Salt?

[lisadallasr]

HI everyone, i was just reading how deadly salt is. I know its not good to eat with high blood pressure, but i was wondering what does everyone season there food with. I hardly ever use plain salt just on my eggs in the morning, but i do eat a lot of seasonings and pretty much they all have salt listed in there ingredients. I could not see eating without any seasonings. Now i like all different kinds of peppers, but i also like to use cajun, creole, and Lawry's season salt. I am a very very slow loser and maybe this is why, all the sodium in my diet.

[blue996]

Re: Salt?

I have made an effort to cut my salt way down and it has impacted my losses positively. Most processed foods (lunch meats, pepperoni, etc) are high in sodium so I never eat those anymore. Do you track your food in fitday? When I started lto ower my sodium I went back and saw the totals I use to eat and it was shocking!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Salt?

Salt is a very necessary mineral. As long as you are not eating processed foods that are loaded with sodium, you should be okay. If you are doing Atkins with mostly fresh, whole foods, then you will be fine. This country got in trouble when we started eating fast food and out of a can or box. Processed foods are loaded with sodium. Some people are salt sensitive and they should go slow on it, but you should never go without it completely. You need to keep your potassium, sodium and magnesium in balance. If you cut down too far on salt, then your body will retain fluid to keep what your body has.

Be careful with the seasoned salts--they have sugar. Lowery's has sugar as the second ingredient and it also has cornstarch. (both deadly with yeast) The first ingredient in lemon pepper is sugar! I used to use it all the time.

I'm going to go find an article and post the link shortly. It's an eye opener about how important salt is to our diet. Edit: Here's the link. Long, but very interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/he...0281f7&ei=5090

Sunny!

[quotidianlight]

Re: Salt?

I have an entire pantry full of herbs and spices and very rarely use salt. When I do it is usually a good sea salt. Some of my favorites, white pepper, black pepper, various hot peppers, roasted peppers, cumin, basil, thyme, anise (yumm on eggs) rosemary, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, all spice, clove, paprika and garlic (my favorite is to roast the garlic in the oven with olive oil). I also love seasons oils, roasted sesame oil, truffle flavored olive oils etc. When you move away from pre-made spice mixes (that usually include excess salt and starches) an entire new world opens up. I grew up cooking with spices and usually use my nose to now what will taste good in what but some of my favorite cook books to just read and learn from are from Julia Child and various ethnic cookbooks especially african and italian. They really use spices in a way that most people have forgotten.

[quotidianlight]

Re: Salt?

Oh and my kids like to dip boiled eggs in a mayo mixture of real mayonnaise (best when you make it your self but bought is fine) red wine vinegar, garlic or onion and black pepper. I make hollandaise sauce!

[sallyseachange]

Re: Salt?

Anyone know about iodised salt and whether it's all it's cracked up to be? I just started using it for a trial (thinking 54yr old thyroid).

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Salt?

Anyone know about iodised salt and whether it's all it's cracked up to be? I just started using it for a trial (thinking 54yr old thyroid).

The 'iodized' part is what is most good for you. Read the article that I gave the link for and you will see why we need iodized salt. It explains it much better than I can. If we live far from and our food is grown far from the ocean, it contains almost no iodine.

[mystic]

Re: Salt?

I personally like curry, but generally I don't use any seasoning. If I'm having steamed veges, I just like Smart Balance margarine for a bit of flavor.

Check my sig for a link to an interesting post about sodium...

[sallyseachange]

Re: Salt?

The 'iodized' part is what is most good for you. Read the article that I gave the link for and you will see why we need iodized salt. It explains it much better than I can. If we live far from and our food is grown far from the ocean, it contains almost no iodine.

You're right, I hadn't read the article. Now I have and wow, how very interesting! I had no clue as to the iodine/IQ connection. Thank you Sunny!

[quotidianlight]

Re: Salt?

I don't actually like the way iodized salt tastes but I love a lot of the less processed sea salts and they still have a lot of iodine in them. also sea weeds are full of iodine if you eat miso soup or a lot of asian dishes. I'm always tossing some in our soups. The problem is that most people get way too much salt! Even without bacon or processed meats my fitday shows me getting enough because cheese has a lot of salt in it. I eat a lot of sea food though so I'm never worried about getting too little.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Salt?

You're right, I hadn't read the article. Now I have and wow, how very interesting! I had no clue as to the iodine/IQ connection. Thank you Sunny!

I failed to write about the one thing that makes me certain that iodized salt is what it's cracked up to be. Back when I was very young, but I remember it well, my mother had a huge goiter on her neck. It was completely cured by beginning to use iodized salt. An old country doctor told her this and it took a while, but it went completely away. After that, we always used iodized and I continue to today. There are not many ways to get iodine if you live away from the ocean.

I have actual experience with retaining water because of low sodium. I have for eight years had to have my blood work done every 90 days. I am often low on potassium and blood sodium. I don't like the taste of salt, but have to increase my intake and always lose the bloat I am experiencing. I have learned to eat salt on eggs and a few veggies, so I still don't get a lot, but it's enough to keep my levels up to average.
Sunny!

[quotidianlight]

Re: Salt?

OMG,I was just inputing the nutrients for egg lands best eggs and they have 40% the RDA for iodine!!! I had no idea, wow. just comparing them to the regular eggs is an eye opener. The vitamin E is off the charts too. I wish they were cheaper but I'm sold now.

[ttdriver]

Re: Salt?

You might consider trying the Morton Lite Salt which is made with potassium chloride (potassium is GOOD!). This stuff tastes exactly like regular salt, but with less sodium. Even my salt-a-holic hubby can't tell the diff.


Betty

[shari_dawn]

Re: Salt?

I'd never heard of Morton's Light Salt... I'll look for it when I go shopping friday