[HN Gopher] Lady Tasting Brine
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       Lady Tasting Brine
        
       Author : surprisetalk
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2024-02-05 13:58 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (slimemoldtimemold.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (slimemoldtimemold.com)
        
       | Mistletoe wrote:
       | I think they should taste the salts in granular form. KCl is very
       | easy to taste the difference of, it makes a tingly feeling in
       | your mouth that is very different than NaCl. Anyone that has
       | tried salt substitutes like NoSalt will remember it. I've never
       | tried them dissolved in water maybe it removes that feeling
       | somewhat?
        
         | yorwba wrote:
         | I suspect the "dry salt" used was in fact granular.
        
       | elil17 wrote:
       | Reminds me of this insane video (tasting chloride salts of
       | Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, and Caesium):
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJh9yTIBY48
       | 
       | FWIW no one has ever noticed my use of 50% NaCl/50% KCl mixture
       | ("Lite Salt") in place of NaCl. I think when you actually put
       | that mixture on food it would be almost impossible to notice the
       | difference.
        
         | k_roy wrote:
         | > FWIW no one has ever noticed my use of 50% NaCl/50% KCl
         | mixture ("Lite Salt") in place of NaCl.
         | 
         | Hopefully you've mentioned this when you've done it. This can
         | be very very damaging and dangerous for some people.
         | 
         | See: Anybody with renal impairment.
        
           | fwip wrote:
           | Yes, or also people on certain common medications, including
           | some used to treat high blood pressure or immune disorders.
        
           | elil17 wrote:
           | Yes I do always mention this before serving food I make with
           | it to someone new. They just haven't been able to taste a
           | difference.
        
         | j4yav wrote:
         | What's the reason for lite salt and tricking people to eat it
         | and see if they notice? Is it meant to be better for you or
         | something?
        
           | k_roy wrote:
           | Mostly just because of how it's used, most people can't tell
           | the difference. And it's less sodium, which is generally
           | considered healthier.
        
             | WorldMaker wrote:
             | That "generally considered" is one of the interesting
             | assumptions I've seen being questioned lately. Prior to
             | refrigeration salt was a major dietary factor and there's
             | some evidence sodium intake was _higher_ for centuries in
             | the past than modern foods (that the overuse of salt in
             | fast foods and processed foods is almost a correction back
             | towards pre-refrigeration  "norms").
             | 
             | Food science is wild and "generally considered" pop food
             | science is wilder still.
        
           | bobbyasdfasdf7 wrote:
           | Yes its supposed to be better for you. Too much sodium causes
           | hight blood pressure.
        
           | chihuahua wrote:
           | I use lite salt to make my own electrolyte mix, for when I'm
           | exercising outdoors in the summer for 3-8 hours at a time. I
           | add lemonade powder for flavor, and whatever amount of
           | carbohydrates I need.
        
           | Workaccount2 wrote:
           | Most people eat a sodium heavy (3g+) and potassium light
           | diet(1g-). However your body really wants a potassium
           | heavy(3g+) and sodium moderate diet (.75g).
           | 
           | You normally accomplish this by eating less junk and more
           | fruits + vegetables. But putting potassium salt on your junk
           | food is better than nothing.
        
           | elil17 wrote:
           | It is meant to be better for a family member who has
           | hypertension. It is probably also good for most people in the
           | western world because our diets tend to be high in sodium and
           | low in potassium.
           | 
           | I absolutely don't trick anyone. I tell people I'm using KCl
           | and I check with them to make sure it's safe for them. I've
           | also asked them if they can taste a difference vs. NaCl and
           | everyone has said no.
        
         | nerdponx wrote:
         | I believe KCl is sold specifically as a salt alternative for
         | people who need to eat a low-sodium diet.
        
           | elil17 wrote:
           | Yes, I use it because I cook for my family and one of my
           | family members needs to eat a low sodium diet. It is easier
           | to use the same thing for everybody and unless you have a
           | specific medical condition there's nothing wrong with eating
           | some KCl.
        
