True to this blog, I have something completely left of centre to what I normally blog about. I recently came across an add in a newspaper advertising the following product.
Low Sodium Salt.
Now to me, and possibly most people, good old table salt is NaCl; sodium chloride. So naturally upon seeing this my mind started wondering what on earth a lower sodium salt could mean. After a little existing knowledge and some help from Mr Google, turns out because of the increasing statistics of conditions like hypertension and heart failure in first world societies, companies have begun to incorporate things like magnesium sulfate and potassium chloride into their salt products.
Now the question I raise is whether or not this will even have the desired health outcomes. Excess potassium and magnesium within the body has a multitude of side effects within itself. What’s more, they do not taste as salty as NaCl, so people who already consume a lot of ‘normal’ salt, will tend to use more of this new ‘salt blend’ to achieve their desired salty taste.
Should we be worried that this new type of low sodium salt could actually cause more harm and stick to advising people to just cut down salt intake in general or is this just another gimmick targeted at people who are getting on the latest health trend. Heck, maybe it is even an effective method of addressing the issues our high sodium diet is causing us.
What do you think? My intent with this post is not to give you my opinion but rather make you query this yourself. Maybe take this moment to look into the effects of high levels of both sodium as well as potassium and magnesium within your body, and just to keep it balanced, the effects of not enough. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
xoxo
your local bohemian
A Bohemian Existence 