Coffee Studies

Nothing is a bigger waste of money than studies on how much coffee is too much to drink.  If researchers ever start to take into account individual differences/strengths/vulnerabilities maybe they could make this kind of research valid but until then, its just ridiculous.

Salt

     I read an interesting article about salt yesterday and it reminded me of something Kathleen Leavy once said.... that throughout history, more people have died of too little salt than too much salt.  Salt has gotten such a bad rap in America that its almost socially unacceptable to pick up the salt shaker.  How many health articles say to put it down????  But sodium is an extremely necessary nutrient for muscle contraction and nervous impulses to work properly, among other things.  How did it get such a bad rap, anyway? Because salt in excess can contribute to health problems, especially in  those people that are salt-sensitive.  Often, these are people who are descendants of slaves that survived the slave ships... many slaves died on the ships because of salt deprivation from drenching sweats. Those that were genetically better at holding on to salt survived and passed this gene on to their offspring.  So those individuals don't need as much salt as others as they don't lose it as easily, and its easier for them to be in excess.
     Excess salt causes you to hang on to fluids, so excess salt is bad for people with high blood pressure, congestive heart disease or kidney disease or other diseases where fluid metabolism is a problem.  And because so many of the processed foods that Americans consume are chock full of salt, someone who eats a lot of processed foods doesn't usually need to add salt from the shaker.
     The problem arises when someone never eats processed foods, which thankfully, is becoming more and more common.  A person who never eats processed foods, or who eats very little processed foods, is in danger of sodium deficiency if they also never pick up the salt shaker.  And if when they do pick up the salt shaker, its not iodized salt that they eat, then they run this risk of iodine deficiency, also, unless they eat plenty of vegetables from the sea.  (and not many people do that).   There is a good reason Morton iodizes their salt....mental retardation and thyroid goiters were much more prevalent until iodine was regularly consumed.  Most of our soils are just not iodine-rich soils, so our vegetables aren't absorbing much.
     So especially you mothers of young children, if you refuse to buckle into the demands for french fries and chicken nuggets,  I applaud you.  If you never feed your kids processed foods, I applaud you even more loudly.  Just be sure your kids get their sodium and their iodine.  And you, too.  If you give up processed foods and find yourself craving salt, give in to the craving and know that you need it.