No Sugar Tonight: Salt For Health + Other Spicy Info🧂

Reasons to read the fine print, and then take it all with a grain of salt

4 minute read

ICYMI

• A travel tip to keep Spring break a lil’ less gross

• Iron deficiency is a thing, and it often looks like other things—ladies, take note!

• See how your fitness goals are doing with this baseline test
  

BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY

We don’t tend to spend a lot of time considering how the products we consume regularly have come to land on our plates, but it’s that high rate of consumption that is precisely why might want the back story before we purchase.   A recent article reveals the barbaric conditions faced by the women and children who are forced into labor to harvest the sugar that ends up in the estimated 2.2 billion Coca-Cola products sold every day (before we even factor in Pepsi), including forced hysterectomies to “keep them working, undistracted by doctor visits or the hardship of menstruating in a field with no access to running water, toilets or shelter.”

Sadly this is only one of many examples of the human cost to make Big Food happen, and as a consumer, making the conscious choice is hard.  But not impossible. Effecting systemic change is no small task- policies take years to trickle down, but as shoppers, your choices at the store level can help turn the tides.  I’m not here to shame anyone out of enjoying their favorite products, but my hope is that you’ll read the research, get the facts and make an informed decision.  

DIRTY DOZEN’T 

On a related note, if you’re not familiar with the “Dirty Dozen” produce items ranked in an annual report published by the Environmental Working Group, the 2024 list is worth a look.  Non-organic strawberries have long worn the crown for Most Likely to Carry Toxic Chemicals (yes, even after washing), but we have a new contender in this hideous pageant of grossness.  Give a hand for conventional blueberries making the top 12 for the second time!  In happier news for avocados and carrots, there’s also a Clean Fifteen list of the least contaminated items.  See the full updated list here.  Also happy: tiny wild blueberries, often in the freezer, have even more antioxidants than their plumper refrigerated cousins, and by default they grow in conditions where no pesticides are used. Win! 🫐 Yes, it’s expensive and difficult to always buy organic. But this list provides good guidance for which items to focus on when it counts.

Speaking of counting, it kinda makes you miss that blissfully ignorant time when your daily serving of berries was provided by a kindly old vampire and a Cap’n named Crunch, no?  And that’s One To Grow On. 

HERE’S A TIP, MAKE THE CHANGE

I swear I didn’t set out to make this The Debbie Downer edition. Let’s talk about something you may be able to add back onto your plate- it’s salt! For decades we’ve been cautioned to limit sodium intake for heart health, but more updated research suggests there is not strong enough evidence to support low-sodium diets to treat heart failure or blood pressure, and many folks actually need MORE salt:

• after heavy sweat exercise

• on a keto, low-carb, or fasting diet

• drinking coffee or alcohol (that Venn diagram is robust)- both are diuretic and you are constantly depleting your body’s natural salts and dehydrating yourself

So consider sprinkling that morning brew with a bit of sea salt, (which incidentally, also balances the bitterness), and if there’s ever an argument to be made for a Dirty Martini…

Be well, have fun, and read on for deals on my favorite hydration tool and other joy bombs ahead for paid subscribers only…

STAY SALTY

My favorite go-to for balanced hydration including sodium, which is not often found in other electrolyte blends: