Get the Salt Out (13 page)
Authors: C.N.S. Ph.D. Ann Louise Gittleman
69
Try making your own herbal seasoning.
This way, you can be sure to avoid both salt and MSG, and you can experiment with blends that suit your tastes. Here are a few suggestions of herbal combinations that make excellent, piquant salt substitutes:
Equal parts ground cayenne and dried mint leaves
Equal parts dried marjoram, dried sage, ground cumin seed, and ground celery seed
Four parts onion powder, two parts paprika, two parts garlic powder, and three parts cayenne pepper
Two parts peppercorns, one part allspice berry, and one part mustard seed, ground in a pepper mill as needed
Remember that freshly ground or crushed herbs and spices have the strongest flavor and aroma.
70Salt substitutes made with potassium chloride
may sound like a good idea, but they should be avoided. Although these products do supply additional potassium in the diet, the potassium they supply is unnatural, and the body does not utilize it well. They also contain the same undesirable chemical additives found in table salt. In large amounts, potassium salts can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and ulcers, and they sometimes distort the flavor in foods and leave a bitter taste. The best way to get salt out of your diet is to use the tips in this book, not to turn to artificial replacements.
71Determine which kind of salt or salt alternative is best for you.
One person may feel best using miso (see tip 65) or reduced-sodium tamari (see tip 63) while another may tolerate Real Salt better. Since our individual body chemistries are so different, we need to choose the sodium sources we feel best eating on an individual basis as well.
72Shop for groceries mainly in the outer aisles of your supermarket—
the produce, meat, dairy, and bulk food sections. These sections carry mostly natural foods that have little or no salt added. A grocery store’s inner aisles, however, are home to foods that are loaded with salt and sodium preservatives so they can sit on the shelf for long periods of time without spoiling. If you limit the groceries you pick up from the inner aisles and buy mostly natural foods from the outer aisles, you will automatically reduce your sodium consumption dramatically.
73Take trips to your local natural food store
to seek out better forms of salt and salted foods. You should be able to find a wider selection of unsalted foods there as well as unrefined sea salt or Real Salt. Contrary to the beliefs of some of my clients, however, not all foods carried in health food stores are low in sodium. Though the foods carried there are usually superior alternatives to the salted foods normally found in regular supermarkets, always check the nutrition labels to be sure.
74Become a label reader.
No matter where you buy your food, you have to pay attention to what’s in it. Don’t forget that the overwhelming majority of the salt Americans consume is “hidden” in processed foods. This means that you have to be skeptical about every food you’re thinking of buying. If you do nothing else to lower your sodium intake, read those labels and don’t let the “hidden” sodium sneak past you.
75Label Reading Lesson No. 1:
Read the number of sodium milligrams listed on the Nutrition Facts label of the food you’re considering buying. Although sodium requirements
differ for each individual, use this as a rule of thumb: focus on buying low-sodium foods—foods that have
140 milligrams or less
of sodium per serving—and make these your staples. (If you need additional sodium in your diet, add extra natural salt at the table.)
76If it helps you to understand milligrams of sodium in terms of teaspoons of salt,
remember that there are 2,000 milligrams of sodium in just one teaspoon of salt. That amount is more than sufficient for most of us in a single day. With this in mind, understand that a TV dinner that has 1,500 milligrams of sodium supplies
three-quarters
of that amount.
77Label Reading Lesson No.
2: Check the “% Daily Value” of sodium the product provides. Never buy foods that contain
more than 16 percent
of the Daily Value of sodium. If you’d like to emphasize
Two Salt Shaker
foods in your diet, buy foods that contain
less than 10 percent
of the Daily Value, or if you’d like to eat predominantly
One Salt Shaker
foods (something most of us should do), choose foods that contain
less than 6 percent
of the Daily Value. If you buy and eat foods with more than 16 percent, be especially conscious of the sodium levels of the other foods you eat that day