What is iodized salt? And why?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And welcome to Chemistry For Your Life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Okay, Jam. It's a new year.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:It's January 7, 2021.
Jam:Yep. Does it does it kinda feel different to you?
Melissa:It doesn't feel different to me yet, but maybe that's because in real life, it's December 10th.
Jam:That's what I was thinking. That's what I was kinda thinking. I was like, Feels like 2020 to me still,
Melissa:but that's probably why. I do have some acute half lit Christmas tree here, So it feels pretty Christmas tree Christmassy in my Nice. In my recording space. So It's a new year, but here's one thing that's never gonna change.
Jam:What's that?
Melissa:It's salt.
Jam:Salt's never gonna change?
Melissa:I don't think so. I think people have been using salt for a really long time, and I think they're gonna keep using salt for a really long time.
Jam:I kinda wish I'd thought about that during all the, You know, chaos that has been 2020? One thing that has been dependable that whole time that could have kinda put my hope on Was has been salt, and so I guess Has
Melissa:been salt. Yeah. Put your hope in salt.
Jam:Yeah. Invest in salt. You know?
Melissa:Well, I'm gonna guess that we'll probably keep using salt in our diets no matter what happens in term of this global pandemic and this new year that's here, and we don't even know what could be happening at this
Melissa:point by the time it's January 7th, honestly.
Melissa:But Yeah. I'm guessing that people will still be putting sauce on their French fries, In their pasta water. Mhmm. On their
Jam:Pretzels.
Melissa:On their pretzels. On everything. Salt is everywhere.
Jam:I can I can believe it? And, also, I will say that my older brother, shout out, Caleb, He's one of the saltiest salters I have ever been in around.
Melissa:He loves salt.
Jam:Yep. So I think if there was some reason for some reason at all that we thought maybe Saul wasn't gonna be around, he would be so So heartbroken.
Melissa:Well, listener Sam in sent a picture of iodized salt and regular salt and said, what's the difference between these? What's the chemistry here? So we are gonna talk about that. I think that's such a good question. I told other people I was doing that, and they were excited.
Jam:Nice. Isn't non iodized salt called kosher salt?
Melissa:No, actually. I found out kosher salt, I think it has to do with the way that it is recrystallized, which if you wanna hear about crystallization, go back the snowflake episode.
Jam:Oh, nice. But it also
Melissa:does not have iodine. It does not have iodine, I don't think, but it also has bigger flakes than Yeah. Traditional table salt. It's like 2 different think I read this on the Internet, and there is no justifiable source. But they just talked about how that was easier to Draw blood out of meat, which you have to do in Jewish tradition, but I don't know if that was made up for real.
Melissa:So if someone knows why kosher salt is kosher, I'd love to hear about it.
Jam:Interesting. So we're talking about iodized versus non iodized.
Melissa:Iodized salt versus salt. Yes.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So before we get into the difference, though, let's talk about what salt is, what a salt is.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:So in chemistry, if I, as a chemist, am referring to a salt, that to me, in my mind, is anything that's made up of a negative ion and a positive Ion that come together.
Jam:K.
Melissa:Usually, it's a metal and a nonmetal that have come together, although I don't think that's exclusively true. But one has lost electrons, so it's positive. Mhmm. And the other has gained electrons, so it's negative. And then they will hang out next to each other very closely.
Melissa:It's so close that it's known as an ionic bond, and It's one of the stronger bonds. I think it might be the strongest, although sometimes there's, like, really deep chemistry where they talk about new bonds that are being discovered and everything, But it's a very, very tight bond. It's a very close bond.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:And, generally, they'll form solids that are made up of a wide expanse of positive and negatives hanging out together in a really regular repeated fashion. And that's known as a crystal lattice. It's very strong attack traction. It's very hard to break apart these crystal lattices. Uh-huh.
Melissa:And That's why salt actually has any kind of salt has a really high melting point, generally. Mhmm. For example, table salt's melting point is 1,474 degrees Fahrenheit. 1,474. I know.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:So it would much sooner I mean, obviously, in our cases, dissolve into something else before it ever melt in our Yes. In our use. We just never would ever get it hot enough.
