How to Eat Less Salt

Posted on June 10th, 2009 by Elaine

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Salt is a necessary condiment that adds flavor to various foods, but do you know that too much of it can be bad for the health? Salt has been linked to increased blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, osteoporosis and stomach cancer. If you’re having too much salt in your diet, you should follow these tips.

What You’ll Need:

Salt alternatives
Healthy salt substitutes

Taste The Food Before Salting It

It’s a common habit for some people to season and salt their food before they even take a bite out of it. Eventually, they end up adding a lot of salt. To avoid this, taste your food before reaching for the salt. You’ll find out that the food tastes good, even better, if it doesn’t have too much salt. Not only do you become healthier, but you also learn to appreciate the deliciousness of food.

Most homes have salt shakers on top of the dining table or in the kitchen, easy to reach and use. Oftentimes, you don’t realize you’ve used the salt, until after you see the shaker already in your hands. To avoid this, try and hide the shaker. Put it in a high shelf or in the back of the cabinet. This way, you’ll taste the food and realize you don’t need the shaker after all.

Read Food Labels

Most people ignore the labels when they go grocery shopping. They then take home plenty of “flavorful” food items that actually have a lot of salt in them. Whenever you buy groceries, always read the nutrition labels of the items you pick out. Check the amount of sodium in the percent daily value column, and if it’s very high, avoid it.

Also, junk the junk food. Junk food like potato chips, pizza, and french fries, are always loaded with salt, as well as other preservatives. When you eat too much of junk foods, you’ll end up with other health ailments, such as obesity and poor immune system.

Learn To Cut Back

You don’t have to completely take out salt from your diet. After all, some food items really do taste better when salt is used. Instead, you can just lessen it, keeping it at a healthy, manageable level. Cutting back on using salt is pretty easy, and here are a few reminders to follow.

Dinnertime - If using the salt shaker, shake it only once, then let go of it. Also, avoid other condiments, like ketchup and soy sauce, since they also contain large amounts of salt.
Kitchen - Only add salt when the recipe calls for it. Also, halve the amount the recipe says. You can use other seasonings instead.
Dining at restaurants - Request for the salt to be left out of the fries, pretzels, and crackers. As much as possible, don’t order these.

Opt For Healthier Substitutes

If you think food doesn’t taste as good without salt, don’t fret, because there are numerous seasoning alternatives you can turn to. Here are some examples.

Herbs and spices - Mix freshly crushed pepper, garlic, oregano, rosemary, basil and others into dishes, to add a delightful, but healthy taste.
Spicy seasonings - try a dash of hot sauce, chili powder or salsa.
Lemon or lime juice - Gives a tangy taste to your dishes.
Vegetable salt - A great, but healthy alternative to salt.

Another tip: always buy fresh vegetables and meat. The fresher your ingredients are, the more flavorful they are. You won’t need to season them too much.

Experiment With Your Salt

Do you know that aside from seasoning food, salt can also be used for other stuff? You can clean and beautify your body using salts. Try making bath cleaners, bath salts ans body scrubs with all the unused salt you have. At least it won’t go to waste!

Food tastes good with salt, but don’t use it too much to maintain your health. Follow these tips so you’ll still have a healthy and delicious diet with less salt.