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Message started by arteacher on 11/29/12 at 16:09:08

Title: Salt substitute?
Post by arteacher on 11/29/12 at 16:09:08

I am now on a salt restricted diet (2 grams a day). Problem is I love salty foods. My favorite snack is olives. I bought a salt substitute, but It (potassium) inter fears with one of the drugs I'm on. Mrs Dash is only good on some things. Anybody have any suggestions on a substitute?

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by gerald.hughes on 11/29/12 at 16:36:10

Lemon juice

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Cavi Mike on 11/29/12 at 16:36:56

I've heard that there really is no substitute for salt. What I think would be in your best interests is to try completely new foods that aren't so dependent on salt for flavoring. You might be surprised what you find out there.

Case in point - I'm anything but vegan but a girl I work with is and she always brings in these vegan dishes that are so darn tasty it's ridiculous. I could easily live off of the stuff she brings in and be OK with not having some of my "guilty" pleasures.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Serowbot on 11/29/12 at 17:12:16

Extra pepper?.. I love pepper... :-?...

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Paladin. on 11/29/12 at 17:42:47

2A212128242B2A3031450 wrote:

1. It is just a suggestion that you reduce the salt.
2. After a while you won't like the taste of too much salt.
3. A level teaspoon of salt is about 2400 mg -- if the meal is shared with 4 people you only get 600 mg.

90% of the salt you eat is in canned stuff, which means you gotta use the fresh stuff instead. Hunt's diced tomato has one with "no salt". You have to, check the lable. I used to like Dinty Moore Beef Stew -- but a can is a day's limit of salt. Same amount of Beef Stew (http://www.andruschak.net/cooking/BeefStew.htm) made home is about 1/10th of the salt. And taste better!

In Stroganoff (http://www.andruschak.net/cooking/Stroganoff.htm) the Campbell condensed tomato soup has less salt than Ralph's "reduced salt". Even with a 1/4 tsp of salt for flouring the meat, the total under 2 grams -- under 700 mg per person. Which means you can more on your snacks and lunch.

If you are bad one day, you can be good the next day -- it all averages in. Ratatquille (http://www.andruschak.net/cooking/Ratatouille.htm) is made with zero salt.

I am about to make Beef Stuffed Peppers (http://www.andruschak.net/cooking/Beef_Stuffed_Peppers.htm) -- about a 1/2 tsp of salt, 100 or more for the sauces, 70 mg from the can of tomato, total of about 1,500 mg to be divided to three.

(On the other hand, when I am having Kielbasa, Oy Vey!! 2,000 mg for just one link! Not to mention the saurkraut. I rinse some of the brine, but it is horrid with none.)

Bottom Line:
A salt subsitute is not enough, and is not needed. You have to change what you eat. Just getting rid of the cans will just about do the job.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Serowbot on 11/29/12 at 18:04:25

I read that somewhere,too... It said,.. the amount you sprinkle on dinner is nothing... the majority of dietary salt is in canned goods, and salty snacks... especially canned soups...

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by rl153 on 11/29/12 at 18:09:20

garlic powder tastes good on alot of stuff

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by srinath on 11/29/12 at 18:17:22

Yes the canned food is the worst ... and of course so is chips and pretzels and what not.

Here is a weird one - I find V8 too salty. I get low sodium v8. However my wife and son dont think it is and they cant stand low sodium v8. My wife's south indian food tastes like it sometimes lacks salt to me ... however the wife and kiddo eat it up. What's up with that.

I am inclined to think salt and sugar in some entrees is an acquired taste. I used to drink coffee that was sweet as syrup for years, 8-10 ... started coffee in 1999 I think. So suddenly couple years ago on a long drive I decided to drink black coffee so I wont sugar crash, I can drink it so slow, 1 20oz will last 4 hours and I will get home by then ... and ever since then, I need to taste the coffee in my coffee ... I cut down on the sugar by about 1/2.

I have been a life long tea drinker or atleast regularly since 1987. I can not cut down the amount of sugar in my tea with a gun to my head. In fact all the proportions are so exact in my tea, I cant change anything ... If I ever get diabetic, I will stop tea altogether and drink black coffee.

