Table Salt in Mexico

I've been wondering ...

In the US, iodine is added to common table salt to prevent iodine deficiency which results in thyroid conditions.

In Mexico, this seems uncommon. Table salt here has added fluorine, to prevent dental caries. In the US, most communities add fluorine to the public water supply, but given the dofferences in water distribution systems in the two countries, i can understand the reasoning behind this approach. But what is the story here about iodine supplementation? Does Mexico not need iodine supplementation because the soil here provides more iodine to plants used in our diets? Are we getting iodine from some other source?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Sal yodada is iodized salt and is very common in Mexico.

I am currently reading In Indian Mexico (1908) by Frederick Starr. In a section that I was reading last night the author wrote about an area in Chiapas where a sizable number of the people were horribly disfigured by goiters. Keep eating that iodized salt.

rckrckr wrote:Sal yodada is iodized salt and is very common in Mexico.

Yes, sal yodada very common, where did you get the idea it wasn´t?

I actually avoid the table salt here because of the added fluoride. Many years ago the area I lived in Canada had to go to referendum because the regional water fluoridating equipment was old and needed to be replaced. It was expensive and would raise local property taxes, so they had to take it to a vote. There were many public meetings and what I found out about fluoride made me never want to consume it ever again. What's in toothpaste and added to water isn't a natural occurring substance- it's a byproduct of the aluminum smelting industry. People who have been living near these factories have a huge incidence of osteoporosis and broken bones because fluoride prevents cavities by displacing the calcium in your teeth, as well as all your bones, with fluoride. It actually makes your bones brittle, much more so than what would happen as a natural result of the aging process. If people want to fluoridate themselves in order to prevent dental caries, any dentist can give a fluoride treatment. There's no need to medicate the entire population through their drinking water. Anyway, dental cavities are caused by a chemical reaction between plaque and sugar. A dentist once told me that and said that parents would be better off getting their kids to brush their teeth before eating sugar, rather than after. Of course, both is even better.
The fluoride equipment referendum was voted down by the populace, BTW.
I buy only non-fluoridated toothpaste and non-fluoridated salt. And if you take a good multi-vitamin, it will have an adequate amount of iodine, no need for more.

Where do you get your good multi-vitamins?

I eat sea salt so might need a iodine boost.

"To get all your iodine from salt, you would need more than half a teaspoon of iodized salt a day. That's two-thirds of the daily allotment of sodium (1,500 milligrams) recommended by the American Heart Association.

It makes more sense to get your iodine from food. That way you can cut back on salt and not worry about losing out on this important element. Ocean-caught or ocean-farmed fish and shellfish tend to be naturally rich in iodine. Other good sources include milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, and vegetables grown in iodine-rich soil. Multivitamin pills that also contain minerals usually provide 150 micrograms of iodine."

That's off the Harvard Medical School site.

Kelp is also an excellent source of iodine. But as you can see from that list above, if you eat well, you probably get enough iodine in the food you eat. And vitamins and minerals are much more easily absorbed by getting them through food than through supplements.

I've bought my mutivitamins in Canada on my annual summer one-month trip. But I might not be able to go this year depending on the virus scenario. I've read the labels on multis sold at Mexican pharmacies and the levels of the vitamins and minerals in them are laughable- barely worth taking. I guess Costco would be where I'd get them if I run out.

The problem is, the writing on the labels is always so small I have a hard time reading them, even with my reading glasses.

Thanks for the info, MG! I think my diet is probably sufficient. I have found it very difficult to find a steady source of QUALITY vitamins here in MX, and it's a mystery to me why.

Same problems as you, can't read the labels, some labels are poorly written, finding them in stores is hit or miss, I've ordered them online and they never arrived, Mercado Libre was a good source once but then poof gone, and the worse part is some manufacturers use flour as a filler and are not required to list that on the label - I have celiac.

Costco would probably be best. Simi consistently has vitamins but I can't read the labels, sellers know nada, and Simi quality is suspect. I buy B multi from them anyway. I like Puritan Pride the best but they won't ship to MX, they are GF, but they have become very hard to find. Oh well . . .

What is it with Mexico and vitamins.

If you're trying to read those labels, step one is to buy a good magnifying glass in the pocket size. The purpose of requiring companies to put the truth about contents on labels has been successfully sabotaged by having the print impossible to read without a magnifier!

