The Alternative Health Gazette

Salt: How to Reduce Your Intake

With so much salt all around us where do we even begin to cut down on salt? And is it really worth it, if it’s everywhere anyway?

Of course, it’s worth trying to lower your salt intake. Your very health perhaps even your life depends on it. And how do you start? You begin with what is within your control.

Start with the salt shaker. Don’t use it! Don’t even put it on the kitchen table when you eat. That’s right. Use any of the many other types of seasonings that you can easily find in the spices section of your grocery store.

Once you buy them, don’t stuff them in the back of the kitchen cabinet. Make sure they’re available to you and your family. In fact, bring them home and “advertise” them. Make sure your family knows how they can change the taste of the food they eat for the better.

Many times, we reach for the salt shaker purely out of habit. Jog your family’s taste buds a little with different flavors. Instead of making the switch drudgery, promote it is as a positive step for improved food flavoring!

Don’t add salt when cooking! Again, the premise here is “out of sight, out of mind.” Instead of reaching for salt when you cook, reach for other types of seasonings. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, then reduce the amount the recipe calls for by half. You won’t be damaging the final taste of the food by slightly altering this one ingredient.

Avoid salty foods. Don’t know which ones are salty? Usually processed meats and some types of fish are salty. Pickles are salt-laden, as is soy sauce (one teaspoon can contain as much as 1,000 mg!). Other salty foods include snacks like potato chips and pretzels as well as salted nuts.

Limit consumption of processed foods. Check out the sodium content on that frozen dinner before you pop it into the microwave. Be sure to check the sodium content of that boxed macaroni and cheese before you serve it to your family. This hidden salt adds up.

Carefully read nutritional levels. Keep in mind that when you read a nutritional label on any food, it only gives you the salt content for one serving. Review what the manufacturer considers a serving size. Many times the serving size is exceedingly small. It may be that you and your family are eating upwards of two portion sizes. Then you’ll have to double the amount of salt on the label to discover what you’re eating.

Choose fresh whenever possible. Instead of reaching for that bag of potato chips which may contain as much as 1,000 mg of sodium, grab for that apple which only has on average 1 mg. It’ll provide you with lots more energy too!

Other Alternative Health Topics...
Arthritis Candida Colon Health Constipation Depression Diabetes Fungus hemmeroids hemmoroids hemoroids Hemorrhoids hemroids Herbal Basics Herbs Insomnia Joints Kidney Health Liver Health Menopause Metabolism piles Skin Care Womens Health Yeast Yeast Infections