### Author:  [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/1 "2013-12-02T00:17:30Z")
If you are diabetic you can use sweetners such as aspartane instead of sugar. What about salt? Is there any substitute for NaCl? The low-sodium salt is only salt in finer grains, if I am not mistaken…
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### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/2 "2013-12-02T00:22:09Z")
> [@demian\_travis](#):
>
> If you are diabetic you can use sweetners such as aspartane instead of sugar. What about salt? Is there any substitute for NaCl? The low-sodium salt is only salt in finer grains, if I am not mistaken…
If it was salt in finer grains then it would have just as much sodium as regular salt, so it would not be low sodium. I’ve had a mixture of seasonings whose name I forget (Mrs. \) that I suspect from the taste also includes a little bit of salt when I’ve been in the hospital; maybe that’s what you are thinking of? I have type 2 diabetes but I still just use ordinary salt at home and at restaurants.
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### Author:  [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/3 "2013-12-02T00:22:43Z")
Both potassium chloride (KCl) and monosodium glutamate (MSG) are NaCl substitutes.
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### Author:  [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/4 "2013-12-02T00:23:17Z")
Well it isn’t “salt” it is a “salt substitute”, but there is Potassium chloride - which I think is what people think of when they think of fake salt.
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### Author:  [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/5 "2013-12-02T00:26:31Z")
Oh - and I assumed you were leaving out an implied “for people who need low salt”.
Canadjun’s post makes me wonder why you care.
The idea that salt is bad for you has been grossly exaggerated. Did a doctor actually tell you to reduce your salt intake?
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/6 "2013-12-02T00:33:49Z")
Well, potassium chloride is **a** salt, but it isn’t **salt**.
Do they really sell MSG as salt substitute? First of all it doesn’t taste much like salt, it is [umami](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami), not salty, and, second, it has a lot of sodium in it anyway. I think this is probably what _Mrs. Dash_ is though.
In my experience, salt substitutes are either KCl, or a mixture of KCl and NaCl. KCl tastes salty but has a little touch of bitterness too, so the mixed version tastes better. My packet has a warning on it to consult your doctor about using it if you have kidney or heart problems, but I think it is pretty safe unless you eat it by the spoonful.
And yeah, what **DataX** said.
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### Author:  [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/7 "2013-12-02T02:18:57Z")
> [@DataX](#):
>
> The idea that salt is bad for you has been grossly exaggerated.
I always heard that we are eating way too much salt and that salt is bad for you and thats why baby food is bland. Where did you get that info from? Now I am curious… and hopeful.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/8 "2013-12-02T02:31:29Z")
Mrs. Dash is just a blend of herbs and spices. It has neither salt nor MSG in it.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/9 "2013-12-02T02:49:24Z")
> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> If it was salt in finer grains then it would have just as much sodium as regular salt, so it would not be low sodium. I’ve had a mixture of seasonings whose name I forget (Mrs. \) that I suspect from the taste also includes a little bit of salt when I’ve been in the hospital; maybe that’s what you are thinking of? I have type 2 diabetes but I still just use ordinary salt at home and at restaurants.
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Mrs. Dash is just a blend of herbs and spices. It has neither salt nor MSG in it.
My mother and grandmother both were on low sodium diets, and one of the things that they did was use a mix of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. This has a salty but bitter taste. It’s commercially available in grocery stores.
Mrs. Dash has no sodium in it. It comes in various mixtures of herbs and spices, and it can be pretty tasty. It gets a lot of flavor from black pepper, though, so if you start using it, you have to relearn how to season your food.
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### Author:  [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/10 "2013-12-02T02:50:59Z")
> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> If it was salt in finer grains then it would have just as much sodium as regular salt, so it would not be low sodium.
“Low sodium” salt means that you need less salt for the same amount of flavour. The size and shape of the salt crystals will affect the speed at which they dissolve in your saliva and thus how much of it you taste.
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### Author:  [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/11 "2013-12-02T14:02:19Z")
> [@demian\_travis](#):
>
> I always heard that we are eating way too much salt and that salt is bad for you and thats why baby food is bland. Where did you get that info from? Now I am curious… and hopeful.
Well, there are salt sensitive people whose hypertension gets worse when they consume too much salt, but if you’re not one of them it shouldn’t be an issue.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/12 "2013-12-02T14:11:10Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Mrs. Dash has no sodium in it. It comes in various mixtures of herbs and spices, and it can be pretty tasty. It gets a lot of flavor from black pepper, though, so if you start using it, you have to relearn how to season your food.
