Nutrition and healthy eating

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• January 17, 2012 9:09 p.m.

  None of the experts got to the real question: how much salt is a necessity in frozen/canned/ dehydrated foods. Saw 800mg salt in can of chili with beans. How much is actually needed, and how much is simply catering to an over-salted public?

  - zorcas

• May 7, 2011 6:00 p.m.

  Your note about Sea Salt is worthy of note, but the "Trace" you mention is actually about 15% by weight, of other elements. My question is because I can find no mention of the other (non-salt) materials that are in sea water, that must be in sea salt, unless they wash it out somehow (a process they don't do or don't advertise). Certainly there would be organic mater (algy, human pollutants, diatoms, etc.). The required 'ingredients' only says 'sea salt' Does anyone actually assay such products?

  - John

• April 26, 2011 10:30 a.m.

  I am now eating Himilayan Salt. I also add it to my drinking water. It has 84 minerals in it. A Dr. has implimented this salt for healthy living.

  - Donna

• March 9, 2011 8:02 a.m.

  Some years ago I went on a No Salt Diet in order to reverse my tendency to gradually increase blood pressure. I eat only foods to which salt has not been added, neither by my nor by whoever produced it. My total sodium load comes from what occurs naturally in the vegetables and fish that I eat. Most of my food is prepared at home, but I do patronize several favorite restaurants where they are willing to prepare dishes without salt. The only canned or frozen foods that I eat are those specified as 'no salt added.' Fortunately I have a small grocery nearby that caters to special dietary needs, but also buy on line. I have learned to use lots of herbs and spices that, for me, make the food taste better than with salt. (I even carry some with me when going to a restaurant.) By now I can't stand food prepared with the 'normal' amount of salt; it tastes awful. Occasionally, when the chef forgets and adds a little salt to a dish, I have to send it back. This regimen has allowed me to keep my blood pressure down without using any medication.

  - John

• March 8, 2011 2:08 p.m.

  The War On Salt is great news for those having hypertension. I am one of those. My question is exactly how much sodium is necessary in people's daily food intake? Another question is can people really thrive on 500 mg sodium/day? Since almost every kind of food has sodium in it how can we be sure to minimize sodium intake? So far my hypertension control has not been optimal.

  - Brenda

• February 11, 2011 7:51 p.m.

  I've had menieres for 30+ years so am on a salt restricted diet. I eat mainly fresh fruit & vegetables, chicken, red meat, and non-salty fish. My small city has salt free products from Eden plus we use the Dash spices. We don't use many other canned or pre-prepared products. After eating low salt products for years my husband finds many of the restaurant foods too salty to enjoy. He also finds the high fat content in foods such as pizza don't agree with his stomach. Since he has high blood pressure this diet has been helpful for him as well.

  - Sharon

• February 3, 2011 1:15 p.m.

  I'm 78 years old and do not suffer from high blood pressure or anything other than the usual age-related joint stiffness. As a matter of fact my blood pressure is on the low side, if anything. And it burns me up to have people watch me eating and criticize my habit of adding salt to my meals. Some of them become obnoxiously loud, arguing so much and getting their blood pressure boiling. Adding salt to food with a shaker never tastes the same as having cooked it with salt because it does not spread evenly. And I strenuously object to the government telling me what I cannot eat or how not to prepare it. You can call me a curmudgeon if you wish, but I'm really a mild-mannered old geezer.

  - Carlos

• February 2, 2011 2:53 p.m.

  I have been a saltaholic all my life. I used to lick my hand as a child, sprinkle it with salt and lick it again. After 2 pregnancies with pre-eclampsia and no salt diets, despite what the doctors told me, I did not lose my taste for or craving for salty things. I do, however, intensely dislike a sweet taste in my mouth or sweet foods. I found sea salt on my own and now cook with it in small amounts and add it to my food when I eat. It has the salty taste with far less being put on my food. I tried Mrs. Dash and other seasonings and it just didn't help. I crave the salty taste. Maybe you could do something for those of us who crave it: why do we crave the salty flavour, is our diet lacking in something else, is sea salt a good alternative etc.

  - Deanie

• February 2, 2011 1:21 p.m.