Cool.
Srinath.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by SALB on 11/29/12 at 19:41:17

Experiment. Lemon juice, Tabasco, unsalted seeds and nuts, and spices such as sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, anise, ext. can add new dimensions to your food. You can also try things like balsamic vinegar and cooking wines. Just google low sodium recipes, and you'll pleasantly surprised. ;)

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by thumperclone on 11/30/12 at 00:41:04

when i lived in orlando i used to fish at port canarvel when the blue fish were in..
morton salt had a pier there theyd pile it up on the dock like it was sand

ask your doc about sea salt or kosher salt they dont have the additives like table salt
steak w/o salt >:(

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/30/12 at 00:44:13

Ive heard of salt restricted diets, but I never knew why,,

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by arteacher on 11/30/12 at 04:38:29

I have congestive heart failure. The heart becomes weak and fluids build up around it and your lungs, and your feet.(They have taken 7 liters of extra water out of me). They put you on a diuretic to make you pee and get rid of the excess water in your body. Salt causes you to retain water. Also salt is bad for people with high blood pressure.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by 12Bravo on 11/30/12 at 05:58:09

I went through all that (finding food without a lot of salt) and it's no fun. I am diabetic and have to watch my blood pressure (borderline hypertension). a lot of food with reduced or no sugar added has even more salt than regular food. Frozen vegetables are better than canned, better taste and less of the bad stuff.

Ask your Dr about sea salt. My dad switched to it and it helped him.

I control my diabetes with my diet and try to watch my salt intake.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by mpescatori on 11/30/12 at 06:13:37

OK, here's my personal experience.

Common sea salt, which is the most common type of salt, is in nature a 50% mix of sodium chloride and potassium chloride.
Sea water tastes bitter-salty because of the potassium; take that away and it'll taste like watered down fish stock...
:-?
What I'm tying to say is, common table salt is plain old sea salt with that 50% potassium chloride taken away, it's pure sodium.

Rock salt may be "fossil sea salt", or other kinds of salt (as the one they dig up in the Sahara and whisk away in 100lb. "bars") and other metals will be present.
It is not safe to eat in its natural form but it never reaches the table that way so don't worry.

ANY table salt is processed, in more ways than one: the potassium is taken away from the sea salt, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium are taken away from rock salt, etc.
Furthermore, table salt has an additive which will make salt more resistant to domestic moisture; I remember Morton's Salt commerical, with a girl in the rain "It pours when it pours" 8-)

If you have to avoid salt, the obvious remedy is to "walk around" the problem.

Do NOT dress your salads with bluecheese or 1000Island (superfat anyway) use olive oil and wine vinegar instead; to make your salad tastier, add thin slices of peeled apple and carrots.

Do NOT salt your steak while cooking, use a bit of mustard on the side as you eat OR salt it very gently only when it's on your plate.

You'll be surprised how little salt you need when you season your steak away from the grill/BBQ !

Enjoy Tomatoes with your meat, instead of potatoes.

The truth is, our body is actually quite comfortable with the salt available in the foods we eat, without the need to add any.
Adding salt was, "in the days way back when", to show how rich you were; pepper had a similar status.

FISH can be broiled salt-free, especially the marine species.

Chicken is a bit of a pig to eat without salt...
:-?
::)
:D
S'looong !

PS A nice glass of red wine will wash away all excess salt in no time ;)

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by arteacher on 11/30/12 at 06:16:30

3A3949796A7D640B0 wrote:

I am a salt connoisseur. I have salts from all around the Mediterranean.
My favorite was one from a beach where it has been "walked on by the feet of beautiful nubile young women".- actually said that on the jar. ;D
And yeah I'm diabetic too and it took me a while to find stuff with no or small amounts of sugar. Now I have to go through all that again.
For a while now it has been an idea of mine to open a store which sold products for diabetics and hypertensive people, so they wouldn't have to comb the grocery store shelves to find the stuff.

As an aside, there is a local store that sells all kinds of weird stuff, including an assortment of "joke" hot sauces, Like "Flaming A$$hole Rastafarian" and "ONE F*%#ING DROP AT A TIME!" (the hottest sauce I have ever come across, and it comes with an eye-dropper in the lid,) and hotly spiced peanuts called "Mikes Burning Nuts" ;D

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by arteacher on 11/30/12 at 07:00:12

"Do NOT dress your salads with bluecheese or 1000Island (superfat anyway) use olive oil and wine vinegar instead; to make your salad tastier, add thin slices of peeled apple and carrots."
I make a dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, prepared mustard, dehydrated onion and garlic, oregano, basil, a pinch of salt, a bit of sugar, and water. It is very good. If I want a lighter flavour I will use red wine vinegar instead.
An aside: My Italian grandfather taught me to make wine. (he used to make 250 gal a year). The first time I tried I harvested the grapes myself, brought them home, and went out to get the sugar. While I was out my wife thought she would do me a favour and washed the grapes, thereby removing all the natural yeast. I didn't know this and made 5 gal of red wine vinegar. ;D

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by kimchris1 on 11/30/12 at 09:09:10

