Better Table Salt
Section titled “Better Table Salt”And the Kidney Risk Many People Don't Know They Have
Section titled “And the Kidney Risk Many People Don't Know They Have”Most of us can enjoy better health easily, simply by switching out the contents of our saltshaker.
Perhaps your doctor has already told you to reduce your sodium intake. Maybe not. Either way, there’s a better table salt.
Brands differ around the country, but this is what is on the shelf here in Port Townsend.
On the left is monosodium glutamate, aka MSG, and on the right is a common salt substitute, potassium chloride.
My saltshaker in the middle has a half-and-half mixture of these two. For most of us, this combination is way better than the common sodium chloride we put in our saltshakers.
The Critical Point
Section titled “The Critical Point”When we think potassium, we must also think of the kidneys. When they are healthy, potassium helps keep them that way. When they aren't, potassium becomes a danger. Kidney disease affects a minority of us, but hits all age groups and is more common as we grow older.
So let's find out where you are and get you on the right track with both your kidneys and your saltshaker.
Here's What You Need to Know—In a Nutshell
Section titled “Here's What You Need to Know—In a Nutshell”- Extra potassium is so beneficial to most of us that the FDA is finalizing a rule to permit adding it to processed foods to reduce the toll of heart disease.
- Our national underdiagnosis of kidney malfunction led kidney-patient groups to warn against that FDA rule because about a seventh of us need to exercise care with extra potassium, and a few people can suffer serious to fatal consequences.
- Timely diagnosis often gives you time to slow kidney disease down—and, caught early enough, sometimes reverse it. Most often, it is a mild, normal consequence of aging, and mainly of importance to your healthcare provider when choosing choosing medications and doses. For those who avoid doctors, it can be devastating.
Most of You Need More Potassium and Less Sodium
Section titled “Most of You Need More Potassium and Less Sodium”Today we consume far more sodium than potassium—we evolved eating just the opposite. No veterinarian would advise such an unnatural diet for your pet.
Our American addiction to regular table salt, aka sodium chloride, shortens lives through heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. As well, this dramatic story tells how too little can also harm us.
Without potassium we get more of the same risks, plus irregular heart rhythms including atrial fibrillation. And those dreaded leg cramps. This brief MedicineForPeople! article simplifies the critically important relationship between kidney function and potassium.
Even if you are younger, you need to get your kidney function checked before taking extra potassium. At any age, though, you can take MSG; it does not deserve the bad rap it used to have.
If you are among the 85% of people with good kidney function, putting a combination of MSG and potassium chloride into your saltshaker counteracts the above problems with minimal work. You already have a saltshaker, maybe you already shake it. Why not turn those into healthy shakes?
The complaint most people have with the potassium chloride salt substitute is that it tastes bitter. Mix it with MSG and the bitterness goes away. Plus, this mixture seasons better than regular table salt.
The Three-Point Solution
Section titled “The Three-Point Solution”If you have an ongoing relationship with a physician or advanced practice provider, they should have a clear idea of your kidney function. A brief message to them on MyChart should allow them to answer the question for you, or let you know if your kidney function needs to be evaluated. If you take any of these medications that interact with potassium, make sure these meds are in your provider’s records. As well as any concerns about diabetes, which is THE major cause of kidney failure.
If your stethoscope artist gives you the OK, follow my 1:1 recipe above. Younger people and athletes are probably better off with a 2 part KCl:1 part MSG ratio, but that's one for a family doc or an internist.
If you don't get the OK, or if a doctor isn't on your agenda, use MSG to reduce your sodium.
New Website
Section titled “New Website”That's enough health information for today. On a more personal note…
For you readers who were my patients, please know that I loved taking care of you. I appreciate that you chose me as your physician.
For the past 25 years, these newsletters have focused mostly on medical topics and avoided social issues. It's past time to address those. They now threaten our health and well-being.
I have spent most of a lifetime—imperfect myself—trying to help imperfect but most admirable people with life's problems. Time and circumstances often required action with incomplete information. Sometimes no action was ideal. We had to wait or choose something less than ideal but better than nothing.
Practice acquainted me with people of all political persuasions—the great majority, when they shared their views, leaned to neither extreme. They seemed to have the same human goals, and differed mostly on the details of how to achieve them.
We the people also need, right now, to stop looking for perfect solutions and see what we can do with “good enough until we can figure out a better way.”
With your help, I hope to make some contributions to such an endeavor. You are reading this newsletter on the preliminary version of our website here at:
Please look around. We’ve got all our previous newsletters, and more.