Salt-free diet

Press, 21 November 1981, Page 14

Salt-free diet

Sir,—l have been reading with interest the articles by Dr Beaven and Janice Bremer advising a salt-free diet. They have aroused some concern in me as nowhere do I remember seeing advice as to. how. to provide the iodide formerly taken with salt. The research done by Sir Charles Hercus and Dr Muriel Bell in the twenties showed how necessary iodide is m the New Zealand diet as our soils generally are so deficient in that respect that goitre, before the introduction of iodised salt, was a very common disease. I remember one family in which all three daughters had to suffer thyroid gland operations because of iodide deficiency. As we in New Zealand require about 200 micrograms of iodide daily (Bell - “Nutrition for Nurses”) could our nutritionists advise how this can be taken easily in a salt-free diet’ — Yours, etc., L. J. RIVERS: November 7, 1981.

[Professor Beaven’ replies: “It is impossible to have a truly ‘salt free - diet and indeed this’ would be unaesiraoie. What we are advocating is a reauction in soaium from the usual 120-200 miliequivalents eaten daily down ,to approximately 40-80. A ’salt-free’ diet

as used in certain treatment programmes may be only 20 millequivaients daily. Providing some tisn is taken from time to time an iodised salt intake of SU-80 millequivaients daily snould give adequate iodine to prevent goitre.’’]