I stopped using salt per say years ago. I was such a salt- a -holic so bad that
I used to salt food before I even tasted it.
One day I decided to stop using salt and have never regretted it. I figured with the sodium in foods that I didn't need to add more.
I am not a fan or processed foods, nor canned soups. I always found
them too salty.
Mrs. Dash has a variety of spices that have no salt in them.
Garlic is great as well as a variety of mustards.
Once you experiment and find you can enhance your food with other
things besides salt, your going to wonder why you didn't stop the salt
years ago.
Good luck and keep us posted on how well you do.. :) kim

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Pine on 11/30/12 at 11:00:51

My mom just never was a big salt cook, I figure being brought up in the depression or some such.. so I never had a thing for salt. Somehow, it seems the world got saltier, while my taste stayed the same. now I avoid salt cause its TOO salty. I never go to a food trough ( Ryans) as the food is so salty it burns my lips. Steaks at a steak house... egads they ruin them! Salt on seafood.... really its SEA FOOD comes from salt water... ack
Hidden salt: soft drinks and "-ade" drinks.. tons of salt!

Now I crave "plain" food PB&J samich, grits and eggs, bowl of rice crispies and mostly I am good.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Blinky on 12/12/12 at 07:29:49

arteacher,
How about an update? Find anything really good without the salt load?

Merry Christmas
http://p1.bikepics.com/2012%5C12%5C12%5Cbikepics-2489581-200.jpg

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by verslagen1 on 12/12/12 at 08:11:53

wow, that's a lot of salt. ;D

Jeepers!.. :-?....-Serow

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by arteacher on 12/12/12 at 12:24:25

5552445D5D310 wrote:

arteacher,
How about an update? Find anything really good without the salt load?

Merry Christmas
http://p1.bikepics.com/2012%5C12%5C12%5Cbikepics-2489581-200.jpg

Not doing so well, but I have reduced my salt intake by half of what it was, I think. A food chain up here (Loblaws) has there own line of popular foods called "Presidents choice". They also have a much smaller line called "blue menu" which is healthier, and usually cheaper, than their regular stuff. For example they have a couple of soups with 140 mg of salt instead of 500-900 mg in regular soups, lower sugar and fat stuff too.
FYI One of the worlds largest producers of salt (Sifto) is in Goderich Ontario, about a two hour drive from me.

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by mpescatori on 12/14/12 at 09:54:26

535858515D525349483C0 wrote:

"Do NOT dress your salads with bluecheese or 1000Island (superfat anyway) use olive oil and wine vinegar instead; to make your salad tastier, add thin slices of peeled apple and carrots."
I make a dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, prepared mustard, dehydrated onion and garlic, oregano, basil, a pinch of salt, a bit of sugar, and water. It is very good. If I want a lighter flavour I will use red wine vinegar instead.
An aside: My Italian grandfather taught me to make wine. (he used to make 250 gal a year). The first time I tried I harvested the grapes myself, brought them home, and went out to get the sugar. While I was out my wife thought she would do me a favour and washed the grapes, thereby removing all the natural yeast. I didn't know this and made 5 gal of red wine vinegar. ;D

Art, why do you need sugar in a salad dressing ? :-?

And water ? with all the vinegar already 95% water ??? :-X

Stick to the ingredients you list, avoid the sugar and water, try it. ;)

As for soups, I make my own.

Vegetable soup? Potatoes, carrots, spinach, brussels sprouts, string beans, ordinary beans, peas, chick peas, lentils... you name it, you can use it !
nd, you can avoid the salt, simply add spices and herbs and a handful of rice in the end, boil for the last 10 minutes, ready to serve!

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by kimchris1 on 12/15/12 at 08:47:53

I do hope your having some success "shaking the salt."
It isn't easy to break old habits, yet you can do it.
Also limiting your sugar intake will help as well.
You will begin to feel better before you know it.
If your unable to stop all at once, try cutting back on
the useage. Before you realize it, you won't be reaching
for the salt.
Also if you keep a salt shaker on the table, try removing and
keep the pepper along with other spices.
Best of luck and if I can be of any more help, let me know.. :) kim

Title: Re: Salt substitute?
Post by Boofer on 12/17/12 at 14:07:45

Artteacher, there are forums all over the place for about anything you can think of. Check out a few and settle on one you like. They will likely have recipes for people in your predicament. Also, places like Mayo Clinic and other medical giants have good resources on ways to help fluid retention. While we can offer some help, you are going to have to see what works for you. Any disability or chronic condition requires you to be proactive. And be sure to offer feedback to your Dr of any changes good or bad. Good luck. :)