Thread: This salt contains iodine, a necessary nutrient

this salt contains iodine a necessary nutrient is whats on label in usa

is that on labels on salt in other countries?

can i get it elsewhere ?or just salt?

HOW MUCH SALT DOES A PERSON NEED?

ive heard its less than a teaspoon a day

Originally Posted by Holmes

this salt contains iodine a necessary nutrient is whats on label in usa

is that on labels on salt in other countries?

can i get it elsewhere ?or just salt?

HOW MUCH SALT DOES A PERSON NEED?

ive heard its less than a teaspoon a day

Might be something to do with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodized_salt

RE: Salt, highly regarded by the Prince is Mark Kurlansky's book on the subject,
Salt: A World History (2002), ISBN 0-8027-1373-4

Iodine IS an essential nutrient, but is toxic in bulk. 2 grams are generally enough to kill a person. Toxic effects of this halogen have been put to good use in water purification, notably on naval vessels.

You need to draw a distinction between salt and iodine. Iodine is added to salt, but the salt is just a carrier. If you fail to get sufficient iodine in your diet, you suffer thyroid problems, with goitre being the most noticeable, and very nasty outcome. On the other hand, salt should be consumed in small amounts. Large amounts are not good for you.

Since you need enough iodine each day, it is strongly advised that you use only iodised salt - salt with iodine deliberately added. Iodised and others salt are equally toxic in large amounts, but in small amounts the iodised salt helps your iodine intake.

Iodine is found in other foods, and small amounts are present in fruits and vegetables. A lot is taken with edible seaweed, and other seafoods. But it is nevertheless, very common for a diet to be iodine deficient, and using iodised salt is a cheap and easy insurance policy.

It is intuitive and generally agreed that sodium restriction is appropriate for patients with heart failure, despite the lack of studies based on evidence. Limit the number of sodium is most appropriate for the hypertensive patient at risk for developing heart failure and patients who are openly volume overloaded, less certainty on the prescription of sodium for patients diagnosed with heart failure who are well paid . Sodium intake is only part of medical nutrition therapy and the prescription should be individualized according to nutrition assessment and prioritization of needs. But in the absence of new compelling data, sodium restriction is the most appropriate intervention food in general, for patients with heart failure.

Sodium isn't all bad. I was actually sodium deficient a few months ago. Moderation is key.

Your body is pretty good a controling the amount of salt it retains. If you are retaining too much salt a number of inexpencive meds will help you excrete it. Talk to your Doctor. Too little salt can be life threatening. Symptoms of salt deficency include thirst that is not relieved by water. That is also a symptom of Diabetes so don't diagnose yourself on the strength of a single sympton.
As a matter fact : don't diagnose yourself at all. There is an old saying in the med biz, "A doctor who treats himself, has a fool for a patient."

The human ability to tolerate sodium is very variable. There are some people, and especially those of African descent, who have very poor tolerance for high sodium. If you fit into that category, you should severely moderate sodium intake. If your blood pressure increases substantially after consuming a bit too much salt, you have this intolerance. Easy to test.

To a degree, mitigation can be done by increasing the potassium/sodium balance. For example : bananas are known to be high in potassium, and help mitigate the harmful effects of too much sodium.

The best advice is to keep salt consumption moderated. But the salt you use should be iodised to keep iodine levels healthy. The recent fashion of sea salt or rock salt crystals, that are more 'natural', without iodine, is actually harmful to the health of those who fall for that nonsense.

Originally Posted by Holmes

this salt contains iodine a necessary nutrient is whats on label in usa

is that on labels on salt in other countries?

can i get it elsewhere ?or just salt?

HOW MUCH SALT DOES A PERSON NEED?

ive heard its less than a teaspoon a day

You can get iodine from fish. But since people rarely eat fish this days: iodine became important. People didn't eat fish because in modern urban setting people had plenty of meat.

Originally Posted by msafwan

Originally Posted by Holmes

this salt contains iodine a necessary nutrient is whats on label in usa

is that on labels on salt in other countries?

can i get it elsewhere ?or just salt?

HOW MUCH SALT DOES A PERSON NEED?

ive heard its less than a teaspoon a day

You can get iodine from fish. But since people rarely eat fish this days: iodine became important. People didn't eat fish because in modern urban setting people had plenty of meat.

Why do you say that? Many cod, salmon and tuna species are endangered because westerners, including city dwellers, eat lots of fish.

True, and doesn't take long- look at Patagonian toothfish, AKA "Chilean Sea Bass".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonian_toothfish

But we digress. If you are resistant for any reason to the eating of fish or iodized salt, kelp or other seaweed would appear a viable source of iodine in the diet.