SALT CAN BE GOOD.

[STORM6490MT]

I don't think that molecule-weights, useful only for chemists, get us any further in discussing the medical impact of salt to the human body.

So, here is what I already learned in elementary school (back in the 70's): 2g are the MINIMUM amount of salt per day, that a human being needs to stay alive. One can of portions of a salty brand contains around 24 x 0.05g = 1.2g and one can lasts most of us 3 days or more.

Strangely, the German Wikipedia article about salt still states this simple mimimum-amount, while the English article seems to confuse table salt with arsenic, stating an endless list of "salt-related diseases":lol:, which is even more laughable than the bogus-smokeless-tobacco-articles that I've seen.
I guess this "anti-salt-bogus-propaganda" has killed more people, than we would imagine. Just read what happened to Dead Rabbit: http://www.snuson.com/viewtopic.php?p=13917#13917 and then imagine, what could happen to people who even consciously try to avoid salt because they believe some medical 'junk-advice'.

I absolutely understand everyone who has *real* medical reasons to be cautious and also everyone, who simply cannot stand the taste of (too much) salt, but otherwise I really can not see that the rather tiny amounts of salt from snus do matter.

Cheers!

I agree with you on the part that the salt from snus is not that big of a deal. The molecular weight would just help us determine the level of sodium in snus, not just the salt weight. And the other problem is how mush is absorbed in the mouth, unlike foods that are consumed.

Iodine is important and keeps us from goiters and the like but refined table salt is most often pure sodium chloride which by itself in a broken down form is not healthy for the body. It would be like comparing coca leaves, sea salt to crack cocaine, common table salt.

here is an interesting page on salt...

http://www.saltauthority.com/salt-and-health.html

[Premium Parrots]

So after searching the web and not finding the info that I desperately NEED, I come here and at least get close to the answer I'm looking for. Here is the question..........

How many MGs of sodium/salt total is in one normal pouch? And if someone can find it.........How much is in Offroad Coffe/vanilla? If there is a chart somewhere that lists all or most of the brands of snus and the MGs of sodium/salt in each that would be great.


It is really important that i find out this info. I may have to stop useing snus. I have to cut my salt intake drastically. Doctors orders or I won't be posting here or anywhere else in the future. This is very serious. I'll explain later.

Thanks to anyone that can help me out here with accurate info.

[OPKIS]

PP: V2 lists Offroad as 5% salt content:

http://www.v2tobacco.com/Offroad-snus.php

For a 24g portion, that's 1.2 g of salt.

Assume this is a worst-case amount; a peer-reviewed article gives a range of 1.5-3.5%, which is 0.84 g max.

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/co...tract/12/4/349

(full text with free registration; the % figures show up in the Google result)

The question remains as to how much is actually absorbed. Used portions are still plenty salty after an hour or so. I've been trying to think of a way to extract and determine the remaining salt. As always in science, most of the work is in isolating only the salt and not a bunch of other water-soluble stuff.

[OPKIS]

If you're speaking with a doctor, you need to talk mg of sodium, so let's get the conversion stuff out of the way: Salt is 40% sodium, so:

1.2 g of salt = 480 mg sodium

0.84 g of salt = 340 mg sodium

"Normal" RDA for sodium in the US is 2400 mg combined from all sources (cooking, table salt, snus, licking your girlfriend's sweaty body).

[Premium Parrots]

Thanks for the info. I did read those links already and many others. I found percentages all over the web. However, I need to know precisely how many MG of sodium per 1 gram portion of the average brand of snus. Not percentages.

[OPKIS]

Well, we can use the highest figure I've found -- 5% -- as a worst case. I based things on 24 g portions, so:

480 mg / 24 g = 20 mg sodium per gram of snus.

Did you find any figures higher than 5%?

[Sal1000us]

Well, we can use the highest figure I've found -- 5% -- as a worst case. I based things on 24 g portions, so:
480 mg / 24 g = 20 mg sodium per gram of snus.
Did you find any figures higher than 5%?

Opkis, thanks for the math as I was also wondering about the sodium content and feel much better now. According to your calculations:

an average single 1 gram snus or portion contains 20mg sodium = 0.02g sodium

so if I do 5 portions a day = (5 * 20mg) = 100 mg sodium

or in grams: (5 * .02g) = 0.1 grams of sodium per day

Based on published recommendations on daily sodium limits, most recommend not exceeding the range of 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams (mg).

