here, if I don't eat enough salt, I get extremely low blood pressure, and black out when I stand up. (Not enough to fall down or lose conciousness, but totally black vision for 30 seconds or more, and dizzy). One doctor suggusted increasing salt intake, and it REALLY makes a difference. When I eat a lot of salt, I don't black out. (dehydration is also problematic, but the salt and proper hydration are key).

I do think that most americans probably get excess sodium in their diets from processed foods, but I don't think its likely the healthiest form of sodium. I think people would be better off salting their food to taste with homemade food (but thats for reasons not just salt.)

without highly salted processed foods, I think that salt is a vital addition to the diet.

I also think that the body helps you know how much salt you need. Food will taste properly salted for you depending on how much salt you need. If you need more, you will like a saltier taste, and vice versus.

[AJP]

Unrefined salts often do have some naturally-occurring iodine in them, like Real Salt or sea salt (only the unrefined types). I avoid iodized salt and eat little in the way of processed foods, but do eat foods with decent natural iodine content and make an effort to include seaweed (although I don't love it).

[Drummer's Wife]

I almost always use sea salt but now I'm wondering if I'm getting enough iodine. Do they sell sea salt with iodine? My bottle says it does not contain the necessary amounts.

[Magelet]

according to the iodine thread, table salt is never a good source of iodine, because it only contains iodide and iodine is more absorbable. makes me actually consider supplementation, since I know I don't get that much iodine in my diet. and I don't "do" supplements. (well, I'll include iodine the battery of nutrition testing I want to do first)

[JessicaS]

I use kosher or sea salt since I prefer the taste of those. I take iodine separately.

[Rosehip]

Can someone educate me about why table salt is considered less healthy than sea salt? I've heard this many times, but it's all NaCl, no? What's the difference?

[Magelet]

I beleive the reason table salt is bad is because it is from unclean sources, is refined to take all the minerals out of it, and then has iodide added in (a form of iodine which is not well absorbable, and seems to cause problems, IIRC.). plus, it doesn't taste as good.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Thank you all for the information For me I dont have a thyroid to absorb the iodine so I am thinking I should do some more research on iodine in general. Thank you for the link to the iodine thread will be visiting there in the very near future

[Mrshawwk]

I was just thinking today about salt. My 7 year old daughter and 12 year old sis in law just inhale salt. Both of them like to put it on their hands and lick it off several times a day, as well as heavily salting all their food. Thankfully I only have celtic salt or Redmond's here, but my sis in law just eats table salt at her house. Do you suppose they really need the salt, or are their bodies looking for some mineral in the salt? My other two kids old enough to care don't even bother salting their food, let alone eat it plain!

[Magelet]

I imagine they probably need the salt. I LOVE salt and salty food, and I seem to need it because if I don't eat enough salt, I black out when I stand or sit up.