### id255189807 salt deficiency leads to goiters > Unknown to the tribe at the time, they were obtaining the required amount of iodine, a mineral in salt that the body does not produce naturally. > > The Apatani’s Ziro Valley is not the world’s only salt-poor region. Areas in Western Africa and along the Sahara have some of the world’s least access to salt. Centuries ago, this led to empires rising based on the salt trade. But even today, in countries such as Sudan, the inhabitants consequently suffer from iodine deficiency, which causes [goitre and increased infant mortality rates](https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-0500-7-751), especially in remote forested or mountainous areas. But as far as Punyo’s elders can remember, none of the tribe members ever had swellings or lumps at the front of their necks (from goitre); nor did babies lack cognitive skills. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fnywqbgzx481kp9cv7qdgcgn) - [[The salt substitute used by the Apatani tribe in India by Lavina Dsouza#id255189807 salt deficiency leads to goiters|View in Vault]] - [n] I didn't realize that salt was rare in the Sahara