How Spooky is Salt?
Do you shy away from salting your food because you assume that's the healthy thing to do? You may be missing out!
The joy of salt
Salt is made of electrolytes which allow cells to function, keep your energy levels up, and transmit nerve signals to keep your heart beating. Bottom line, salt is critical to keep you alive!
Salt has the superpower of enhancing flavor to make healthy foods something you actually crave. Compare plain raw broccoli with the same vegetable that’s roasted and sprinkled with sea salt. I know I’ll make room on my plate for the latter! Roasted broccoli tastes like a completely different food. This transformation of veggies also goes for beans, whole grains and simple homemade sauces. Without salt, food cannot express its full flavor. Without salt, it's less enjoyable and less motivating to eat healthy and delicious whole foods.
Can I have salt?
Only 1 in 4 people are sodium sensitive and need to follow a low-sodium diet to prevent high blood pressure. Chances are, if you don’t have high blood pressure, you don’t need to worry about reducing your intake.
If you’re screaming, but I do have high blood pressure, what about me?! To you, I ask if you’ve considered the other, lesser known (or perhaps less popular) factors contributing to high blood pressure? Before demonizing salt and blaming sodium for high blood pressure or heart disease, consider:
Are you regularly eating food that is processed, prepackaged or from a restaurant?
Are you aware of the inflammatory fats in your diet?
Are you aware of the sugar, especially the fructose in your diet?
How many servings of vegetables are you eating each day?
Are you moving your body throughout the day?
Are you a smoker?
How are you managing with a high stress load?
Being mindful of your sodium intake
There are valid reasons to reduce your sodium intake. For example, if you’ve seen that sodium intake has a direct effect on your blood pressure, you might be a sodium-sensitive person. Follow these tips to be more mindful of your sodium intake:
Start reducing your sodium intake from sneaky salt by keeping an eye on food labels at home and at the store. Watch out for garlic and onion salts or other seasoning blends, commercial dressings and marinades, frozen meals and canned soups. “No Salt” or “Low Salt” are good words to look for, or better yet, replace seasoning blends with pure herbs and spices, and try your hand at a homemade sauce or soup.
Michael Moss, author of Salt Sugar Fat notes that only 6% of Americans' sodium intake comes from the salt shaker while packaged and restaurant food make up the other 94%. Replace one “convenience meal” with a home cooked meal made from fresh ingredients each week. It’s soup season, and this red lentil curry is a simple and great place to begin with a homemade soup!
If you want to take your knowledge of salt to the next level, I highly recommend Samin Nosrat’s book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. It’s packed with cooking tips, and she teaches “a smaller amount of salt applied while cooking will often do more to improve flavor than a larger amount added at the table.”
Do you know the scariest thing about salt?
Certain types of salt are pretty scary. Stay tuned for part 2 in this series on salt to learn more!