Melissa:Right. It's the dissolving is something else is interacting with these positive and negative ions, so they are are incentivized to stop interacting with each other as much, but just trying to use sheer energy or brute force to break those apart is gonna be difficult.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:So that is what assault is. That is what I think of when I think of assault. I I don't know if Maybe I missed some technical definitions I could have gotten into, but that was just a chemist's mindset. When I think of this all, that's what I think of.
Jam:And that is not necessarily edible. Right? You're talking about that could be any of the combinations that apply to what you're talking about
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:That are that kind of substance, not necessarily something we eat.
Melissa:Yes. So someone talked about ammonium salts Mhmm. Which you would not want to Eat an ammonium salt.
Jam:Didn't sound nearly as tasty.
Melissa:Not as tasty. Definitely not. So that's what I think of when I think of a salt In my brain, I I did not look any of this up to confirm because that is just so ingrained in my brain what I think of as a salt as a chemist.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So any gen chem teachers out there that are mad at me for not getting the perfect definitions, I'm sorry.
Melissa:Don't answer the way I answered on a test, Students, this is just my casual explanation of a salt as
Melissa:a chemist.
Jam:And it it's probably a little longer Then what you might answer in a test as well.
Melissa:A 100%. So table salt is sodium Mhmm. Which has lost an electron, so it's become positive, and chlorine, which has gained an electron. So it's become negative, and they find each other and bond together. And really a lot of them bond together.
Melissa:So you have a repeating unit of Sodium chloride. Sodium chloride. Sodium chloride. And then there's another layer stacked on top, another layer of atoms that then is another sodium chloride. Sodium chloride.
Melissa:Sodium chloride. So it's really a three d structure of just sodium chlorides alternating, and they form this big expansive lattice is what it's called.
Jam:Wow. I
Melissa:was trying to think of a good visual representation, and the best thing I could think of was you know when you have those magnetic balls that, like, are metal. Mhmm. And you can sort of flip them over, and they'll be just spheres kind of stacked on top of each other.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:It's kind of like that, only the sodium chloride are different sizes.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:But they're just layered on top of each other. It's a big three d Sure that you can imagine with lots of sodium chloride ions stacked on top of each other, in rows next to each other. It's It's all of them together.
Jam:Nice. Nice. Like a really, like going in all directions scaffold or something like that where it's Yes. It links and links and links and links, and it's all strong in every part that it links, which is why it's so hard to break apart.
Melissa:Yes. Exactly. And that's just it. That's what regular old table salt is. It's just NaCl, Sodium, chloride.
Melissa:Sodium ions are positive. Chloride ions are negative, and they're hanging out in this big lattice.
Jam:And you know why It's n a instead of, like, y, the symbol for so it was n a instead of, like, something more like s or whatever?
Melissa:I think it's because it's from a different language, but I feel like you've got a pun coming up.
Jam:Which is that when SODA was filling out its application, it just didn't know the answer to The question, what's your symbol? So I put not applicable.
Melissa:No. That's not it. Stuck.
Jam:So huge bummer. I thought you really wanna be careful when you fill applications.
Melissa:Oh my Gosh. Oh my gosh. Okay. So now that we've taken our our detour down Jim's puns, I'll say also that There's a really funny joke about table salt in The West Wing where Uh-huh. The press secretary is trying to be impressive to the scientist she has to sit next to at this fancy dinner, and She looks up the chemical abbreviation for table salts, n a c l.
Melissa:And it just makes me laugh because one, that's, like, Not super impressive Yeah. To just know that. But, also, it just is funny. It's just a funny thing where at first, she's like, I don't know it, and then she comes back around
Jam:and
Melissa:says it very proudly. It's just good. So I thought about that most of the time while I was working on this episode.
Jam:Yeah. That's funny. I feel like There's probably a lot of stuff like that where, as laypeople, if we learn something, even a little bit of something about somebody else's field, we think it's impressive to know it. Whereas it could just be completely, like, one of the most normal building block things of
Melissa:Right. Well, also, in real life, if a chemist was hanging out with a press secretary, most Chemists would be amazed by the press secretary and not the other way around. Mhmm. Or maybe they'd both be impressed by each other, but, You know. It's just funny.
