15 Tips for Eating Less Salt

For a really long time my mom did not eat salt in anything. This wasn't a terribly new concept to me since my aunt always eats foods without salt and without added salt. However, eating no salt is not my favorite thing. Eating less salt is good for you. Most foods have way too much salt in them, especially at restaurants or in processed/packaged foods from the store. It is difficult to eat with no salt in foods, but not impossible. If you have looked at my recipes closely you will notice that I almost never have salt listed in the ingredients. This is because you don't need salt for something to taste good. Yes it may taste better with salt, but if you are trying to cut back on salt this is a simple way to start...don't add it to recipes. Eating less salt helps with your blood pressure so this is an important area to consider.

Tips

1. Canned Foods: search for labels saying "no added salt".

2. Don't add salt to foods when you are cooking at the stove.

3. In recipes, don't add salt. You can't even tell a difference.

4. At restaurants: ask for no salt or seasoning on your food such as fries, burgers, etc. (McDonalds and Braums will fix them for you with no salt.)

5. Ketchup is loaded with salt! Try to avoid it when you can. Some things need it, others not so much.

6. Avoid prepackaged foods in the frozen section. They have much more salt then necessary!

7. Eat fresh vegetables instead of cooked or fried.

8. Make your own bread.

9. Look at labels when shopping to see how much sodium is in the food, then avoid high sodium items.

10. Cook your own beans with no added salt to use in different recipes instead of canned beans.

11. Eating Out: avoid places where you can't choose what is in your food. Example: at Qdoba Mexican Grill you can choose from a variety of foods and create your own dish. You can also choose to have it "naked" which means no burrito. The food still has salt in it, but you can choose options which will make your food have less salt.

12. Look for unsalted nuts instead of nuts with salt on them. I like the unsalted cashews I found at Dollar Tree.

13. Season foods with herbs or spices. Cumin is good in a lot of foods if you like a Mexican hint, Oregano is good if you like an Italian hint. For basic flavors add fresh cooked onion or garlic.

14. Use garlic powder or onion powder instead of garlic salt or onion salt.

15. Take the salt shaker off the table.

Links

Braums

Qdoba Mexican Grill

http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/highbloodpressur/a/hbptipslesssalt.htm

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