Yes, you're right. Imported vitamins are best for me as gluten must be listed and I can usually spot it. I always forget my magnifying glass when I go shopping. Another approach I've taken is to take photos of a product I'm interested in and go home and research it. What a PITA, just to buy quality vitamins!

Vitamins at CostCo: https://www.lakeside-ss.com/tienda-online/search%3Fkeyword%3Dvitamin

Easy enough to Google the ingredients of most items in the list. Saves a lot of hassle and spending.

Thanks, CG. Wonder if the Costco shopping people would deliver just one item. . .

Use your phone to take a picture of the label. Expand the picture till you can read the print. (On my phone it is as simple as pulling up the photo from the gallery and then doing a reverse pinch to expand it.) Unfortunately you may get seasick trying to read this way.

Trailrunner wrote:Thanks, CG. Wonder if the Costco shopping people would deliver just one item. . .

They do have a minimum delivery charge, which I believe covers up to 7 items. $170 for me in Riberas, more or less depending on your location.

I have been a dismal failure at following any of the dietary rules or recommendations, such as those above, and worry that my neglect may adversely affect my life expectancy. Please, tell me what to do as my eighty-third year approaches and I want to celebrate it in perfect health. I seldom use table salt; should I use more?

Haha, RV. I remember reading an interview about 35 years ago, with what was at that point the oldest man in Canada- he was about 103, wasn't in a nursing home or anything, still lived on his own. He said he'd quit smoking when he was 99, because everyone was telling him it was so bad for his health, but took it up again a year later.

mattoleriver wrote:Use your phone to take a picture of the label. Expand the picture till you can read the print. (On my phone it is as simple as pulling up the photo from the gallery and then doing a reverse pinch to expand it.) Unfortunately you may get seasick trying to read this way.

You can even take a picture with your Google translate app and have it translate all the words in the picture.

ComputerGuy wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:Thanks, CG. Wonder if the Costco shopping people would deliver just one item. . .

They do have a minimum delivery charge, which I believe covers up to 7 items. $170 for me in Riberas, more or less depending on your location.

I believe CG is quoting the delivery charge from the "Costco Kids" aka Lakeside Shopping Service.  You can also order direct from www.costco.com.mx from items at their website.  I have had single purchases from Costco Mexico and never had a delivery charge.  

However, what is on the Costco.com.mx website varies greatly from what is offered by Lakeside Shopping Service, which I also use and heartily recommend, especially for fresh products such as fish.

Those of you who believe sal yodada is iodized salt are in for a surprise.

My original comment was based on a scan of the products available at Superlake and Pancho's, so I had to consider that I had a biased sample. Maybe sal yodada was what I should have been looking for. I repeated the search at Walmart yesterday and couldn't find a single product that was iodized instead of fluoride. The evidence is below:

As far as I know, all table salt is iodized anyway. Fluorodated is a second step.

Sal Yodada is Iodized Salt. The packages that you are showing have both Iodine AND Flouride in them.

I bought a one pound box of Iodized Sea Salt about four years ago in SuperLake. It will probably last me another 10 years or more. Seek and ye shall find.

Color me Blue- Yodada means iodized.
And all the packaged table salt I've run across in Mexico also has added fluoride. I honestly can't imagine for what purpose.

mudgirl wrote:Color me Blue- Yodada means iodized.
And all the packaged table salt I've run across in Mexico also has added fluoride. I honestly can't imagine for what purpose.

https://www.google.com/search?q=why+is+salt+fluridized&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS792US792&oq=why+is+salt+fluridized&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.18986j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Fluoride is a natural mineral found throughout the earth‘s crust and widely distributed in nature. Some
foods and water supplies contain fluoride.The use of fluoride strengthens tooth enamel and reduces the
harmful effects of plaque. Fluoride also makes the entire tooth structure more resistant to decay and promotes remineralization, which aids in repairing early demineralisation before the damage is even visible.

Both water and salt fluoridation are considered extremely cost-effective in preventing dental caries. The fluoridation of water is considered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as "one of 10 great
public health achievements of the 20th century”.

In some countries where large, centralized water systems are uncommon, fluoride is delivered to the population by fluoridating table salt. Salt fluoridation is recognized worldwide as a proven and viable means of consumer choice-related, community-based fluoridation where water fluoridation is either technically or politically impossible.