Melissa:If you like if
Jam:I was talking to a carpenter, and I was like, are you gonna use a, hammer on that project? Or be like, oh, they're the, grain of the wood.
Melissa:It's just funny. It makes me laugh because, you know, she's she was theoretically the press secretary of the United States. That's way more impressive
Jam:than Yeah. Seriously? My job. Yeah. And you get recognition all the time.
Jam:Maybe even if people don't like you, you're literally, like, in on the news, on TV. And getting recognition as a scientist is, like, one of the things you guys have to fight so hard for. And you could live in obscurity and do amazing things. And it's like, These people are on TV all the time speaking for on behalf of the president or whatever.
Melissa:So that was a fun detour. Just wanted an opportunity to share that because it was in my brain the whole time I was writing this episode.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:So that's table salt, but What is iodized salt? So iodized salt was made essentially because your thyroid needs iodine. Mhmm. And they realized that you could add potassium iodide, which is another salt. Potassium has lost an electron, and iodine has gained An electron.
Melissa:Mhmm. They could mix potassium iodide in there with your table salt, and it would treat The lack of iodine in your thyroid gland. So if you don't have enough iodine in your thyroid Mhmm. It will grow enlarged, and you'll get what's known as a goiter.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And I think they first realized they first recommended iodine for the prevention of a goiter in 18/33. A French mining engineer and agricultural chemist named Jean Baptiste Bussingold. I probably We definitely said that wrong. I'm sorry, French people. He realized what was going on and recommended the use of iodine salt to treat Goiter.
Jam:Wow.
Melissa:In certain areas where it's bad because he went to a place in Colombia where inhabitants were using the natural salt that they were getting from These really iodine rich waters of an abandoned mine.
Jam:Oh, nice. So they just were accidentally doing something that was really helpful. And it was like, oh, we should steal that idea.
Melissa:That's right. But at first, people kind of went overboard, and they were having other problems because you have too much iodine. That's not good either. And so So then it kinda died back down and then came back up a little bit later when they realized, basically, it was working, but you just have to do it in limited quantities.
Jam:Interesting. I had heard just the faintest bit about I I mean, added assault on purpose for our health, but not the details about it. And it's kind of, like, lumped into the category of other things that are kind of generally done for the the benefit of the public, like putting some fluoride in our water. Just stuff like that that that you kinda do on a large scale that has is it beneficial enough and harmless enough to just go ahead and do? You know?
Melissa:Yes. Definitely.
Jam:That's interesting. Coiters.
Melissa:Yes. So it's to prevent coiters, but there's kind of a problem. So you'd think table salt is This steady, solid, white substance that just hangs out, and it's no big deal. And you can just throw in some Very similar, potassium iodide Mhmm. Which is just gonna hang out and do the same thing, but that's not exactly true.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Because iodine iodine anions will react with air to become oxidized. So it will gain electrons, And that means it will become elemental iodine.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And that elemental iodine does what's known as sublimation. So elemental iodine can go directly from a solid to a gas.
Jam:Oh, interesting.
Melissa:Mhmm. So you could have iodized salt. And then if it's particularly humid or acidic, the conditions are just right, it'll become oxidized and become elemental iodine, which then will turn into a gas very quickly. Mhmm. And you will lose all the iodine from your salt, and it Smells kind of chloriny.
Melissa:It's not the best smell.
Jam:Dang. Interesting. So you gotta figure out a way to keep that iodine in place.
Melissa:That's right. So to keep the iodine in place, they put in glucose or another what's known as iodine stabilizer, but really what it does is Glucose is very easily oxidized itself.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So that will keep the iodine from being ox oxidized. Or Iodine oxidizes really well in acidic condition, so they'll put base in, which like baking soda, which will keep The iodine from oxidizing. And there's only a little bit of iodine in there, so just a little bit of baking soda and a little bit of glucose will do the trick, so you can't even detect it Yeah. In there.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:Mhmm. So that happens to keep your iodine in your salt. So that's the basics of iodized saw. I have some fun facts that I wanna give you about it.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But first, I want you to try to tell me back what you think table salt and iodized salt are to make sure that you're checking with me.
Jam:Perfect. Perfect. Okay. Great. Okay.
