Take it with a grain of salt, pt2
Photo by Stephanie Bartz
This is the second in a two-part series on salt intake. Last month, I talked about the nationwide trend in diets too rich in sodium, and steps you can take to lower your intake.
While the Food and Drug Administration mulls over whether to set limits on salt content in processed food, time is wasting and I don’t think we should wait for that decision. It’s time for us to start reducing and eliminating the salt we’re consuming – we don’t need anyone to tell us to do that! The evidence is pointing to sodium as being associated with heart disease, high blood pressure, stomach cancer, kidney disease and osteoporosis.
Even if you don’t have high blood pressure it’s still a good idea to restrict your salt intake. Having a salt sensitivity can increase the risk of death even for those with normal blood pressure. It affects the vascular system the same way high blood pressure does. It can increase stickiness of platelets and reduce flexibility of blood vessels, which increases the risk for heart disease. There are no tests for salt sensitivity so moderation is advised for everyone.
Just because you have to limit the salt in your diet doesn’t mean you have to shortchange your taste buds. I’m as guilty as anyone else when it comes to salt. It’s hard for me to enjoy my popcorn without adding a few sprinkles from the saltshaker, but I’ve made concessions. If you’ve ever purchased popcorn at the Oriental Theatre you’ll know what I’m talking about. The flaky, yellow stuff in the shaker jars is nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast has a cheesy, nutty, salty flavor that can be used in place of salt on almost anything – with negligible sodium and a bonus of B vitamins, especially vitamin B-12. I love it! That was an easy one.
Since eating out in restaurants is one of the hardest ways to control your sodium intake, you’re much better off eating and cooking at home. I know, I know… you didn’t want to hear that.
Eating low-sodium at home
Cook with more herbs and spices. There are many salt-free seasonings. Salt-free Spike and Mrs. Dash are two of the best. A teaspoon of most herbs and spices contains few calories and little or no sodium. Herbs and spices add zest and flavor to unsalted foods.
The taste of lemon brings life to any food and a lemon pepper seasoning adds wonderful flavor to vegetables, meats and starches — without the sodium!
Replace the salt in the saltshaker with a salt-free all-purpose blend of:
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried, grated lemon rind
These are the foods highest in salt – and foods we should eat less of:
Canned vegetables
Canned beans
Frozen dinners and pizza
Soups
Deli meats and sausages
Pickles and olives
Snacks – chips, crackers, salted nuts
Condiments – ketchup, mustard
Cheeses
Yes, I know… all the foods we love! But how about baby steps?
Hints to decrease sodium
Drain and rinse canned vegetables and beans to remove the salt. (Eden brand beans do not have added salt)
Look for no-added salt products.
Mix low-sodium food with regular foods as a start to a low-sodium lifestyle. Mix no-salt nuts with salted nuts or a low-sodium ketchup with a regular ketchup.
Choose frozen dinners with less than 500 mg sodium per serving
Slowly decrease your salt in your diet. Constant exposure to lower levels of sodium changes your taste buds’ expectations. This takes time, usually two to four months.
One of the healthiest ways to reduce the sodium is your diet is to avoid buying salty processed foods and eat more fruits and vegetables. These foods provide potassium and are naturally low in sodium. Dietary potassium plays a role in decreasing blood pressure. A word of caution, potassium intake should be increased by the consumption of foods rich in potassium and not by supplements.
For an overall low-sodium eating plan, consider the DASH Diet. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The DASH eating plan includes whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts and has reduced amounts of sodium, fats, red meats, sweets, and sugared beverages. The biggest blood pressure-lowering benefits are reaped by people using the DASH diet at the lowest sodium level of 1500mg per day. Check out the DASH web site for a menu plan and recipes at www.dashdiet.org
Buyer beware!
Be aware of the amounts of sodium that are packed into fat-free and sugar-free products. More salt is often added to make up for the taste of fat or sugar.
Be aware that some over-the-counter medicines contain a lot of sodium. Two tablets of dissolvable Alka-Seltzer have a whopping 1,134 milligrams of sodium. (Each single tablet provides 567 milligrams.) Instead, opt for the caplets that you swallow; they contain only 1.8 milligrams. Quite a difference.
Bottom Line: Watching your sodium intake now can provide big health payoffs later. Reduced-sodium processed foods can help, but you’ll get even more benefit by choosing whole, unprocessed foods, cooking more from “scratch” and using just a dash of salt as needed. By gradually reducing the amount you use, you can reset your taste buds so that less salt doesn’t mean bland.
Mens Health has an online list of the saltiest foods in America, 2009. It’s quite amazing! Go to and search for “20 Foods Your Cardiologist Won’t Eat.”
Web sites with recipes for cooking with herbs and spices:
