Table Salt (Iodised)

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

The single biggest sodium source in most diets — and, iodised, a public-health success.

Stage by stage

Intake (Dissolution): Salt dissociates into sodium and chloride ions before absorption.
Absorption (Small intestine): Both ions are absorbed almost completely; there is no meaningful absorptive barrier.
Fluid balance (Extracellular volume): Sodium governs extracellular fluid volume, the route by which high intake raises blood pressure in salt-sensitive people.
Thyroid supply (Thyroid gland): Added iodine is taken up by the thyroid as substrate for hormone synthesis.

Timing

No meaningful timing. Sustained heavy sweating genuinely raises requirement; for most people intake already exceeds need substantially.

Time to effect

~4 wks: Blood-pressure response to sustained reduction becomes measurable.
Wks–mo: Taste preference for salt adapts downward over several weeks of reduced intake.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Keto, Low-FODMAP.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £1.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Sodium
Chloride
Iodine

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 0
Sodium: 38168mg

Food vs. supplement

Roughly three-quarters of dietary sodium in Western diets comes from processed and restaurant food rather than the shaker — which is why reading labels moves the number more than table-side restraint.

Kitchen tip

If you switch to a speciality salt, check whether anything else in your diet supplies iodine — dairy, seafood and iodised bread are the usual sources.

Common myth

“Sea salt and pink Himalayan salt are healthier than table salt.” In reality: They are all essentially sodium chloride, with sodium content close enough to be interchangeable. The trace minerals are present in amounts far too small to matter — and most speciality salts are not iodised, so switching can quietly remove the most reliable iodine source in a typical diet.