Don't deride it till you've tried it! - Losing weight by eating less salt, that is.

Don't deride it till you've tried it! - Losing weight by eating less salt, that is. - Very occasionally, foolish people write to me to deride my assertion that the easiest, fastest, safest way to lose excess weight is seriously to cut down on added salt/sodium. For one thing, they are usually naturally slim people who have never had the problem of being overweight/obese and never experienced the difficulties of losing that excess weight while living in a society that relies heavily on processed food products that are high in salt and other sodium compounds. For another, they tend to think of losing weight only as losing excess fat. - There is a strange idea around that to lose excess fluid as a means of losing weight is somehow 'cheating' and doesn't count! - What nonsense! When overweight people lose excess fluid by cutting down on added salt/sodium they not only lose excess weight, reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, depression, heart disease, arthritis, fragile bones, premature aging, cognitive decline, dementia and many other degenerative conditions, but also lower their likelihood of experiencing a stroke, heart attack, frailty and mobility problems. - What's not to like? - Go on! - Try it! - Lose weight by eating less salt and salty food! - You will feel sooo much better!

'Posh' salt is as harmful to health as ordinary table salt

'Posh' salt is as harmful to health as ordinary table salt. - Apologies: I should have written about this in November when it was in the news. Still, better late than never. - The Guardian reported on a Consensus Action on Salt and Health study, which found that there is widespread misunderstanding in the matter of different sorts of salt sold, and that many people buying the gourmet-type salts like rock salt, sea salt, Maldon Salt, Himalayan Salt and Fleur de Sel, mistakenly thought that the expensive salts were better for health than ordinary Saxa Table Salt. "In the study the sodium chloride and moisture content of seven different salt products available from supermarkets and online were analysed – including "posh" salts such as Maldon and Himalayan (Best Care Products) and Saxa table salt. Sodium and chloride combine to form salt (NaCl), the combination of minerals which puts up our blood pressure leading to strokes, heart failure and heart disease and also linked to osteoporosis, stomach cancer and kidney disease. Cash said the results show they all contain just as much sodium chloride as each other."

I don't know why they stress the sodium chloride (NaCl) content as such; it is the sodium ion content specifically that puts up blood pressure and causes fluid retention/water weight/obesity and heart damage and all the other degenerative disorders that develop in people vulnerable to salt/sodium. The chloride ions are only the associates of the baddie sodium ions; they are not themselves the baddies.

The nonsense spouted by the manufacturers of the expensive salts - nonsensical claims that their products are not harmful - should be filed with the claims made long ago by tobacco manufacturers that their products did not cause cancer, etc. and were not addictive. Lies for profits. Dishonesty for gain. Drivel for the gullible.

MSG (monoSODIUM glutamate)is another high-sodium compound to avoid if you are overweight.

Common salt, sodium chloride, is the most common high sodium additive to avoid if you are overweight, because it increases fluid retention, but MSG (monoSODIUM glutamate) is another high-sodium additive you would do well to avoid if you are overweight.

Read here about how to lose weight by eating less salt/sodium.

See Sodium in foods

And here is some further MSG information: Dr Mercola's article about MSG.

Which Food Additive Is Doing The Most Harm? - For Most People The Answer Has To Be Salt.

Which is the food additive most likely to be harming your health? - It is salt - common salt - sodium chloride. - That's if you are one of the people living in the developed world and are one of the majority who are overweight or obese.

These are two of the factors that make salt/sodium a harmful food additive for you:

1. It may be that you like to eat convenience food/ready meals/takeaways/processed foods/salty snacks. These are too high in salt to be healthy for anyone who is overweight.

2. It may be that you have taken or are taking prescribed medication that causes salt sensitivity and that has resulted in fluid retention/weight gain/obesity/high blood pressure and all the other health problems associated with drug-induced obesity.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver damage and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

FAT RETENTION

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

Vulnerable groups

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

Potassium Chloride: why is it no longer available to buy and use as a salt substitute by people in the UK?

Years ago, it was possible for ordinary members of the public to buy potassium chloride in Britain. It was sold as a salt substitute under the name of Ruthmol. It's not manufactured any more and I don't think you can buy potassium chloride in any UK shops. - I wonder why? - Potassium chloride can be bought without any problem in the USA. - It can't be considered dangerous, surely? - LoSalt, which is freely on sale in Britain, is composed of 2 parts potassium chloride to 1 part sodium chloride. (Sodium chloride is the chemical name for ordinary table salt.)

Since it tastes very similar to table salt and can be used for cooking or for sprinkling as table salt is, it could be very helpful to steroid victims and others who need to keep their sodium intake to a minimum.
NOTE 1: I am not suggesting eating a lot of it. That would be unwise. - But used judiciously in place of its sodium counterpart, it would certainly reduce the excess weight and the suffering of steroid victims and other obese or morbidly obese people by reducing their fluid retention.
NOTE 2: Potassium displaces sodium in the body, thus removing some excess sodium and water from the body via the urine.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Animals - e.g. dogs, goats and sheep - are harmed if they ingest salt that is used for de-icing roads in winter

SALT (sodium chloride)

The webpage is about Salt Poisoning.- Extract:

" ingestion of the salt used for de-icing roads in winter, often deposited loosely in piles or in containers alongside roads; animals most commonly involved are dogs, goats and sheep;"