Jam:So first, maybe I'll try doing just what salt is. It is the Any salt would be the combination of a Had you word that. It's an ionic bond
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Between typically 1 tip is typically a a metal, you said?
Melissa:A lot of times, that's a metal and a nonmetal, but that's not always the case. But in these both of these Mhmm. Sodium and potassium Mhmm. Are both Metals and chlorine and iodine are both nonmetals.
Jam:Got it. Okay. But typically, that's the case. In one of them, once An electron that the other one typically has? Mhmm.
Jam:How did you describe that again? Is there a word to describe that, or is that it?
Melissa:It really is just that one will take the electron from the other, so they'll both have a full Shell. So Got it. Imagine you have a full shell and we don't have anything quite like this. Imagine you have a full shelf and everything's exactly even, and then you have 1 more of something, and it's on the next highest shelf. Mhmm.
Melissa:Just doesn't really look good.
Jam:Yeah. Totally.
Melissa:You Fill up your whole bookshelf, but you have 1 extra book, so you have to put it on the next one. And then your neighbor has a whole shelf that's missing 1 book. So you can just Yeah. Poop, give your book away, and it'll fill it in, and then you guys will both be happy.
Jam:Got it. So just let your neighbor borrow the book, And you'll both be happy. You won't have an extra book that can't fit on the shelf, and they get to have a full shelf. You both guys both get to have full shelves.
Melissa:But in this case, you'll be bonded together forever. Right.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:Or for a very long time until you get dumped in water or melted at a 1,014 100 degrees.
Jam:Okay. So that's assault, and it does that, you know, on top of itself over and over and over and to the left and the right. And, You know, in every direction, basically, has this interlocked lattice of those 2 elements, sharing An electron in a very strong bond.
Melissa:Well and they're really not sharing the electron. It's generally described as having 1 gave up the electron, the other took it, but one's now positive and the other's negative, so they're attracted strongly to each other.
Jam:Okay. Got it. 1 does
Melissa:Sharing electron?
Jam:The electron.
Melissa:Sharing electron is more of a covalent bond. So yeah. So one takes the electron of the other, but then they're, poom, bonded together.
Jam:Yeah. Okay. Okay. Got it. K.
Jam:So sharing that book, or giving up that book, giving up an electron, forming a really strong bond because one's positive, one's negative in
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:In every direction, forming a really strong lattice of that bond Over and
Melissa:over? Right. Yep.
Jam:And then what table salt is, the one we eat on everything, Is the normal version is sodium and chlorine in that lattice structure.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And it's really strong, really straightforward. That's all that's in it normally,
Melissa:and
Jam:it tastes good.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And then what they did at some point when they realized people needed more iodine up in here Mhmm. They were like, let's Put it in the salt. People are loving the salt. They are really Mhmm. It's very popular.
Jam:Let's put this stuff in the salt. So it's kinda like a little Trojan horse deal of iodine.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Where they were like, you guys love salt. You guys love big wooden horses? So they put the iodine into the salt, but It can just put regular old iodine in the salt because it has that property that f rata was called that you said a second ago that makes it evaporate Very easily into a gas.
Melissa:Mhmm. Straight from the solid to a gas. It doesn't go through the liquid stage.
Jam:Which is crazy. It's cheating, actually. And for most elements get in trouble for doing that, honestly. But this one somehow
Melissa:A 100%.
Jam:Is above the law. So then this rascal Iodine, what they did is they said, okay. What could be the sodium to iodine's iodine ness? So in regular salt, it's sodium and chlorine.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And they were like, can we maybe combine iodine with something and have it have a more stable, salty situation of its own so that it'll stay put for once. Dang it. And so they had to Combine iodine with something else or find a different version of iodine so that it would stay put In putting it in salt?
Melissa:So I think I I guess I don't know, but I'm pretty sure potassium iodide is already naturally occurring. So just like tape table salt, NaCl, that just occurs in nature. Mhmm. I'm pretty sure potassium iodide is that same way, But they so they just mix potassium iodide in with the salt. But the iodine is is trying to get away Mhmm.
Melissa:And turn into It's natural elemental state
Jam:All the time.