       | pimlottc wrote:
       | Not being familiar with the reference [0], I was confusing
       | thinking that the brine was somehow supposed to... taste like a
       | lady? Seems to me that "The Lady Tasting Brine" (or Tea, as the
       | case may be) would be more clear.
       | 
       | 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_tasting_tea
        
         | AdamH12113 wrote:
         | If it's supposed to taste like a lady, there should be a
         | hyphen: lady-tasting brine.
        
           | HeWhoLurksLate wrote:
           | wouldn't that be more for a sentient brine?
        
           | pimlottc wrote:
           | This is true; fortunately, no one on the internet ever screws
           | up punctuation.
        
             | wrycoder wrote:
             | Then, there's the em dash
             | 
             | lady - tasting brine
        
       | User23 wrote:
       | I supplement with small amounts of KCl so I have it handy and the
       | taste is still salty, but it's considerably more metallic on the
       | tongue. It's harder to notice dissolved in something else.
        
         | anjel wrote:
         | Same
        
       | williamcotton wrote:
       | There's somewhat of a lack of a tautological understanding of
       | null-hypothesis experiments, in that what is really being tested
       | is confined by the scope of the experiment.
       | 
       | What I mean is that the results of the experiment are only true
       | for the sample population. The extrapolation of the sample
       | population to the whole seems problematic and at the root of the
       | ongoing replication crisis.
       | 
       | I realize that this interpretation throws a wrench into the
       | empirical approaches taken by the soft sciences and that rejects
       | an important notion that a sample can indeed be considered
       | representative of the whole.
       | 
       | But I can't ignore the impact of the experimenters on these kinds
       | of studies, be it bias or just poorly implemented methods, as
       | well as the impact of the subjects chosen for the experiment.
       | There's a lack of a control that is otherwise accounted for in
       | the hard sciences.
        
         | spdif899 wrote:
         | This same group has a lot of insightful exploration into what
         | they call "N=1" studies. I'm no expert and haven't read but a
         | subset of their work, but my impression is that they understand
         | the limitations quite well and believe there is still value in
         | publishing and trying to understand research with small sample
         | sizes.
         | 
         | Here's their intro article on the idea, which is only the tip
         | of a massive iceberg:
         | https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2023/01/05/n1-introduction/
        
           | williamcotton wrote:
           | I have no problem with small sample sizes. They form the core
           | of qualitative research. They also don't attempt to speak for
           | broad populations as the details are lost with large sample
           | sizes. I'd prefer if the soft sciences had more qualitative
           | research and left most of the quantitative research to
           | sciences that have a hard control.
        
         | gwern wrote:
         | Isn't the point of this to show that the subjects look like
         | they all differ in their ability to taste, and any single
         | individual's ability (or even an average) _wouldn 't_
         | generalize very well?
        
           | williamcotton wrote:
           | I'm not sure, my mind keeps wondering the answers to
           | questions that would have been better off in interview form!
           | "What kind of cuisine do you normally eat?" "Do you have high
           | blood pressure and/or sodium restrictions"? "Can you describe
           | what tastes differently between the two salts?" "How much
           | cooking do you do?" "How would you classify your sense of
           | smell?"
           | 
           | Like, maybe people who cook more have a more refined sense of
           | taste? Maybe certain culture's cuisines lend themselves to
           | subtle differences in salt flavor? Maybe there are
           | physiological reasons? Psychological reasons? It seems that
           | the focus should be on these subjective qualities.
           | 
           | If the hard sciences use quantitative methods that _do_
           | generalize very well, shouldn 't the soft sciences focus more
           | on methods that don't generalize very well, like, case
           | studies, etc? Then the reader can see if any of the insights
           | apply to their own novel situations, further research, etc.
           | 
           | Tangential, but I sketched out a song about this a couple of
           | years ago!                              A    G    D
           | Lady tasting tea                            A    G    D
           | Let's see if she can see                            A    G
           | D       All the scientists agree                           A
           | G    D       It's a likely guarentee
        
       | renewiltord wrote:
       | This seems fun. An enjoyable variant may be to not describe how
       | many of each variety there are.
        
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