Tag: Salt

All about Iodine

Todays post is all about Iodine as requested by a friend.

This subject is also of particular interest to me as I do have a thyroid disorder. So getting my daily source of Iodine is quite important.

 First of all, what is Iodine?

According to Wikipedia, Iodine is a chemical element first discovered by the French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811.

It is a naturally occurring chemical element, like oxygen and iron. It is the heaviest of the essential mineral nutrients and it is also the least abundant.

It is present in fairly constant amounts in seawater, but its distribution over land and fresh water is uneven. In continents such as Australia and New Zealand, natural iodine levels are very low in the soils where we grow our vegetables, grains and graze livestock.

 Why is it essential?

Iodine is an essential element for life. It is required for the synthesis of the growth-regulating thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine (T4 and T3 respectively). Thyroid hormones are required for normal growth and development of tissues and maturation of our bodies.

Globally, it is estimated that 2 billion individuals have an insufficient iodine intake. In industrialised countries, including the United States, Australia and New Zealand much of the food supply is now low in iodine. This has led to widespread deficiency.

Iodine deficiency has multiple adverse effects in humans. It is  the commonest worldwide cause of thyroid disorders.  A low iodine diet can cause hypothyroidism, an enlarged thyroid gland (goitre) and can affect fertility, pregnancy and neuro-developmental disorders in newborns. It is the leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities.

How to get your daily intake

Some of the best sources of iodine include seafood, iodised salt and bread. The iodine content of plants and vegetables is dependent on the environment and soil in which they are grown.

Marine sources –

Seaweed, fish and shellfish are the best sources.

Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine. However, the amount can vary significantly based on seaweed type, the region in which it grew and its preparation.

Three popular seaweed varieties include kombu kelp, wakame and nori. Kombu kelp offers the highest amount of iodine.

Higher amounts of iodine are found in fish low in fat compared to fatty fish. For instance, a lean fish like cod can provide up to 66% of the daily value. Tuna offers less iodine than lean fish but is still a relatively good source.

Shrimp and other shellfish are good sources  because they absorb some of the iodine that is naturally present in seawater.

Two to three servings of seafood a week should provide sufficient iodine to meet the requirements of most people.

Salt –

In Australia, any salt used at home should be iodised salt (that is, salt to which iodine has been added).

Bread –

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) implemented a mandatory iodine fortification regulation in October 2009. Since then, Australian bakers are required to replace regular salt with iodised salt in the baking of bread. This regulation does not include organic bread and breads made from non-wheat flour.

Eggs –

Egg yolks are a good source of because it is added to chicken feed. On average, one large egg contains 24 mcg of iodine, or 16% of the daily value.

and lastly prunes –

Interestingly, prunes are a good source of iodine. Five dried prunes provide 13 mcg, or about 9% of the daily value.

I hope that you have also found this information interesting and that it will help you to improve your Iodine intake.

Till the next post,

Live clean n Prosper.

Sources – https://academic.oup.com, www.sciencedirect.com, http://www.foodstandards.gov.au, http://www.nutritionaustralia.org, www.thyroidfoundation.org.au

Salt – is it bad for you?

Today’s post is about the myth that ‘Salt is bad for you’.

There is a lot of information available in regards to salt and health. I found many health articles reporting on how bad salt is for our health. Conversely, there are also an equal number of articles reporting that it is good for our health.

So what is right?

There are 2 million medical articles published every year regarding our health and sorting out this information was a challenge.

The fact is that the human body needs some salt for good health. Consuming too much may increase the risk of developing high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for other diseases. Too little and the body also suffers.

The trick is to consume a moderate amount. Statistically, many people are consuming too much ‘hidden’ salt. The rise in processed, packaged and canned foods are the issue as they usually contain added salt.

Water and Real Salt are essential for life

 The first thing doctors will do in hospital is put you on a life saving saline drip. We were born out of a water salt sack into a world that is 73% water salt solution and have a body that is 73% water and a brain that is 85% water.

The human body contains many salts, of which sodium chloride is the major one. This makes up around 0.4 per cent of the body’s weight at a concentration pretty well equivalent to that in seawater. So a 50kg person would contain around 200g of sodium chloride (approx. 40 teaspoons).

