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2. Sea Salt is the same as table salt when counting sodium. As to "natural" iodine in sea salt: Most of the iodine in the ocean is in marine plants and animals. Seawater itself-and sea salt-are poor sources of iodine.
3. No; salt is not mandatory. It was used for years as the vehicle for iodine and in some countries still is. Today, you can get your iodine from vitamin pills and fish.
4. Most canned and packaged foods are high in sodium per serving, but not all are. Many new products are now available with no salt added. (NSA) These include canned tomatoes, sauces, corn and peas and the same is true for vegetables in the frozen food section. Look for "No Salt Added" labels. Always check the FDA label for sodium levels per serving and then check the serving size.
5. The best on-line source for low sodium ingredients is Healthy Heart Market. Pete Eiden, who has worked himself off the heart transplant list has been serving up low sodium ingredients and foods to those in need for more than 5 years.
6. The first and still the only complete no salt, low sodium cookbook is The No Salt, Lowest Sodium Cookbook Also available is the No Salt, Lowest Sodium Baking Book and the No Salt, Lowest Sodium Light Meals Book.
7. According to the USDA: One; the apple! We list them with a trace, since the USDA/FDA will not list trace amounts of sodium in foods and apples do have a "trace" amount.
8. Vitamins and fish. We don't have to eat salt to get iodine. The matter is especially an out-dated procedure since May of 2000, when the U.S. Government (NIH) declared that Americans should lower their sodium intake to no more than 1500 mg a day. (This for "healthy" Americans). That made putting iodine in salt obsolete. When someone in the world does have idodine deficiency (generally poorer countries), Doctors treat it by prescribing potassium iodide for a period, depending on the severity of the case. Previously, to correct the deficiency it was common practice to recommend iodised salt for daily use. We know now, that would be bad advice at any time. There is enough iodine in fresh seafood to provide the iodine we need. One serving a week is enough, but we recommend two to three servings a week since fish oil has been recognized as a great source of nutrients for the heart.
9.No. This response comes from Chapter 1 of a new book authored by Dr. Beard, Queensland Hypertensive Assocation: The discovery that added salt can be harmful!
An early warning came from two French doctors in 1904. They found that six hospital patients with high blood pressure made a substantial recovery when they stopped eating food containing added salt [4]. Their blood pressure rose again when they were served soup with the usual salt content, and improved when the salty soup was taken off the menu again. We now know that a low salt intake will not always reverse high blood pressure-a point we return to-but it will always reduce the average blood pressure of a group. That is because the majority of people show some benefit from skipping salt, and some do very well, so the net result is positive. Apologists for salt often claim that the subject is controversial, but all good science provokes fierce debate. Today the controversy has subsided to a massive international consensus that our salt intake is excessive, and should be greatly reduced [5]. It is true that other aspects of diet and lifestyle, apart from salt, can affect blood pressure [6], but it has been shown conclusively that they all work better at a lower salt/sodium intake, and even a 'normal' blood pressure becomes more normal in groups who adopt a lower salt/sodium intake [7].
10. No. However some "salt substitutes" are using potassium chloride as a salt replacement. This raises the level of potassium in your daily diet and is not recommended. We do NOT use this substitute in our recipes, however some muffins and biscotti cookies use Featherweight, which is a potassium chloride product without salt. Morton's makes a "Lite Salt," which contains table salt and potassium chloride. The levels of sodium and potassium in this product and others like it are too high for patients on a low sodium diet.
Footnotes:
4. Ambard L, Beaujard E. Causes de l'hypertension artérielle. Archives Gener-ales de Médecine 1904;1:520-33.
5. WHO/ISH Statement Committee. Prevention of hypertension and associated cardiovascular disease: a 1995 statement. Clin and Exper Hypertension 1995;18(3&4):581-93.
6. Appel LJ, Moore TJ, Obarzanek E, Vollmer WM, Svetkey LP, Sacks FM, et al. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. N Engl J Med 1997;336:1117-24.
7. Sacks FM, Svetkey LP, Vollmer WM, Appel LJ, Bray GA, Harsha D, et al. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. N Engl J Med 2001;344:3-10.