Melissa:So it can it can sublime is what the cheating word is called, up into gas. So it's trying to cheat, so they add something else in. It says the potassium iodide was already kinda there. But if the conditions are right, it'll try to cheat. Okay.
Jam:So I was about to say they combine with potassium, but potassium iodide is already there. And so
Melissa:Yeah. I think so. I didn't look up the origins of potassium iodide, but I would assume it would just occur in nature.
Jam:And so they add in some other stuff to try to prevent the iodine from Returning to its elemental state on its own, preventing it from trying to get away from the potassium. Mhmm. And then and did you say what that was? I might have forgotten.
Melissa:It's usually glucose. There were some other things they used to do, but now Glucose is usually what they mix in there.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:And they'll put a little bit of, like, maybe baking soda for it
Jam:to be A base. Okay.
Melissa:A little bit basic. So the conditions are not good for the oxidation reactions to occur.
Jam:Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay.
Jam:And then they mix all together
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And put that in a salt for us to buy, which actually, I think most of us end up by default Buying iodized salt unless we consciously try not to, I've noticed at least
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:In my own experience. Mhmm. Honestly, you know what this reminds me of?
Melissa:Tell me.
Jam:Reminds me of what we talked about with Silver Tarnish and, like, a friend group kind of deal. And Mhmm. In this case, it being that we want to combine some friends on purpose. We want the sodium and chlorine to have these friends, potassium and iodine, but You can't just have them on their own because Adam wants to get away.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And so if you add a couple other friends in there, the dynamic works really well, like, at least the friend glucose and maybe also the friend baking soda, Then
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:It creates the right kind of friend dynamic to where everyone stays together, and it works well. And they get along, and they behave, which is most most important thing for, you know, a small town like ours, we just can't have the kids out there causing mischief like that. You know?
Melissa:And the sodium chloride is kind of always there, and it's always stable.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:The potassium iodide is really the one that's trying to mix things up when the iodine's like, gonna get myself oxidized. I'm gonna get out of here. Mhmm. So it's almost like you've you're adding something into the mix that can help Bring the iodine back down and make it not wanna go into that state. And, really, the glucose will just oxidize first.
Melissa:It's a it's what's known as a reducing agent, so it's easily oxidized. And then the base just makes it unfavorable for oxidation to occur. So that's kind of what they both do.
Jam:Got it. Got it. Okay. Cool.
Melissa:They just sort of they they do some interventions. You know? Mhmm.
Jam:Just
Melissa:real quick before we move into our fun facts, I think that was a great explanation. But I quickly looked it up, and it actually seems Like, maybe potassium iodide is formed whenever they treat Potassium hydroxide, which is another salt with iodine Mhmm. But it also may still be naturally occurring. I'm having Trouble finding it quickly, but I'm not a 100% sure either way. And I don't know that I'm gonna be able to find a reliable source quickly, But it can also be industrial produced, so you were right on that side.
Jam:Okay. Cool. Also, they could do okay. Cool. Sweet.
Melissa:It has to be occurring to some degree or else The people in those Colombian valleys wouldn't have been able to have it those natural salts and those rich Iodine rich water. So
Jam:Right. Right. Right.
Melissa:Right. There has to be some form of iodine that's in the nature, but I don't know how they get it necessarily. So So here are my fun facts for you.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:1, iodized salt is required in many countries as the only form of sellable table salt. You cannot buy table salt without iodine in in some countries.
Jam:Wow. Interesting. Mhmm.
Melissa:Yeah. 2, there's a very elaborate study where someone checked to see how much iodine was Spread evenly through the salt and if there's some loss of iodine or not, and they found that it's It's not very evenly spread through the salt. That's called nonhomogeneous, so it's not evenly mixed.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So there's actually sort of uneven amounts of iodine throughout your table salt, which I thought was pretty interesting.
Jam:Yeah. That is.
Melissa:3, Actually so in the American diet, primarily because of salt, we don't have a lot of iodine deficiency anymore. Mhmm. But that doesn't mean you should Stop eating iodized salt because that's part of the solution. It's not as if we've solved this disease or something. Yeah.
