Okay...since we seem to be talking about health, I'm gonna start another thread ('cause I'm getting nervous about the lack of them...maybe!). For several years now in baking and cooking, I've been using Kosher salt. I love the way it "clings" to the food and the flavor is so much better than other types of salt. A friend of mine told me last week that I shouldn't use it all the time because it lacked iodine. My daily vitamins say that they contain 100% of my iodine requirement. And isn't iodine just a trace element....something that we probably get enough of in naturally grown veggies?? so...what gives?

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2002

Answers

I don't know about in naturally-grown veggies, Marcia. A lot of our soils are rather depleted. However, a great source for iodine is seafood, seaweed, etc. I know what you eat, so YOU are probably fine, especially since your vitamins have iodine in them. We CAN get TOO MUCH iodine too.

Are you growing a goiter? No? Then I wouldn't worry. BUT that is just my opinion. If I'm wrong, someone speak up. Or should that be post up?

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2002

Sometimes, Joy, I've called my older sister a "goiter"! Is that the same thing :-)??!!

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2002

LOL, Marcia!! Sometimes my sister is a pain in the neck too!

I agree with Joy about your diet; you should get plenty enough iodine in the seafood you eat. Plus the fact that soil near the ocean usually is rich in iodine, whereas here in the midwest its usually deficient. I personally have had a tendency to iodine deficiency since I was a child, and must take kelp regularly as well as eat a lot of fish. I can tell right away when I need some, I get cold all the time.

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2002

Thanks, E.M. I hardly feel the cold much at all...so I'm probably getting enough iodine. BUT...my older sis is coming for a visit this coming weekend and who knows how THAT will turn out!!

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2002

Well, don't call her a goiter or she may just strangle you! Then you wouldn't have to consider any iodine deficiency, just a deficiency of life! :-P

New idea: Salt is not expensive. Buy a box of the iodized. Open it and pour about 1/4 down the drain. Leave it out prominently. If she asks, tell her you are alternating the two. Or mixing them. Put a tiny pinch in your salt shaker with the kosher salt, then it's not a lie. Depends on what outcome you want. But you know your sister better than we do!

I haven't used kosher salt, so I don't know about the taste. But Julie and I have been using "Real Salt", which is still full of minerals (not refined) and has no free-flowing additives. Tastes MUCH better. Sea salt is tasty too, and probably has iodine in it.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

I use sea salt but have wondered about the iodine being/not being there. What is Real Salt? Is that a brand name or a type of salt?

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

When I was at Herbfest last summer I caught the last few minutes of a lecture on herbal dentistry and the speaker mentioned something about iodized salt being bad for your bones. It leaches out the calcium or somesuch. I didn't hear any more details so I don't know if there's any truth to it or not.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

Regular (iodized by law I think) salt is very processed (big surprise), had all the natural minerals removed and replaced with chemical substitues. same ol same ol story. I use sea salt, its unrefined, lumpy,and supposedly anyhow full of natural sea minerals, including iodine. Actually I use more tamari than salt in most of my cooking, and also like fish sauce, which is very salty.

There is a product that is supposedly mined from a deep reserve of glacial sea salt, I think that is called Real Salt (?);maybe that's what they're talkin about? Try a search.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

Yes, EM, that's RealSalt. Here is their website: http://www.realsalt.com/ Read the FAQ's and the product information, that explains about it in detail. Denise, yes, it's a brand name, but as far as I know, it's the only salt of this kind (rock salt that is merely pulverized, not processed) that I know about, so I also consider it a "type". It's kosher, too, if that matters to anyone! It's not pristine white, its kind of greyish-beigeish white. It does clump, but the clumps seem to break up easily. I love it!

It's not cheap, though cheaper than "Celtic Sea Salt" (brand). However, Julie found it in bulk at her local health food store, which made it MUCH cheaper than buying in the small dispensers. So I just have her buy some for me too when I need it. I'm still working on the last batch she brought me.

"Celtic Sea Salt" is expensive because it is made the old-fashioned labor intensive way, and supposedly has far more trace minerals than "other" sea salts. Their website: http://www.celtic- seasalt.com/

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

Thanks for all the info, folks! RealSalt sounds like REAL salt!! I have to go to my local health food store this Saturday (with my sis!) so I'm gonna look for it!!!

BTW Joy...I'm going to take your advice and pour the rest of that iodized "stuff" down the drain. With all the chemicals that's in it, it will probably do more for my drain than Draino would :)!!

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

SEAWEED!!! I use Dulsue in my cooking. It gives the Iodine you need with a slightly salty taste and adds a purple color to your food.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002