Can We Talk About Iodized Salt For A Bit?

[SarahTorg]

For a while, I've been wondering why my body is itching so much still, and recently I've had some nasty outbreaks. I am so careful about what I cook and eat now. I make everything from scratch. But now I see on the board, that iodized salt is no good. uuugh.

So, here I am baking all this wonderful gluten-free foods, but ADDING salted butter, or other ingredients that contain salt.

Is there a percentage of iodized salt that a dh sufferer can tolerate without breaking out?

Or, what about when my rash is finally gone, or under control, then can the iodized salt be added back into the diet?

and here is my last question.

Is is safe to ASSUME that when an ingredient says "sea salt" that it means its NOT iodized salt?

I'm so bummed. I found that Stagg chili is gluten free, but its loaded with the salt. Then on top of that I like to add mission tortilla chips and cheese on that.. More salt..

How great will it be, when I go over to families, and YET again decline EVEN MORE food!!!

"sorry, can't eat that either."

"Oh, I could have eaten that if you wouldn't have smothered it with IODIZED salt!"

[Jestgar]

Are the salts they use iodized? I thought it was just table salt that they add iodine to.

[RiceGuy]

The salt you buy should specify whether it has been iodized. Salt naturally has iodine in it already, but the high heat of kiln-drying destroys the iodine. This is why today's salt is usually iodized. They are attempting to put back the same amount that would have been there. The typical table salt and most sea salt on the store shelves is also bleached, which is how they get it white. When salt is sun-dried, the trace minerals are not destroyed, thus it isn't exactly white. Depending on the region where the salt comes from, it can have all sorts of different shades to it, but it will basically be a light color of some sort. Many I've seen are an off-white or slightly grayish color.

What I was particularly not in favor of though, is where they actually get the iodine they add to salt. The best information I have been able to find is that it comes from a residue left over inside the tanks used in the refinement of petroleum! The first thing that occurred to me upon reading this was how widespread thyroid diseases are these days. So the added iodine may have alleviated the goiter epidemic of the late 1800's (which brought on the practice of iodizing in the first place), but did they cause thyroid disease in the process?

I do think that some companies are using iodized salt in their products, as I found it difficult to eat pre-salted snacks and such without having some reactions to it. The salt I use is a sun-dried salt with all the minerals still in it. This didn't cause such a problem unless I used a considerable amount. It does after all have iodine too. I still had to be careful though, as it seemed to just take a while longer for the reactions to show up. I don't generally add much salt anyway, so that's probably the main reason.

So, the only way I know of to get salt without iodine is to get the kind that has been kiln-dried, and specifies being non-iodized. Whether that is enough to solve the reactions you are getting is another question. You can however, limit the dietary iodine you get, which may help offset the iodine from foods with added salt. Avoid kelp, as it has a whopping amount of iodine. Some veggies naturally contain a fair amount of it too, but it seems that with a nicely varied and balanced diet, the amount should be in a normally healthy range. If you get less than what your body requires, that could cause more problems than a mildly pesky rash. Personally, I've been finding more recently that I can use salt the way I would normally, and I'm not having the kind of reactions as before. So I guess it gets better. At least it seems to, and I do hope that's true for all of us.

I seem to recall reading something about another nutrient that helps balance iodine in the body. If that's true, maybe you lack that nutrient (unless I'm mistaken).

[elonwy]

Why exactly, other than the obvious, is iodized salt bad. Where is the gluten?

I use sea salt to cook at home just cause it tastes better, but I'm very confused by this thread.

Elonwy

[Sillyyakdidi]

Why exactly, other than the obvious, is iodized salt bad. Where is the gluten?

I use sea salt to cook at home just cause it tastes better, but I'm very confused by this thread.

Elonwy

are you all talking about not using iodized salt because you have thyroid problems? since when, is there gluten in salt? i dont mean to sound rude, i'm just dying to find out now, because, obviously, i use salt, and no one has ever mentioned salt is unsafe before....help!

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Since when is iodized salt not ok? I have never heard that...

[Sillyyakdidi]

Since when is iodized salt not ok? I have never heard that...

yeah, whoever started this thread, can you please come back and clarify what exactly you are talking about bc we are all going to have a heart attack. one thing i dont like about this board is when othe rpeople talk about other things they cannot have, due to other health issues, but do not clarify, because it just confuses me and freaks me out!