Melissa:Us having iodized salt is part of the reason we don't see goiter anymore.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Melissa:So for the general US population, we have enough iodine, but pregnant women are mildly ion Iodine deficient for the most part. And interestingly, just how in America, it's not required for them to make iodized salt, it's also not required for there to be iodine in prenatal vitamins. Oh. So which is just kind of interesting. I think it came down to a matter of we don't want to be forced to take medicine.
Melissa:You know?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And so because of that, they wanted to still give people the Option for un iodized table salt, but it's not really dangerous or risky. It's it's always gonna be better for you to grab that one. Mhmm. Because as long as you're consuming salt in normal safe amounts
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That won't be an overdose of iodine or anything. But for pregnant women, You probably should check and make sure that your prenatal vitamin has iodine. Talk to your doctor and make sure all that's okay. But there is a link to iodine deficiency in pregnant women and cognitive deficiencies in babies that are born. Wow.
Melissa:In pregnant women. Dang. Yeah. So, Obviously, I'm not a doctor, so be sure to talk to your doctor and get advice and look into it on your own, but it seems that iodine is going to be really important. Now there is such a thing as too much iodine.
Melissa:There's kind of a sweet spot, but Most pregnant women are on the lower end of that right now in America. Mhmm.
Jam:Interesting. That's good to know.
Melissa:I know. I didn't know that iodine could play such a role. I had no idea. And I have a few friends that are pregnant right now or have recently been And I called them and asked them what their iodine levels were like in their Yeah. Prenatal vitamins.
Melissa:So
Jam:Dude, good. That's great. Yeah. That's one of those things where it'd probably be, like, A lot of other things you'd be looking for in the in that vitamin and might be pretty easy to not be thinking about iodine.
Melissa:Yeah. Definitely. And I've included the link in our show notes there but there was a, article published, I think, in a journal called Thyroid that was all about iodine contents and prenatal vitamins in the United States. And There's also a lot of other resources that I link to that talk about iodine deficiencies and some of the impacts that those can have. So definitely check those out if you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant, And keep yourself well informed and talk to your doctor before you make any decisions.
Melissa:You know, I'm not a medical doctor, so I'm not able to give you medical advice. But As a scientist, that's what it seems like it's pointing to. So talk to your doctor, get medical advice, and make those decisions. So that's it. That's our fun, interesting iodized salt.
Jam:Nice, dude. Very interesting.
Melissa:Situation. Yeah. I was pretty excited. I didn't have this episode idea on my own, and I thought maybe it wouldn't be interesting, but it ended up having some twists and some turns. I didn't even think about the fact that iodine in its elemental form tries to become a gas, so that was But kinda fun.
Melissa:So
Jam:Totally. And it's very,
Melissa:very oxidation goes back to some of those older episodes. So
Jam:Yeah. It does. And it's very, very everyday. I mean, We all have salt every day. And if you cook anything, there's there's such a high chance that at some point, you'll be adding salt to it at the end or during.
Jam:It's like Just a normal Yeah. So everyday thing that many of us don't think about. So it's, like, perfect for what the kinds of things we cover here.
Melissa:Yeah. Definitely. I love it when people write in stuff like that that maybe I've already learned about and think it's not interesting anymore. Mhmm. Or, you know, My perspective is just not to wonder about it, and so then it prompts me to think more deeply, and I get fun surprises.
Melissa:So I really enjoyed this episode.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So this week, instead of talking about what we something in our week that made us happy because we're actually recording pretty ahead of time. So you guys would just be hearing about what was going on with us back in December.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Let's talk instead about something you wanna do this year, something you wanna accomplish. I'm not really a a New Year's resolutions kind of a person, but I do like to reflect on my year It's coming up. Mhmm. And think through what are some goals I have. So Yeah.
Melissa:Do you have anything like that that you wanna share with us, Jam?
Jam:I do, but I it's very, very basic. It really falls into, like, the category that many people have, have already kinda in their minds for New Year's thoughts and goals.
Melissa:But
Jam:it's the thing that I've consistently thought of for several months, not about 2021, but just been thinking about for several months, that I'm like, I kinda need to make this be a consciously verbalized goal, or I'm not gonna do it. But Okay. Ever since having a kid, I have not had a very regular workout schedule of any kind.
