The over-riding importance of BREAD No other single food adds so much to the huge overload of salt in the Australian diet as bread, as it is such a staple food and is so much more salty than most people realise. The average sodium content of about 600mg/100g is five times too high.
Supermarkets in the eastern states sell Moore's low salt bread (pictured on page 4). A standard bread recipe using plain flour will make a low salt (LS) loaf if the salt is reduced to one fifith of the amount in the recipe. You can also make no-added salt (NAS) bread. Salt is a dough improver, and without it the loaf is heavier. Other dough improvers work equally well without salt and give a lighter loaf. Commercial pre-mixes are pre-salted: use high quality bread flour and add dough improver. Some small bakeries, including some Baker's Delight franchises, take orders for 'salt-free' (NAS) bread, and Brumby's franchises can get the official Brumby's 'salt-free' recipe from their Head Office. The flavour of LS and NAS bread. The best salt substitute is an adapted palate. Some people adapt quickly to NAS bread, but even the slowest are happy with NAS fruit bread, and for most palates potassium chloride salt substitute (No Salt) makes NAS bread taste like ordinary bread.
Getting enough Iodine without iodised salt Mild deficiency - insufficient to cause goitre - is known to affect brain development and intelligence in the growing child, and the World Health Organisation has set new criteria based on urinary iodine excretion. Worldwide, the population with some degree of iodine deficiency is now estimated at one billion, and includes many residents in the state of Tasmania, Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria in Australia.
The recommended intake of iodine per day is 150 micrograms (mcg) for men and 120 mcg/day for women, with 175 mcg/day in pregnancy and 200 mcg/day when breast-feeding. As all diets contain some iodine, 100 mcg/day should be an adequate supplement for most people. Some people who use iodised salt may get less than that (the iodine content varies from between 25 and 65 mcg/gram).
Personal Protection (self-medication).The Menzies Research Institute in Hobart, Tasmania recommends 'potassium iodide drops' sold by a Hobart pharmacy over the counter for bread-making.
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Seafood supplies iodine, but estimates of the dose it delivers. the issue of heavy metal contamination and how many people would eat enough seafood regularly every week, also the cost to lower income groups, are all considered debatable. The vitamin and mineral supplements for pregnancy and breast-feeding contain iodine, and people needing multi-vitamins for medical reasons, such as irritable bowel syndrome, can buy many brands that include iodine. Kelp tablets no longer declare on the label how much iodine they contain. Iodine (potassium iodide) tablets are available, but (at present) only in combination with herbs that raise the price. Family Protection. The Menzies Research Institute recommends iodised bread, using 0.4% potassium iodide drops in a bread machine. If all measurements were exact, one drop would supply 153 mcg of iodine. With 3 drops for large loaves (1kg) and 2 drops for standard loaves (600 - 700g) one standard slice has about 15mcg of iodine - the level at which commercial bread is iodised in Tasmania. Tasmanian bread is iodised by adding a measured amount of iodised salt to the usual salt content of the bread recipe. At a later date NAS bread can be iodised by reintroducing iodised dough improvers (previously used in Tasmaia in the 1960s). A local pharmacist may agree to make up 0.4% potassium iodide drops in 10% alcohol (preservative), otherwise they are sold by mail order from Hobart Friendly Care Pharmacy. You can send them an E-mail at jsajnhfcp@netspace.net.au or ring John Sajn (pronounced SAHN) on (03) 6234 1553. Facsimile (03) 6234 1669 or write to 103 Liverpool Street, Hobart TAS Australia 7000. Last year, the price was $5.00 (AUD) for a 15ml dropper bottle. Postage is additional. COPYRIGHT: The Meniere's Support Groups of Victoria and New South Wales are joint owners of the copyright. They intend to make this leaflet available as a PDF on their web sites (see below), from which it can be downloaded for printing in colour without charge if it is for personal use or for use as free handouts by bona-fide discussion leaders and health professionals. Victoria (MSGV): www.menieres.org.au New South Wales (MSGNSW): www.menieresnsw.org.au Questions or comments about the medical and scientific information shown on pages 1 to 4 of the Low Salt Food article can be sent to the author of 'Salt Matters: a consumer guide', Dr Trevor Beard, Menzies Research Institute, Private Bag 23, GPO Hobart Tasmania AUSTRALIA 7001 (E-mail: saltmatters@utas.edu.au). The support of THE JACK BROCKHOFF FOUNDATION in the production of this information is gratefully acknowledged. |
