Cut Back on Salt Without the Cravings
On average, Americans tend to eat more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium every day – much more than the American Heart Association and other health organizations recommend. Keeping your sodium in check is part of the overall heart-healthy eating pattern that the AHA recommends. It includes consuming fruits, vegetables, whole grains, plant-based proteins, fish, lean meats and nuts and limits saturated fats, sodium and sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages.
It’s no mystery that salt can help boost a dish from average to amazing and can give your potato a little zing, but it can also slowly spike your blood pressure and put stress on your heart.
The good news is that there are plenty of ways to cut back on salt without sacrificing that crave factor:
- Control the level: When buying seasoning blends, buy salt-free seasoning and then add just a touch of salt. Salt tends to be less expensive than herbs and spices, so many brands use excess salt to boost volume.
- Herb it up: Vegetables and leaner meats often need some help to taste better. Aromatic spices such as cumin and cayenne will add smokiness and a little zing, while fresh basil packs a major punch on its own. If you like a little heat, red pepper flakes can liven things up in a salt-free way.
- Squeeze please: Citrus — lemons, limes, oranges — hits your palate with a punch and can brighten your meats and vegetables.
- Don’t quit cold turkey: Many times when we make resolutions to eat better, we go all out and get burnt out. Habits are habits, after all. They take some time to change. Start scaling back your salt intake a little at a time. Once your body is used to less, scale back a little more. Pretty soon, the amount of salt you once put on your vegetables will seem unnecessary.
