Salt: The New S?

[reinhard]

Flush with their tremendous success in legislating away sugar and fat induced obesity, U.S. regulators now have a new stab in the back substance in their sights: salt.

I'm not sure why they think their luck will be any better this time, but hey, you can't fault em for trying, right? What's the worst that could happen? Trans-salts?

A couple of amusing highlights from a NY Times article on the subject:

The Hard Sell on Salt
Published: May 29, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/health/30salt.html

Dr. Howard Moskowitz, a food scientist and consultant to major food manufacturers, said companies had not shown the same zeal in reducing salt as they had with sugars and fat. While low-calorie sweeteners opened a huge market of people eager to look better by losing weight, he said, salt is only a health concern, which does not have the same market potential.

“If all of a sudden people would demand lower salt because low salt makes them look younger, this problem would be solved overnight,†he said.

Wait a minute... Low calorie sweeteners solved a problem? Overnight? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's been how many decades now since they were invented and aren't we fatter than ever before? They did "open a huge market" though, I have to grant him that.

There is a graphic showing the sodium content of a Healty Choice "complete meal," Chicken Monterey. The shocker? This meal, all by itself, provides twenty-five percent of the recommended daily sodium allowance! So you could eat it three meals a day and still have 25% of your sodium RDA left over!!!!

This is shocking?

Shockingly good, maybe. You have RDA to spare -- if you're eating three meals a day.

Of course, most people don't eat this way anymore; they permasnack. And that is the real issue. They snack on sweets, they snack on fat, they snack on empty carbs -- and you bet they snack on salt. Is there an adjective that appears before the word "snacks" more often than "salty?"

So relax. For most of us No-essers this salt stuff is a distraction. If you practice no-s, you get it dealt with as a bonus, without any additional privation or even noticing it. I'm not by any means encouraging anyone to eat crap like the above three meals a day (that would be a gastronomical crime, if nothing else) but it's nice to know that from a sodium standpoint at least you could.

Reinhard

[ShannahR]

I have to admit I rarely think about sodium content because I mostly eat food I make so I know exactly how much salt is in it. However, the thing that heats my blood about this article is the food industry's counter proposal that Americans cut 100 calories a day from their diet instead of the industry reducing the salt in processed food. In my view that is a typical, underhanded food industry strategy to move the discussion to "personal responsibility" instead of sacrifice some of their profits for the greater good. Not to mention--how likely is it that Americans WILL cut 100 calories a day...not very in my opinion.

[wosnes]

I do think about salt content because of my CHF. But, I just avoid processed foods and most restaurant food. I use salt in cooking and at the table (if needed). It's not so bad that some frozen meals have 25% of the RDA. It's bad that many have double (or more) of the RDA.

One of the bad things about salt in processed foods is that you often don't taste it. In some cases it affects the texture of the food and masks the taste of other chemicals in the food.

I'll agree that it's worse if you're snacking, but if you're eating processed foods regularly, it's still very bad. Here's a quote from the most recent article by Michael Pollan:

Mrs. Obama explicitly rejected the conventional argument that the food industry is merely giving people the sugary, fatty, and salty foods they want, contending that the industry “doesn’t just respond to people’s natural inclinations—it also actually helps to shape them,†through the ways it creates products and markets them.

By Martha Beck from O, The Oprah Magazine , March 2002

In a folktale that has been retold for centuries in many variations (one of which is Shakespeare's King Lear), an elderly king asks his three daughters how much they love him. The two older sisters deliver flowery speeches of filial adoration, but the youngest says only "I love you as meat loves salt."

The king, insulted by this homely simile, banishes the youngest daughter and divides his kingdom between the older two, who promptly kick him out on his royal heinie. He seeks refuge in the very house where his third daughter is working as a scullery maid. Recognizing her father, the daughter asks the cook to prepare his meal without salt. The king eats a few tasteless mouthfuls, then bursts into tears.

"All along," he cries, "it was my youngest daughter who really loved me!" The daughter reveals herself and all ends happily (except in King Lear, where pretty much everybody dies).

Salt does enhance the flavor of foods and in some cases (bitter greens, for example) may make them more palatable than when they're not cooked with salt. There's a reason greens are cooked with ham or bacon! As long as there isn't too much salt, the addition of it may get people to eat more of the greens than if they weren't salted.

[Grammy G]

I live with a person who is salt sensitive. If he eats much salt at all, his blood pressure goes sky high and he is a bear to live with! I really don't care for salty foods..never have. He, on the other hand, would probably enjoy a spoon full of salt along with his beer. I really try to limit his salt intake. Did you know frozen peas are sized in salt water? The only cereal (cold) I can find with no salt is shredded wheat (plain). I use so little salt in my cooking that prepared foods taste pretty nasty to me most of the time.. he, on the other hand, would live on hot dogs and ham. While I don't think most of us need to worry much about salt if we do our own cooking, I am concerned that many prepared foods are so salty that people who eat them as their main foods are not learning what real food tastes like and are going to pour salt on everything their whole lives because that is how they believe foods should taste. Such a shame!!

