Salt substitutes add zip to food - column

Better Nutrition (1989-90), March, 1990 by Frank Murray

Salt Substitutes Add Zip To Food

In the recently published Recommended Dietary Allowances, the National Research Council recommends that adults obtain at least 500 mg of sodium daily, with an upper limit of 2,400 mg daily. Unfortunately, with the overabundance of processed and packaged foods on the market, it's all too easy to get more than enough of the recommended amounts.

Canned soups, TV dinners and other prepared foods sold outside the natural foods store, and take-out foods from fast-food restaurants, can add considerably to your sodium intake.

Rosa D. Feldman and Christine Sinkey of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, report that blood vessels must constrict and dilate to maintain normal blood pressure. Receptors in the vessel walls appear to control the various functions, and it is believed that high blood pressure results when the receptors controlling constriction function normally but the dilation receptors fail to relax the vessel, according to Science News.

The Iowa researchers studied 10 subjects, ages 48 to 72, and eight subjects ages 20 to 31, all of whom had normal blood pressure. All subjects were given a high-salt diet for four days; on the fifth day they were injected with a substance that causes vessel constriction, along with a dose of isoproternol, an adrenaline-like substance that produces dilation. The results showed that the blood vessels in the older volunteers dilated roughly half as much as those of the younger people.

"After the researchers gave the group a low-salt diet for four days, the blood vessels of the older subjects dilated as much as those of younger subjects," Science News reported. "These results suggest older people can stave off an age-associated malfunction in their blood vessel receptors -- and reduce their risk of hypertension -- by reducing dietary salt," said Feldman, now at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.

Although we must have salt to live, many of us add salt to foods that have already been salted in the kitchen or during processing. Consequently, we are apt to consume rather large amounts of the mineral, far above the recommended dietary amounts.

Instead of using too much table salt, why not try some alternatives? Health foods stores offer a variety of salt-free packaged foods that can help you reduce excessive intake. Seasonings which serve as excellent replacements for table salt include sea salt, kelp flakes, sesame salt, potassium chloride, low-sodium spice blends and a variety of other salt substitutes. You can also explore the exciting varieties of pepper now on health foods store shelves.