Are you hooked on salt?

Press, 30 January 1986, Page 17

Are you hooked on salt?

PORTER SHIMER

(fcould my cravings for salt in any way be related to my being a daily exerciser? I run at least two miles a day, and sweat quite a bit?

ylvery unlikely. Very little sodium is lost through sweating, which is why the old custom of giving salt tablets to heavily sweating athletes has been discontinued. At the heart of your salt craving is probably the simple fact that you use too much of it. “Cravings for salt do not reflect a true bodily need,” says Dr Sheldon Margen, professor of public health nutrition at the University of California at Berkeley. "The human desire for salt merely represents an acquired taste.” It’s a taste that can be lost. Studies show that people who gradually cut back on salt eventally lose their desire for it. And children never develop salt cravings if their diets are kept low in the stuff. If flavour is your fav-

our, try using more herbs and spices in your cooking. And substitute lemon juice, or a splash of vinegar, on vegetable dishes. With salt — as with a lot of other craved substances — out-of-mouth eventually will mean out-of-mind. Qis it best to “pop” a blister or not? I say yes, my mother says no. yll'm going to keep the peace by saying, “It depends on where the blister is.” If it’s somewhere it’s likely to break anyway, such as on a toe or back of a heel, yes. First wash it with soap and water, then gently prick it with a sterilized needle. Once you’ve helped the fluid drain with some gentle pushing, cover the now flattened blister with a bandage. Chances are good the

raised skin will reattach itself. If your blister is somewhere reasonably safe from breakage, however, simply give it a light washing and cover with a bandage. The fluid will be reabsorbed into your body, and odds are again favourable that the skin you raised will become re-anchored. Qm? kids are beginning to eat me out of house and home with these new granola bars. How nutritious are they? ylWhen granola bars first appeared on the market in the United States several years ago, they were reasonably healthy — a mixture primarily of rolled oats, dried fruit, nuts, seeds and raisins. But in recent attempts to broaden granola bar

appeal, manufacturers of the things have dramatically narrowed their nutritional worth. Most granola bars now contain as much caramel, chocolate, and marshmallow as many candy bars. The result has been that 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the calories in the average granola bar now come from some form of sugar or fat — not a big improvement over the 80 per cent to 90 per cent figure turned in by the average candy concoction. So should your kids be gorging on them? Probably not. In my own house, we haven’t outlawed granola bars, but simply redesignated them: What used to be allowed as a snack, is now permitted only as a dessert. Copyright, Universal Press Syndicate.