# "fake" salt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249 "2013-12-02T00:17:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/21 "2013-12-02T18:57:29Z")
Last Christmas I was in the hospital trying to nail down the cause of tachycardia, chest discomfort and high blood pressure. They wouldn’t let me have any salt with my dinner, but had me on a saline drip. They didn’t think it was funny when I asked if I could sprinkle the iv fluid on my spinach. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/22 "2013-12-03T00:25:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. My cardiologist has prescribed potassium supplements for me, while cautioning me about sodium. Of course, my cardiologist seems to think that my purpose in life is to be taking at least one pill every half an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/23 "2013-12-03T01:41:15Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Last Christmas I was in the hospital trying to nail down the cause of tachycardia, chest discomfort and high blood pressure. > > They wouldn’t let me have any salt with my dinner, but had me on a saline drip. They didn’t think it was funny when I asked if I could sprinkle the iv fluid on my spinach. Hey, I’d have laughed. ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/24 "2013-12-03T04:31:18Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Both potassium chloride (KCl) and monosodium glutamate (MSG) are NaCl substitutes. Mono_sodium_ glutamate kind of missing the point… (Most people seek out “salt” substitutes to reduce sodium consumption) ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/25 "2013-12-03T04:36:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. The dietary requirements for sodium and potassium are very similar (on the order of 3000mg per day). The difference is that many people don’t get enough potassium, while consuming excess sodium. Thus switching to a potassium substitute, in moderation, could be neutral to be mildly beneficial. Fruits and vegetables are of course the preferred source for potassium. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/26 "2013-12-03T06:21:53Z")
I had an epic high BP episode that landed me in the cardiac ward for five days. And since have been put on a low sodium diet. Yes, I am a salt reactive. There are several completely salt free substitutes now available. Different people taste each a little differently, so try a few till you find one that suits your taste buds. Some are better suited to putting in things, rather than on them. The one I favour is called, very creatively, “Not Salt”. My understanding is that most of the sodium in people’s diets comes not from table salt shakers, but from processed foods like bread, and most anything you spread on it, even things like salad dressings. It’s abundant in most everything that’s not homemade. A strict low sodium diet can be a real challenge, I know. I am currently travelling in Thailand, which is a whole new level of challenging, believe me. But it can be done. I carry salt substitute with me, now whenever I travel. And still eat carefully, to make it work. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/27 "2013-12-03T16:45:16Z")
Monosodium glutemate does of course contain sodium, but it’s still reasonable to use it to cut down your sodium consumption. Glutemate is much larger (both in weight and in volume) than a chlorine atom, so MSG has a lower proportion of sodium than does salt, and a given quantity of MSG has more flavor than the same quantity of salt, so if you’re measuring sodium per flavor, it’s even less yet. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/28 "2013-12-03T16:53:55Z")
I have yet to meet anyone who likes Mrs Dash. That stuff is really awful. My suggestion is to forget the powders and look to acids. Lemon juice, wine and vinegar will disassociate ions on your tongue just like salt, and this makes your taste buds more receptive to all the other flavors in your food. I find that’s what people on low salt diets struggle with - not the lack of saltiness, but the dulling of all the other flavors without salt to get those taste buds revved up to 11. Acid revs them up just as well. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/29 "2013-12-03T17:12:24Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I have yet to meet anyone who likes Mrs Dash. When I was a kid, I liked sprinkling it on garlic bread. With salt, though. It’s never worked as a salt substitute for me. ---
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/30 "2013-12-03T17:48:45Z")
Whoa, so much info. About the size of the grains: try eating fries with kosher salt and with the same amount of fine grain salt. It will taste different. Also, the lemon is a good thing. my ceviche has almost no salt and tastes delicious, but i use a lime and a lemon… Actually I am getting used already to cook with less salt. What worries me is processed food. Is there a way to neutralise the sodium in my stomach? ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/31 "2013-12-03T17:56:31Z")
> [@demian\_travis](#): > > Is there a way to neutralise the sodium in my stomach? No. The only way to reduce sodium consumption is to avoid eating food processed with it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/32 "2013-12-03T17:58:21Z")
> [@demian\_travis](#): > > Whoa, so much info. About the size of the grains: try eating fries with kosher salt and with the same amount of fine grain salt. It will taste different. > Also, the lemon is a good thing. my ceviche has almost no salt and tastes delicious, but i use a lime and a lemon… Actually I am getting used already to cook with less salt. What worries me is processed food. Is there a way to neutralise the sodium in my stomach? No, there is no way to neutralize it in your stomach. If you are a healthy person with working kidneys, however, your kidneys will put any excess sodium into your urine and you’ll pee it out. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/33 "2013-12-04T02:23:32Z")
> [@tallcoldone](#): > > 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) > [@pulykamell](#): > > 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. The point I was trying to make, was that, because sodium is essential to all terrestrial life, and is found in all living cells, and because just about everything we eat (apart from salt itself, and water) comes from once-living things, _all_ foodstuffs (with the minor exception of highly refined products, such as white sugar) contain sodium, and contain it essentially, and not just as some trace contaminant. The amount in Mrs Dash may not be very much (which is why I put the word “some” in italics in the post to which you are both responding) and it probably is very low compared to what you find in the many products that have salt added to them, but yes, there is still some sodium there (whatever the labeling may say). I admit I was nitpicking, in a way, but my nitpick was correct, and there was a point to it: Although it may well be the case that many people today get too much sodium in their diets, it is effectively impossible to eliminate sodium from your diet altogether, and it would be very bad thing if you did. You would die, because because sodium is an essential nutrient. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/34 "2013-12-04T02:41:33Z")
I assumed that’s the point you were trying to make, but I also wanted to put it in scale. For all practical purposes, the amount of sodium Mrs. Dash contains can be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249/35 "2013-12-04T03:05:56Z")
so Mrs. Dash isn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-salt/675249.md?page=1)