[paulawylma]

I love salt but I'm been trying to cut back and using Mrs. Dash. I don't have any medical issues with salt, but we have way too much in our diet. Processed foods are full of it so we are all getting way too much. Fact of the day: the word "salary" comes from "salt." In Roman times it was so rare that Roman soldiers were often paid in salt--because it was valuable everywhere. So, it's funny that salt is so common and cheap now, that's it's a nutritional issue.

I'm correcting my own post. I'd always been told that soldier's were paid in salt, including my Latin teacher, but according to dictionary.com "salary" comes from the Latin word, salÄrium means a stipend given to soldier's to buy salt. It still points out that salt used to be rare and important and therefore not used in as large quantites as today.

[leafy_greens]

I think it's hilarious how the government is trying to regulate salt, fat, sodas - Hello, NONE of it is working! How about giving more subsidies to fruits and vegetables instead of milk and meat, for starters... And have the food pyramid say NO SNACKING.

[Graham]

I think it's hilarious how the government is trying to regulate salt, fat, sodas - Hello, NONE of it is working! How about giving more subsidies to fruits and vegetables instead of milk and meat, for starters... And have the food pyramid say NO SNACKING.

I don't know how much regulation your government has so far introduced - but my impression is that it is all fairly new. The impact of these changes will only be noticed over decades as declining rates of obesity and mortality reflect any successful adjustments to the national diet.

I agree with you that government intervention is a good idea - I'm not against soundly produced dairy or meat myself, I would certainly favour taxation on sugar &/or heavily processed junk food items as well as subsidy of more wholesome foods, whatever it takes to reverse the obesogenic forces which plague America and other countries

[masinger]

For several years, I've been able to buy "no salt added" versions of the canned staples used in our house (green beans, corn, and diced tomatoes) at every grocery store in the area. In fact, I can usually find the no-salt version of store brands more easily than of national brands. Between that, cooking from fresh much of the time, carefully shopping for processed alternatives with the lowest sodium content I can find, and, now, not snacking, I'm pretty happy about our sodium intake.

Regarding breakfast cereals: I just checked the nutritional value of the two cold cereals I used to buy at everyone's favorite megaretailer (Alf's Natural Nutrition Puffed Red Wheat and Alf's Puffed Brown Rice), and both have 0% sodium. Moreover, the "major brand" versions of the same cereal, which, like Alf's, are sold in plastic bags rather than boxes, also have no sodium. I liked them both, though I don't eat them now because the way I eat cold cereal (with cranberry juice instead of milk) screws with my blood glucose level.

[sheepish]

I think salt can be a bit demonised. I love salt so I'm a bit biased but I've been told several times by my doctor that my blood pressure is very low and that I could do with a bit more salt.

[wosnes]

I think it's hilarious how the government is trying to regulate salt, fat, sodas - Hello, NONE of it is working! How about giving more subsidies to fruits and vegetables instead of milk and meat, for starters... And have the food pyramid say NO SNACKING.

How about getting rid of the food pyramid, too? It's not working either.

I think I might have read this in The Omnivore's Dilemma, but the governments of many other countries haven't been involved in the daily eating habits of the citizens. There was no reason to be involved -- until recently. What changed? American foods and restaurants have changed what and how they eat. They're being encouraged to go back to the old ways.

[vmelo]

I wish the government would stay out of my refridgerator. All the "fat" taxes and Big Brother restrictions on my food intake will not make a bit of difference to me healthwise unless I, internally, make the decision to eat healthier. It's just another insidious way for the government to intrude into our lives and reach into our pocketbooks.

Yeah, the government really "cares" about my health

[gratefuldeb67]

Regular salt is fine, it's msg and all artificial sweeteners that should be banned if they are really concerned about peoples health.

[Graham]

I keep thinking about this - and wondering, if No S isn't causing the desired weight-loss for some people, how effective might it be for them to actually add salt to the list of things not to have on N days?

Salt is one of a number of ingredients that stimulate appetite - reducing it might be a very effective indirect method to discourage over-eating. There are people in this world who use far less salt than we do in modern societies - and they have much lower blood-pressure for their whole lives.

I don't know if I would do it myself - yet a few years ago I would have thought I'd never accept drinking unsweetened tea or coffee without any milk - now, when I'm fasting, its a breeze.

It might be another of those things that seem really difficult till you adjust, and then it's no big deal. I wonder if anyone has already tried this and knows whether it would be an effective strategy?