Sodium is a vital nutrient. It helps to maintain fluid balance and cardiovascular function. Sodium is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, always bringing water along with it. It is the major mineral in plasma, the fluid component of blood, and in the fluids that bathe the body’s cells. Without enough sodium, all these fluids would lose their water, causing dehydration, low blood pressure, and death.

Fortunately, it only takes a tiny amount of sodium to prevent this scenario. The body, in its wisdom, can make do with remarkably small amounts of sodium. In fact, some isolated population groups in the world manage perfectly well on just 200 mg a day. And when dietary salt is in short supply, the body can conserve nearly all its sodium, dramatically reducing the amount excreted in urine and shed in sweat. Remember that water always follows sodium, and you’ll understand why your skin is dry and your urine scant and concentrated when you are dehydrated and conserving sodium.

To be sure its supply of salt and water is just right, the body has developed an elaborate series of controls. The blood vessels and brain signal the kidneys to retain or excrete sodium as needed; they also fine-tune the sensation of thirst so you’ll provide water in amounts that match the body’s sodium supply.

How much should we consume?

The National Health and Medical Research Council set an ‘Adequate Intake’ of 460–920 mg of sodium per day. This corresponds to 1.15 – 2.3 grams of salt. Most Australian adults have a daily salt intake of about 10 grams. A ‘Suggested Dietary Target’ of 1600 mg of sodium (equivalent to about 4 grams of salt) has been set for Australian adults.                                             (Sources – www.chriskresser.com www.nutritionaustralia.org www.health.harvard.edu )

 

The best way to ensure a moderate salt intake is to consume less processed and packaged foods. Only add salt when cooking or at the table. Choose a less processed salt, therefore also gaining some trace minerals.

Till the next post,

 

Live clean n Prosper

We bought a Salt Lamp

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Okay, so following on from last weeks post on Positive and Negative ions.

Many of our homes and workplaces are usually sealed off from the natural benefits of negative ions.

While I was doing my research I found several articles on ‘Ionisers’ for the home. An Ioniser is a device that creates negative ions in an indoor space. In fact, every home has a built in natural ioniser — the shower. With its stream of hot water and steam, is a good producer of negative ions. That’s likely part of why so many people need a shower to wake up in the morning.

 

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So, we decided to buy a Himalayan Salt Lamp.

 

Why? you may think/ask.

 

Well, studies have found that

Himalayan Salt Lamps can also

clean the air in a different way.

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Real Himalayan salt lamps are hand chiselled solid blocks of ancient crystal salts. They usually have a pinkish orange colour, due to the high concentration of minerals.

 

Inside the hollowed out middle of the salt lamp is a light bulb to generate both light and heat. This is important for their reported benefits and salt lamps won’t work properly without a heat-producing light.

 

How they work

 

Water vapour is always circulating in the air of any room of your house. This water vapour carries with it allergens like dust, pollen, smoke particles, and even bacteria and viruses.

 

Salt is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts water molecules from the surrounding air. The hygroscopic air cleaning effect is the basic science of water vapour attraction and evaporation.

A large block of rock salt, like a Himalayan salt lamp, is especially attractive to water vapour and its pollutants.

The microscopic compounds, once attracted to the salt lamp, remain there and not floating in the air where you can breathe them in.

As the Himalayan salt lamp slowly becomes saturated with the water vapour compounds, the heat from the lamp inside, dries them. This heat also re-releases water vapour back into the air, thus continuing the hygroscopic effect for as long as the light is on.

Importantly, any airborne contaminants attracted to the salt lamp remain trapped there and will not become airborne again.

 

Salt lamp benefits do include negative ion generation. It appears primarily from the moisture evaporating on the heated rock salt.

Some studies point to the cumulative effect of keeping the salt lamp on at all times. This can slowly generate more and more negative ions and improve the air quality over time. However, as a negative ioniser, salt lamps have a limited range and small output. Instead, it’s best to consider negative ions from salt lamps as an added benefit and position them with their short ionising range in mind.

 

The other health benefit claims of Himalayan salt lamps are based on plausible science. Salt in the air really does help breathing problems, and negative ions really are linked to better moods.

 

At worst, we have an interesting night light!

 

Until the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper

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