Salt questions

[SpyderEdgeForever]

No, this is not about the knife. I was told it is a good idea to cut back on consumption of high amounts of salt and foods with a lot of excess sodium in them. Surprisingly, some of the said foods, I thought were healthy: A notable one: Olives! I would welcome all feedback on this issue: what are some good alternatives to high-salt in foods, for taste, etc?

Example: I really enjoy tomato and vegetable juices because of their taste and healthy qualities of the ingredients. The downside: Most canned and bottled tomato juice is very high in salt. Is it reasonable to make this at home in a blender or is it a waste of effort?

Thank you all in advance.

[Evil D]

You can definitely get a quality juicer and get your fix on veggie juice, but it'll cost you a lot more because it takes a lot of veggies just to make a single glass of juice.

You may wanna look into a salt substitute when cooking, which may be enough to offset the salt that comes more naturally in things like olives. Then you can enjoy your olives in moderation and not worry about it.

[twinboysdad]

Use course ground sea salt and sparingly. More flavor with less granules needed

[tvenuto]

If the sodium you intake comes from actual salt (which you can taste), then you should be fine. To avoid spoilage, many processed foods contain other sources of sodium such as sodium benzoate. You can't taste it, but it provides the high amount of sodium needed to prevent any bacterial growth. If you want to see how much sodium this is providing you, go find a "country ham" and take a bite. You'll probably find it disgustingly salty, and won't eat very much of it. This is how processed foods can trick your body into consuming too much sodium.

However, it's becoming apparent that the whole "too much salt" thing was latched on to an inappropriate degree*. Heart disease is a complicated interplay of many factors, blood pressure only being one of those factors. If you're going to demonize a white crystal, sugar is a better candidate, and unlike salt you do not need to consume it to survive.

On a historical note, the acquisition/control of salt has been one of humanities central endeavors. The word salary comes from the salt given to soldiers as pay, soldier meaning "one who is paid in salt". In fact, most of the time you see "sal" to start a word, the origin is salt. Respect the salt.

I'm not a doctor, so this is not medical advice, I'm just the guy the doctors go to when they want to get healthy. <-I actually wish this was sarcastic.

*Remember the parable: A man is under a street lamp at night, looking on the ground. Another man comes upon him and says: "What are you doing under this street lamp?" The first man says: "I'm looking for my keys, I lost them over there" and points across the street. The second man says: "Then why are you looking over here?" to which the first man replies: "The light is better."

[Evil D]

Use course ground sea salt and sparingly. More flavor with less granules needed

This is just good advice regardless of how it relates to health. I started using coarse ground kosher a couple years ago and it changed the way I cook. Another one is fresh ground black pepper. If you have those two seasonings only, you can make the best burgers off a grill you've ever ate.

[tvenuto]

Use course ground sea salt and sparingly. More flavor with less granules needed

This is just good advice regardless of how it relates to health. I started using coarse ground kosher a couple years ago and it changed the way I cook. Another one is fresh ground black pepper. If you have those two seasonings only, you can make the best burgers off a grill you've ever ate.

Yes, it is an absolute travesty that like half of America doesn't get this one simple step correctly. There are very few things that don't benefit from kosher salt and fresh black pepper.

[Donut]

I used to buy green olives to add to the salads that I eat every day. I found that like 8 whole green olives a day... would make me feel like crap. Just removing the olives made me feel a lot better.

I don't remember the exact symptoms of how I felt bad.

[The Deacon]

Do you have high blood pressure?

If so, does cutting back on your sodium intake without making any other changes to your diet or lifestyle lower your blood pressure? I'm not saying return it to the normal range, just lower it noticeably and consistently.

If so, then reducing your sodium intake could be beneficial. Otherwise, it's just martyrdom without purpose.

[Surfingringo]

I have mild high blood pressure and mine is very sensitive to diet and sodium intake. Over the last two years I have cut most processed foods out of my diet and that has made a huge difference. I still eat salt though...we all need sodium in order to stay alive, I think it is just a matter of controlling your intake and matching it to your lifestyle and activity level. For example, my fishing trips often last up to 6 hours. That is nonstop pedaling, so it is pretty much equivalent to riding a bicycle for 6 hours on a flat road in 95 degree tropical weather. I typically come in 7-8 pounds lighter than when I launch. That is a lot of sodium that your body is losing. When I am doing this on a regular basis I find myself craving and consuming higher levels of salt. I still have to pay attention but the point is that I believe how much salt I need depends in part on how much I am losing. The best answer is to learn to listen to your body...it is a very intelligently designed machine and will usually tell you what it needs. The difficulty is that we tend to get confused about the difference between what we need and what we want. For what it's worth, I have found this often applies to issues other than my appetite. :rolleyes:

[Evil D]

The difficulty is that we tend to get confused about the difference between what we need and what we want. For what it's worth, I have found this often applies to issues other than my appetite. :rolleyes:

Yeah, see here's how that breaks down:

I want a bunch of knives, guns, go fast parts for my Mustang, etc, BUT...

I need a bunch of money so I can BUY all those things


:D