For Karen and anyone else, the ratio of potassium to sodium is as important
than one's total sodium intake.  Even a small amount of sodium added to
your diet can dramatically (and unfavorably) alter your potassium to sodium
ratio.

Paleo expert and researcher Loren Cordain, says that," There was no single
paleo diet -- diet varied by season and geographic locale.  However there
were universal characteristics of all paleodiets.  This is the essence that
needs to be captured in modern diets attempting to mimic stone age diets.
All Stone age diets were extremely high in protein by modern standards
(20-40% energy vs. 12-15%); they were quite low in CHO (22-40% energy vs
50-55%) and they were always of low glycemic loads.  Succulent fruits and
veggies rather than starchy grains comprised the main plant foods.  Salt was
not a part of the diet, hence K/Na (potassium to sodium) ranged between 5-10
[parts potassium to 1 part sodium].  The net renal acid load was almost
always slightly alkaline whereas the western diet and vegetarian diets yield
a small net metabolic acidosis.......

An analysis of one of my typical day's diet (about 1800 calories) made from
fresh foods, 75% produce and 25% animal products by weight  (typical for
me)......with fibrous vegetables and fruits at every meal and fruit at my
snack, yields a potassium to sodium ratio of 7:1 with no added salt!  The
food itself---without added salt--contained over 1074 mg of sodium and
"only" 7182 mg potassium.  The largest single sodium sources in my diet is
eggs (usually 2 DHA eggs per day) and 1 ounce of dried powdered egg white
which I often use in a whole fruit smoothie for my fourth meal (a snack).

The sodium intake would be reduced to by 260 milligrams if I omitted the
dried powdered egg white (100 calories, 24 grams  protein) or by 340 mg. if
I omitted the 2 eggs at breakfast on a given day.  This would give me a
sodium potassium ratio of 9:1 (potassium to sodium) on a diet devoid of all
added salt.   (Note:  There is not sodium added to the dried powdered egg
whtie product.  Egg whites are naturally very rich in sodium at 50 mg sodium
per egg white. )

Adding just a small amount of salt (about 1/2 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt)
to my daily food would reduce the ratio to 5:1.  As noted above, Loren
Cordain, Ph.D., and many other researchers believe that potassium should
always outnumber sodium by at least a factor of 5:1 -- the value Cordain and
his colleagues calculated from their data.  In the standard American diet,
and in many vegetarian diets, this ratio is almost entirely reversed.

I would suggest that your mother read Richard Moore's book, THE SALT
SOLUTION.  It is an easy to read, inexpensive paperback.  Very informative.
Cordain's book, THE PALEO DIET, will be released January 2, of 2002.  It is
sure to get a lot of attention and be quite enlightening on this and other
issues.

Cheers,

Rachel