RickinTN,

You asked a good question about the sodium in pork rinds. Unless you've personally noticed a connection between eating sodium and increasing your blood pressure, there's no reason to avoid sodium in moderation. I know that somewhere among these threads, there's a link to a long article that reviews the heated debate about the sodium-blood pressure connection. The evidence seems to be inconclusive; reasonable people can gather a ton of evidence on both sides of the debate.

The trick about sodium is to keep it in the proper ratio with potassium. The standard recommendation is to eat at least a 2:1 ratio of potassium to sodium. Many people who aren't focused on their health can easily take in twice as much sodium as potassium. You can find out more about the role of potassium at Krispin Sullivan's web site. There's even a formula there to calculate how much potassium you need, based on your ideal body weight.

Personally, I make a potassium broth to ensure that I get enough potassium. Although my recipe doesn't mention it, I add 1 oz of kelp (available at health food stores or from Maine Seacoast Vegetables in bulk at a good price). As this nutrition chart shows, kelp is loaded with potassium, but balances it with some sodium.

I use pork rinds as part of faux breading mixes, as a substitute for bread crumbs.