  I am in total agreement however, it is sodium not salt that we should be concerned about. Salt contains sodium as does a very large amount of foods naturally as well as added. A medium piece of celery for example has 35 mg of sodium. My advise is to get as much information about sodium quanitites as possible. The ADA has some excellent information on this - 26 pages worth. It is important to keep a food diary and a running daily total of amounts eaten. It is also important that potassium, magnesium and calcium levels be maintained, naturally if possible, once the sodium level is dropped.

  - Barbara

• February 1, 2011 8:05 p.m.

  Adding salt with a salt shaker rather than adding salt before or as it cooks seems to be a "controllable" way to add desirable taste to food. Paying attention to salt already in foods will help you decide before you eat, whether to add more salt.

  - Dan

• February 1, 2011 6:55 p.m.

  I would like to say thank you for addressing this major issue in many people's lives. Since discontinuing a blood pressure medication a few weeks ago I have embarked on a completely new meal plan. The reason for stopping the medication was my renal function was being compromised. I am using two cookbooks for lowering the blood pressure, one is Don Gazzaniga's No Salt, Lowest Sodium cookbook and the other is the DASH diet cookbook. Don had CHF and in 18 months turned his illness around by ingesting only 500 mg sodium/day. Following his way is going to bring my hypertension down to much lower levels, levels in the range of low 100's to about 115 systolic. The grocery store I frequent has a problem in that it does not subscribe to lowering sodium and salt intake, thus making it difficult to buy what is necessary. Most of the foods I buy are fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, minimal red meat, the meat eaten is chicken and fish, plus more whole grains than other diets. Today the blood pressure was the lowest in several weeks, the systolic was 128 mmHg. This sums up what I eat in a nutshell. If only more people would heed this warning.

  - Brenda

• February 1, 2011 12:19 a.m.

  Nicely compiled data. I have started reading this site. This is really worthy content and useful for every new language learner. Appreciation for this kind of important write-up!

  - vince shrmn

• January 28, 2011 7:09 a.m.

  The original version of this post gave an estimate in tons of how much salt Americans eat each day. That figure raised questions among readers. Because that number was incidental to the blog's message -- that progress is being made in reducing salt consumption -- we removed it. Thanks to everyone who posted a comment.

  - MayoClinic.com Staff

• January 27, 2011 9:01 a.m.

  I think this salt initiative is a great idea. Getting the companies involved is a sure fire way to reduce salt intake. I always have a problem finding low salt anything. Chips, canned soup (like cream of mushroom or chicken), or rice mixes. Finally there are starting to be companies that recognize this. At one point there was only low fat, reduced fat, or 100 calorie items. What about the people wanting reduced salt? My grandma is on a no salt diet and it is almost impossible to find any food that has NO salt. It requires that we cook everything from scratch. Nothing can be processed. No eating out. We are currently looking into home made foods that take less time to prepare.

  - Heather

• January 26, 2011 9:25 a.m.

  I have suffered from severe hypertension since my early 30s. I am now 56, and have been under good control control with a low dose beta blocker and mild diuretic. At one point in my treatment, about 25 years ago, I went a salt restricted diet under the supervision of my doc at UofPenn. I was also a marathon runner, a vegetarian and had 9% body fat. After two weeks of the worst tasting food i have ever tasted, my diastolic and systolic measures reduced about 4 and 7 ml respectively. My BP after this ordeal was 170/110, basically what it always is, whether I salt restrict, exercise, eat salty foods or don't exercise. My doctors explanation which I continue to believe to be correct, is that I am not salt sensitive and that there is a strong genetic component in my condition. His estimation then, was that this combination characterizes about 60% of hypertensives, who can little or no clinical improvement without drugs. Would you comment on this latter assertion?

  - Steve

• January 26, 2011 3:49 a.m.

  sorry, forgot link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20826631

  - Brad

• January 26, 2011 3:48 a.m.

  Whats interesting is this study released in 2010. Despite perceptions of increased intake, UNa+ measured over 24hrs has not changed over time. From my readings, this method correlates well to intake, argues against worsening secular outcome trendds and associations with intake. Take a look--study got lots of attn in '10 and would like to get you take. brad

  - Brad