Melissa:Yeah. And And you like working out for your heart health.
Jam:Yeah. I'm all about running. I like running. It surprises me that I'm at a time in my life where I said those words, but I got very into it in, like, 2018, 2019. And then summer 2020 comes around, and I have a kid.
Jam:And then I Have not been consistent in running at all, and it's kinda the perfect type of workout for me. It's I mean, moderately intense. You can run at a chill pace, but it's
Melissa:Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Jam:You know, more intense than walking and stuff. You can easily increase how far you run or try to increase your times. It doesn't require any fancy equipment. You don't have to think too hard. It's perfect for me.
Jam:And there's no amount of, like, Trying to get stronger and like that, I just cannot move myself to care about strength. So It's got all the things I need. However, I have not been able to figure out how to include it into my life since I'm a kid, But I also have not tried that hard to do that.
Melissa:So you need some accountability. So our listeners are gonna write in and ask you about
Jam:it. Yes. Yes, please. I need that accountability. I need some motivation.
Jam:Need to figure out some strategies. So even if some of you guys out there have kids already and figured out some Sneaky, great time of the day or schedule or something like that for when to when to go running, that'd be cool too. But that's that, I think, is one of the things I've I I would be very proud of myself to accomplish and Get back into my life.
Melissa:That's a good one. I like that one.
Jam:It kinda makes it, though. You know what I'm saying? Like, this is like a lot of us have health goals for a new year, And I'm I'm right there too.
Melissa:Yeah. Well, I think there is a reason for us having health goals for New Year, but also, You know, you needed to voice that and say that for yourself. And so who cares if it's basic. You know? Yeah.
Melissa:If it's gonna help you and be right for you.
Jam:Yeah. True that. What about you?
Melissa:Well, I went with a career type goal.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:So I'm in a new field. I I finished up my master's degree in organic chemistry, and now I'm doing research in chemistry education. Mhmm. Specifically, Why do people hate organic chemistry? That really kills my area of research, and I'm in a pretty good place with my research.
Melissa:I've gotten a lot of data. I Have someone who joined our UNT faculty who's been really helping me a lot with processing through my data Mhmm. Who has been in the field for a while, and I think it's about time for me to start writing my 1st paper in chemistry education. So I published an academic journal in organic chemistry, but I haven't yet in my new field. And so Nice.
Melissa:I'm wrapping up my classes. That's another sort of natural goal that's happen is I should be able to finish my classes in this calendar year, but I would like to have the additional milestone of publishing a paper in a chemistry education journal Nice. About my current research before the year is up. And I'm actually thinking I might be able to do it before the semester ends, but it kinda depends on how productive the next few weeks
Jam:Nice. Dude, cool. That's very cool.
Melissa:So I'm very excited about that. That's my goal For one of my goals for myself, I like to go through and think about what's gonna happen and what some of my personal and financial and Career goals are for each year and and make a list and then think through them and then get to reflect back at the end of the year. So Yeah. And I was so hectic at the beginning of 2020 that I didn't have a chance to do that, and I'm kinda missing it at the end of this that year. So Yeah.
Melissa:I'm I'm excited to get back into doing that.
Jam:Nice. It's a good one.
Melissa:Alright. Well, if you guys wanna write in and tell us about your goals, But we would love to hear about it. Thank you so much for coming and listening and learning about iDiesel, and thanks to Sam for sending us this Idea for an episode. There's a really good one, Sew Everyday, and I absolutely loved learning about it.
Jam:Nice. Yes. Me too. And if you guys have ideas, Please don't hesitate to send them in. The things you wonder about in your video life, things that strike you, please wanna hear them.
Melissa:If you
Jam:have questions or ideas, you can email us on Gmail. You can tweet us on Twitter. You can gram us on Instagram, or you can book us on Facebook at Kem for your life. That's Kem, f o r, your life on all those platforms were the same. If you like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, go to kodashfi.com slash chem for your life.
Jam:Donate the cost of a cup of coffee. If you're not able to donate, you can still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app And rating and writing review in Apple Podcasts. That also helps us to be able to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Colini and Jamm Robinson. References for this episode can be found in our show notes or on our website. Jam Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to a Colini and v Garza who reviewed this episode.