[Mango04]

are you all talking about not using iodized salt because you have thyroid problems? since when, is there gluten in salt? i dont mean to sound rude, i'm just dying to find out now, because, obviously, i use salt, and no one has ever mentioned salt is unsafe before....help!

No one's saying there's gluten in salt. I believe for some people, iodized salt can trigger dh outbreaks.

[elonwy]

Ok, wheew. I was baffled there for a minute. Thank you for the clarification.

[jerseyangel]

The OP was talking about her dermititis herpitaformis--and how iodized salt was affecting that.

It's not because of gluten, but because iodine (as I understand it) can affect the skin of someone with DH.

I don't know all the particulars, because I don't have DH, but please don't be concerned about salt--it's not a problem gluten-wise.

[tarnalberry]

iodine is needed in the reaction that leaves IgA deposits under the skin (the cause of DH), so it's recommended that, when started gluten free, to reduce iodine in the diet as much as possible - *for a short period of time* - until the DH is on the way out. the salt added to things like butter is unlikely to be iodized unless it's stated as such, but you can always call to check.

[mtdawber]

I have DH and I changed to sea salt (natural, unbleached type) that I got at the wholistic grocery store (also available at health food store and lots of other places). It's not perfectly white but tastes fantastic. I actually take my own salt if I know I am going to want to salt my meat etc....

On the corn chips, as I understand it (and I am new at this so I could be totally out to lunch) - that salt is ok. I think it has to say iodized salt. It's the iodine that is the problem not the salt itself.

I also bought unsalted butter, peanut butter etc just to limit the amount of salt I am taking in.

My DH is also really bad, not getting better as quickly as I would like. There have been other threads out there dealing with iodine under the DH section that I have read. Iodine can be in other foods as well as salt.

The other trigger for my DH is stress, which is hard to avoid if you have a career, teenagers, etc...

It is frustrating. I'm there too...I hope you feel better soon!

[SarahTorg]

I have DH and I changed to sea salt (natural, unbleached type) that I got at the wholistic grocery store (also available at health food store and lots of other places). It's not perfectly white but tastes fantastic. I actually take my own salt if I know I am going to want to salt my meat etc....

On the corn chips, as I understand it (and I am new at this so I could be totally out to lunch) - that salt is ok. I think it has to say iodized salt. It's the iodine that is the problem not the salt itself.

I also bought unsalted butter, peanut butter etc just to limit the amount of salt I am taking in.

My DH is also really bad, not getting better as quickly as I would like. There have been other threads out there dealing with iodine under the DH section that I have read. Iodine can be in other foods as well as salt.

The other trigger for my DH is stress, which is hard to avoid if you have a career, teenagers, etc...

It is frustrating. I'm there too...I hope you feel better soon!

Oh you guys, I am SO sorry if I freaked anyone out about the salt!

I guess I'm just wondering if I keep eating salt, and not really worrying about iodine, will the dh still go away if my body becomes squeaky clean from gluten?

I'm trying to figure out if its just my horomones that are bringing out the worst of the rash, or if its the salt. Or maybe its both, scince I seem to start the breakout a few days before my period gets here, then I continue to break out for a week or more depending on how horrible I was with my diet.

[RiceGuy]

I guess I'm just wondering if I keep eating salt, and not really worrying about iodine, will the dh still go away if my body becomes squeaky clean from gluten?

To some extent yes. As I noted, I don't seem to have such a problem with salt now as before. However, I really never saw much of a rash at all, thank goodness. Soon after it began I noticed what looked like a connection to when I'd have salted chips or something, so I concluded the salt had something to do with it, and avoided salt for awhile.

Apparently, once a person develops DH, it can reoccur, and the stuff I've read about it says there isn't any permanent cure.

The salt I use now is a natural sun-dried salt. I could tell the difference in taste immediately, and the typical stuff is quite poor by comparison. But I've no idea if it can help lessen DH or not.

[Electra]

For a while, I've been wondering why my body is itching so much still, and recently I've had some nasty outbreaks. I am so careful about what I cook and eat now. I make everything from scratch. But now I see on the board, that iodized salt is no good. uuugh.

