1. Posted by Ellen H on Tue, Sep 05, 2006, 12:23 pm PDT

The food companies need to find a good substitute for salt. With the growing problem of diabetes and high blood pressure, even "healthy" frozen entres' need to have alot less salt. Restaurants could stop being so heavy with it also! Especially soups!

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2. Posted by x_andrali on Wed, Sep 06, 2006, 7:49 am PDT

question: not related to topic, how can you lose fat? and how come i have fats at the wrong places(hips and thighs) how do you really accumulate fat? is it because of the excess calories? grams of fat taken in? help....

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3. Posted by nikkis_not_norml on Wed, Sep 06, 2006, 9:24 am PDT

Great info. Sharing with all my loved ones.

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4. Posted by cafereva on Wed, Sep 06, 2006, 6:00 pm PDT

mamiantj - I understand what you are saying, however, for most people like myself who are not trained chefs, it's much easier to purchase packaged or prepared items. Almost all of the couples I know are two income familes with multiple kids. Between work and running a household it is not easy. I for one appreciate the fact that Joy is letting us know what to buy and what not to buy in regards to canned or packaged items, whether it be less sodium, less fat, etc. It would be nice to have the time or energy to create meals using fresh foods everyday, but at this juncture in my life, it is not possible. I do use fresh on the weekends when things are not so rushed.

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5. Posted by mamiantj on Wed, Sep 06, 2006, 6:15 pm PDT

Cafereva, The irony is that it is quicker to make a healthy meal using fresh ingredients than it is to open up some cans or heat frozen entrees and you don't have to be a trained chef to do it. I cook simply because I believe it's the best way to eat. Minimum preparation, and ease of preparation. No recipes required. I would suggest buying only fresh ingredients and then you don't need to take the time to think about what's "in" something that you've bought. You don't have to be a trained chef to figure that out- (and I'm not "trained"- I just use common sense!) Americans are lazy, that's all there is to it, but you're certainly entitled to buy whatever you want.

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6. Posted by carlaslittlemoms on Wed, Sep 06, 2006, 8:55 pm PDT

mamiantj...I agree with you. Fresh is the best way. And people need to know what to buy and eat to stay healthy. Congestive heart failure demands no sodium or as low as you can get by with. Manufacturers don't care about sodium content...they sell on taste and not what is good for us. Try finding no sodium/no salt items at the store....oh sure you might find a very few items that cost double of the regular high sodium canned/packaged items. I just couldn't find enough items with no or low sodium. That's how I got into fresh. People don't realize what they are doing to their bodies eating the pre-packaged high sodium laden junk. But I warn all that eat it, if you ever get congestive heart failure, you won't last long eating that high sodium junk. Next time you go to the grocery store, look at the sodium content on anything pre-packaged...even on something like raw frozen chicken breasts, they are full of sodium preservative. Any healthy person should never have over 1700 to 2000 mg per day. And a person with heart problems even less. I am a great cook and probably could compare to a chef. I am now the low sodium queen when it comes to cooking. And loving every challenging minute. Yes I'm busy too so sometimes it's hard for me to prepare meals in a timely manner. I spend a lot of time figuring out how to live on a limited disability budget and buy food that's healthy for me because when I was young and healthy I didn't do that. Hmmmmmmm, maybe I should write a cookbook for the people, who now go the fast food way, to follow when they need to watch their sodium. I know I care about what goes into my mouth. FRESH IS IN STYLE. :)

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7. Posted by jck_vaughan on Thu, Sep 07, 2006, 10:05 am PDT

Even if the salt content was mentioned on all the foods would it really be convenient to calculate the amount of intake and control or restrict it ? I love salt and I can tell you that I would prefer to lose it i sweat than not consuming it .

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8. Posted by S R on Thu, Sep 07, 2006, 8:35 pm PDT

Is sea salt better then regular salt?

