3 ms·

In the US at least on average people are getting about 1/2 the salt they where 100 years ago. We no longer preserve food with salt primarily we use refrigeratio

In the US at least on average people are getting about 1/2 the salt they where 100 years ago. We no longer preserve food with salt primarily we use refrigeration now. [Salt: Are you getting Enough?] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amJ-ev8Ial8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amJ-ev8Ial8

qwerty456127 9y ago
I don't add any salt to my meals (I mostly cook at home and rarely eat in restaurants) because of 2 factors: 1. I don't actually want it (with some exceptions, I don't find salted foods any tastier than unsalted) 2. As a child I was taught salt is extremely bad for health. This means, provided salt is actually necessary for health, I am certainly not getting enough. At the same time I find my heart (which has always been quirky, since my very childhood) working notably better if I supplement Potassium Chloride (which tastes almost exactly the same as Sodium Chloride to me, I can hardly tell any difference in taste even if I compare pharmaceutical grade samples). So the question is: do I really need to start eating common salt (sodium chloride) or can I just supplement potassium chloride on regular basis? Does the body really need sodium or is potassium a reasonable replacement (provided I drink a good amount of water every day too)?
- Kluny 9y ago
  I'd ask your doctor or nutritionist, not some rando on HN. There are lots of smart people here, but none of them knows anything about your medical history.
  - qwerty456127 9y ago
    What I am asking about is scientific knowledge about whether or not potassium supplement usually lowers the amount of sodium the body needs to function healthily Simple as this. You would understand the fact you have to rely on yourself, science and peers' experience and knowledge more than on doctors if you were an immigrant grown up in a "2.5th world" country living in a "2nd world" one very-very low on money rather than a middle-class citizen of the USA ;-) To make it easier to understand I can say I rarely meet the same doctor more than twice, they are rarely brilliant or motivated and they use to make mutually-opposite claims on life-critical matters.

qwerty456127 9y ago

I don't add any salt to my meals (I mostly cook at home and rarely eat in restaurants) because of 2 factors: 1. I don't actually want it (with some exceptions, I don't find salted foods any tastier than unsalted) 2. As a child I was taught salt is extremely bad for health. This means, provided salt is actually necessary for health, I am certainly not getting enough. At the same time I find my heart (which has always been quirky, since my very childhood) working notably better if I supplement Potassium Chloride (which tastes almost exactly the same as Sodium Chloride to me, I can hardly tell any difference in taste even if I compare pharmaceutical grade samples). So the question is: do I really need to start eating common salt (sodium chloride) or can I just supplement potassium chloride on regular basis? Does the body really need sodium or is potassium a reasonable replacement (provided I drink a good amount of water every day too)?

Kluny 9y ago
I'd ask your doctor or nutritionist, not some rando on HN. There are lots of smart people here, but none of them knows anything about your medical history.
- qwerty456127 9y ago
  What I am asking about is scientific knowledge about whether or not potassium supplement usually lowers the amount of sodium the body needs to function healthily Simple as this. You would understand the fact you have to rely on yourself, science and peers' experience and knowledge more than on doctors if you were an immigrant grown up in a "2.5th world" country living in a "2nd world" one very-very low on money rather than a middle-class citizen of the USA ;-) To make it easier to understand I can say I rarely meet the same doctor more than twice, they are rarely brilliant or motivated and they use to make mutually-opposite claims on life-critical matters.