So, here I am baking all this wonderful gluten-free foods, but ADDING salted butter, or other ingredients that contain salt.

Is there a percentage of iodized salt that a dh sufferer can tolerate without breaking out?

Or, what about when my rash is finally gone, or under control, then can the iodized salt be added back into the diet?

and here is my last question.

Is is safe to ASSUME that when an ingredient says "sea salt" that it means its NOT iodized salt?

I'm so bummed. I found that Stagg chili is gluten free, but its loaded with the salt. Then on top of that I like to add mission tortilla chips and cheese on that.. More salt..

How great will it be, when I go over to families, and YET again decline EVEN MORE food!!!

"sorry, can't eat that either."

"Oh, I could have eaten that if you wouldn't have smothered it with IODIZED salt!"

I've just recently realized that Iodized salt may be the cause of my daughters DH breakouts. She is still eating gluten and her stools are bad but I've been unsuccessful in getting her to break out like she has before. I posted about getting her to break out the other day and someone suggested I put Iodine on her skin, so I did that and it didn't work, so now I'm thinking she has to ingest it. A whille back (around the time of her breakout) I bought Iodized salt because the store was out of the regular (this was before I knew I had celiac disease). She had the worst case of DH during the time that we were using that salt. She eats it on potatoes and french fries almost every single night. Well a month or so ago I had to buy salt again and I got the non-iodized stuff and she hasn't had hardly any spots since.

My plan is to buy Iodized salt this weekend and go back to that until her GI appointment at the end of the month. I hate to have her break out, but I'm afraid they won't take me seriously if they don't see the lesions.

We went to the pediatric skin specialist yesterday and she didn't have enough spots to do the skin biopsy. They would have done it anyways but they sait it could be terrifying for a 2 year old and she would suggest waiting until we see the GI to rule it out by doing the intestinal biopsy first. If that comes back negative (which I'm sure it will since her blood tests came back negative) then we can talk about finding a doctor that will put her under general anesthesia to do the skin sample. I just want to know definitevely so that I can cut gluten out of her diet if it's harming her.

Let us know what happens.

[Jestgar]

Angie, you may never know definitively....

You might have to just make a decision.

[Electra]

Angie, you may never know definitively....

You might have to just make a decision.

Yah that's what I'm afraid of UG!! I make enough decisions already so it would be nice if doctors could just take our word for it and call it good LOL!!

[Granny Garbonzo]

I've just recently realized that Iodized salt may be the cause of my daughters DH breakouts. She is still eating gluten and her stools are bad but I've been unsuccessful in getting her to break out like she has before. I posted about getting her to break out the other day and someone suggested I put Iodine on her skin, so I did that and it didn't work, so now I'm thinking she has to ingest it. A whille back (around the time of her breakout) I bought Iodized salt because the store was out of the regular (this was before I knew I had celiac disease). She had the worst case of DH during the time that we were using that salt. She eats it on potatoes and french fries almost every single night. Well a month or so ago I had to buy salt again and I got the non-iodized stuff and she hasn't had hardly any spots since.

My plan is to buy Iodized salt this weekend and go back to that until her GI appointment at the end of the month. I hate to have her break out, but I'm afraid they won't take me seriously if they don't see the lesions.

We went to the pediatric skin specialist yesterday and she didn't have enough spots to do the skin biopsy. They would have done it anyways but they sait it could be terrifying for a 2 year old and she would suggest waiting until we see the GI to rule it out by doing the intestinal biopsy first. If that comes back negative (which I'm sure it will since her blood tests came back negative) then we can talk about finding a doctor that will put her under general anesthesia to do the skin sample. I just want to know definitevely so that I can cut gluten out of her diet if it's harming her.

Let us know what happens.

Some medical communities just seem reluctant to diagnose celiac disease....tests are not a good way to find out if you have it, they can be interpreted wrong easily. The best thing to do is simply stay away from all gluten for at least three months and see if you feel better. The medical community wants to make money. Other than endless tests, they can't prescribe anything or suggest surgery, so there is nothing in it for them....it's all about the money.....and a single doctor rarely has the clout to take a stand among his group or peers without loosing position or power among them, sometimes even his or her job.