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9. Posted by the Director on Fri, Sep 08, 2006, 1:25 am PDT

Yes sea salt is actually salt and better, but the FDA's reccommendations are misinformation because they are only talking about manufactured NaCl not true salt. Sea Salt is actually good for our haert and our electrolites Sodium cholide is not salt, NaCl is just NaCl while sea salt is comprixed of many minerals not just sodium chloride. Search yahoo for heart disease and seavsalt and you will find a much different story than what the FDA and the cardiovascular surgeons are saying. The Live Blood Study Blood Study studies sulfur not salt, but this question must be brought into question since the letters FDA mean "found dead again."

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10. Posted by devbravo on Sat, Sep 09, 2006, 4:19 am PDT

Hi just some points here to clarify things. Unfortunately most people have little understanding of chemistry and this includes most doctors. What we call "salt" (from the Latin Sal) is Primarily Sodium Chloride, and Pure Sodium Chloride can also be referred to as salt. Chemically speaking a "salt" is a molecular compound formed from the action of an acid with a metal or metal hydoxide. (e.g. NaOH HCL - NaCL HOH) Sea Salt is Mostly Sodium Chloride with the next most common salt being Potassium Chloride, with traces of other metal salts; e.g. Calcium, Magnesium as Chlorides and Iodides, some Silicon Dioxide (SiO2 or sand) that has complexed with the metal halide salts, and alge. Sea Salt varies widely in the percentages of these trace salts depending on where the Sea Salt was collected. Since the Modern Human Being as we have come to know ourselves, is a 70,000 year old "model" our bodies have being using Sea Salt much much longer than the processed salt bought in stores today. In general, assuming "normal" Blood Pressure, During hot weather we need more salt because it does help our bodies retain water. Most of the excess salt in our diets come from commercially processed foods and condiments. (So Ketchup & Mustard w/pickes on a hotdog has a LOT of salt). People who smoke tend to use too much salt because the smoke has de-sensitized their taste-buds. I use sea-salt (a Kosher variety that's found in a lot of stores) and tend to stay away from processed food. Watch out for cheese. ALL cheeses contain very large quantities of salt because one cannot make cheese without using salt. Bon Apetite'

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11. Posted by lefty on Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 1:31 pm PDT

Thank you for this posting. I was just discharged from the hospital with heart failure. Due to excessive fluid retention. Salt can really do some damage to you, you just never know until you end up in the "ER"

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12. Posted by Jim Helbert on Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 1:37 pm PDT

As Patrick_Mcgean and DevBravo state, sea salt is much better. Look at Salt and Grain Society from Asheville, NC. In my opinion, they have the best sea salt available. Don't buy the sea salt from a 'normal' grocery store. You will find you will be using a bit more of the sea salt for your food, but it contains over 40 minerals. As everyone has been saying stay away from processed foods. And don't salt your meals while cooking, especially eggs - it makes them hard. I add a pinch of sea salt to 16-oz of water. You get used to the taste and a pinch is not much. We've become so accoustomed to eating the procesed salt, but after you et rid of it and use only sea salt, you will never go back to it.

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13. Posted by Giesserina A on Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 1:43 pm PDT

NOW ALL THIS I DIDN'T KNOW BUT WHEN I BECAME A DIABITIC I WAS GETTING A HEADACHE FROM READING THE LABLES ON EVERY THING. THANK YOU.

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14. Posted by Mikey on Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 1:45 pm PDT

My wife's chronic kidney stones were also finally diagnosed as sodium-related. For years she suffered with several stones a year; she finally met a doctor who told her to cut her sodium intake and the stones stopped. As a result, we ALL eat low sodium foods now, as I have a history of hypertension in my family. So it's important for our kids to develop low-sodium eating habits now, while they're young.

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15. Posted by S Prigan on Sun, Sep 10, 2006, 1:46 pm PDT

I agree with mamiantj. If you don't have time to cook something simple, what do you really have time for? I went to a kids' party yesterday and saw several overweight kids. I don't have kids myself, so I never thought much about it, but I guess it's true more kids are overweigth these days...the kids whose families eat processed foods? Also, these kids will not see the example of their parents cooking from scratch at home.

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