[OPKIS]

Seems sound so far. And thanks for giving a range on the daily allowance! I missed that.

Pinning a scientist down on an exact number is like pinning a politician down on taxes, so it's cautious to try and cover the ranges we've all found by making worst-case assumptions. There still are a few unanswered questions, however:

1. How much do you actually absorb? Our number we've derived here assumes 100%; clearly, we're not eating portions, so the actual dose has to be less than our target figure.

2. Is the 1.5 - 3.5 % range based on wet or dry weight? I haven't turned up the original paper or papers so I can't read their methods. If these are lab-derived values, they are probably based on samples dried for analysis and would be lower in purchased snus. The added weight of the water would lower the percent of salt per gram.

The little bag of peanuts I just ate packed 230 mg, so it's good to have a feel for where snus fits into all that.

[Premium Parrots]

Great!! Thanks for the info. My cartiolgist recommends a MAX of 3000 mg of sodium a day for most people. But says one should try to stick with a range of 2400 mg. to be heart healthy. People with heart problems or high blood pressure should limit their daily intake to 1600 mg. He told me to eliminate all the sodium that is humanily possible. Full well knowing that there will be some sodium in all foods. He put me on a strict diet.

So he and I know that I will get some sodium in even my dietary food. Now knowing that a snus portion contains aprox 20 mg of sodium I guess I can still use a very few portions of snus daily. That takes care of the problem of high blood pressure and the sodium content in snus.

Now the problem is the effects of nicotine and high blood pressure. But I already have that info and the effects are more of a temporary nature.

Thank you all
PP

[Sal1000us]

PP, I measure my bp everyday and sometimes couple of times a day due to a previous high bp (now in control), but in general my systolic is down by 20 and diastolic is down by 10 since I quit smoking. My physician said I was very lucky since she has never seen such a drastic reduction in bp after two months of not smoking. I have also measured (many times) my bp prior to and after snusing. When snusing my systolic goes up 6-10 and diastolic increases by 3-5 but this is all temporary (like drinking a cup of coffee) and in about 30-45 minutes after I remove the pris or portion, bp always drops down to normal levels. Unfortunately I love salt but have to avoid excessive salt intake. Salt retains a good amount of fluid in the body which adds weight to the overall fluid volume and then the heart must work much harder in order to move this extra mass in addition to the volume of the blood up and down in the entire body 60 – 75 times per minute that is a lot of overtime.

[Sal1000us]

Opkis, good analysis and nice results for snusers since your findings were based on the worst case scenario and the result (1 gr of snus -> 0.02gr sodium) is still very good for snusers who are watching their sodium intake.

[DarrylR]

There much to be said about the theory that sodium isn't unhealthful in itself, but that the modern diet screws up the sodium/potassium balance.

Modern Americans consume about twice as much sodium as potassium, whereas our pre-agriculture (and pre heart disease) diet was about the opposite. There are numerous studies where supplementing potassium intake or substituting potassium for sodium in seasoning dramatically reduces the incidence of cardiovascular events, prevents osteoporosis, improves fatigue & depression.

To that end, I supplement my snus intake with bananas, spinach, broccoli, fish - basically most fruits, leafy vegetables, and unprocessed meats have at least the 2:1 potassium/sodium ratio you're aiming for. I've a family history of hypertension, but my blood pressure has been normal or slightly below.

[Premium Parrots]

I wish my problem was simply hypertension or high blood pressure. Its heart failure and the doctors are scrambling to find a reason for it. My heart is only pumping at less than 50% now.

NOTICE;
Stating any more info under this topic title is very misleading and would be posted in the wrong place. So I started another thread that will deal with the problem in hand. Please go to this link for more info.
http://www.snuson.com/viewtopic.php?t=3876&highlight=


thanks

[lxskllr]

Thanks for the info. I did read those links already and many others. I found percentages all over the web. However, I need to know precisely how many MG of sodium per 1 gram portion of the average brand of snus. Not percentages.

50mg per gram Offroad Coffee/Vanilla.