It may not have any any added salt, and doubtless has a lot less sodium per volume (and weight) than plain NaCl salt, but you can bet your ass it contains _some_ sodium.
Of course, if anyone were ever to go on a truly sodium-free diet, they would soon die.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/13 "2013-12-02T14:16:23Z")
> [@jovan](#):
>
> “Low sodium” salt means that you need less salt for the same amount of flavour. The size and shape of the salt crystals will affect the speed at which they dissolve in your saliva and thus how much of it you taste.
Most of the salt we eat, including most of that which we sprinkle on our dinners, has already dissolved before it even reaches our mouths.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/14 "2013-12-02T14:32:56Z")
> [@jovan](#):
>
> “Low sodium” salt means that you need less salt for the same amount of flavour. The size and shape of the salt crystals will affect the speed at which they dissolve in your saliva and thus how much of it you taste.
AFAIK, “low sodium” salt is usually a mix of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. I’ve never heard of very finely grained salt on its own called “low sodium.” I can’t see how it could be. It’s got the same amount of sodium, and I doubt labeling laws would allow it to be called “low sodium” because you halve the serving size. And, besides, that doesn’t help at all when it comes to cooking. Finely grained or large grained, you’re gonna need the same amount by weight, and thus the same amount of sodium goes into your food.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/15 "2013-12-02T14:43:37Z")
> [@DataX](#):
>
> Well it isn’t “salt” it is a “salt substitute”, but there is Potassium chloride - which I think is what people think of when they think of fake salt.
Did you know that KCl is mildly radioactive? It’s safe, but it will cause a geiger counter to click.\* The mantles for Coleman ™ lanterns are more radioactive, but no one eats them, so they’re safe, too. I forget which class’s teacher brought in the counter and the things you could buy that would make it click.
He also had an old radium-painted clock that really got it going, but you can’t buy those any more.
- according to wiki, twelve in 100,000 potassium atoms are potassium-40, which can undergo all three types of decay
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### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/16 "2013-12-02T14:55:17Z")
> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> He also had an old radium-painted clock that really got it going, but you can’t buy those any more.
My grandfather, at the start of WW2, worked for a short while in a factory where they painted the glowing radioactive marks on aeroplane instruments. He was lucky that he switched jobs as it was normal practice to suck the brush to get a finer point. Many people died of mouth cancer as a result.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/17 "2013-12-02T15:23:20Z")
> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> Did you know that KCl is mildly radioactive? It’s safe, but it will cause a geiger counter to click.\*
True, but there is no avoiding it. There is, and needs to be, potassium in every cell of our (and every other living thing’s) bodies. We evolved from other things full of radioactive potassium too, and although its radioactivity probably isn’t a good thing for us, its potassiumness most certainly is. The radioactivity we just have to live with.
Eating more potassium than we really need is not going to make the problem (such as it is) noticeably worse. Anything beyond what your body actually needs is going to be pissed out again fairly quickly.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/18 "2013-12-02T17:38:26Z")
The thing with potassium chloride is, it’s harmless in small quantities… for most folk, at least. But it can be bad for people with pre-existing heart problems. Who are precisely the same people who are most likely to use it. Basically, if sodium is bad for you, then potassium is worse.
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### Author:  [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/19 "2013-12-02T17:54:01Z")
> [@njtt](#):
>
> It may not have any any added salt, and doubtless has a lot less sodium per volume (and weight) than plain NaCl salt, but you can bet your ass it contains _some_ sodium.
Per serving, Mrs. Dash is essentially sodium free - see the nutrition facts here:
[http://www.mrsdash.com/products/seasoning-blends/original-blend](http://www.mrsdash.com/products/seasoning-blends/original-blend)
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/20 "2013-12-02T18:13:39Z")
> [@njtt](#):
>
> It may not have any any added salt, and doubtless has a lot less sodium per volume (and weight) than plain NaCl salt, but you can bet your ass it contains _some_ sodium.
Totally missed this. Only in the trace amounts that any of the herbs and spices may have. I’m sure there must be some trace amount of sodium somewhere in there, but it would have to be less that 5mg per 1/4 teaspoon for it to be labeled “sodium free,” according to the FDA. Also, a sodium amount of less than 5mg per serving can be labeled as 0 mg ([here](http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm064932.htm).) So, let’s assume it just barely meets that requirement. That’s less than about 1/75 - 1/100th of the amount of sodium in an equivalent volume of salt.
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