Reprogramming your taste buds

HealthyChanges2010

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Why the Government Is Measuring Your Salt Intake

Did you know that only 11 percent of the sodium in our diet comes from salt we shake onto our food, either before eating or while cooking? It’s true. Most of the salt in our diet —roughly 77 percent—is added at the factory in the prepared and processed foods we eat.

What does that mean? If you never pick up a salt shaker, you will still get way more than your recommended daily amount of sodium, just from the packaged foods you eat. And the more salt you eat, the more your taste buds come to rely on it for flavor.

Switch from a high-salt diet to a more natural diet, and yes, foods will initially taste blander. So you crave more salt—at the expense of your health.

That’s why the federal government has recently rolled out an unprecedented proposal to lower Americans’ sodium consumption by 20 percent. It’s called the National Salt Reduction Initiative, and it could help save your life.

Most doctors recommend the average healthy adult consume between 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day. People with diabetes need to aim for the low end of that range—between 1,500 and 1,800 mg—or about a teaspoon. Why the restraint? When used to excess, salt is particularly dangerous for people with diabetes, since they are more prone to diseases of the circulatory system. Salt is strongly linked to high blood pressure, which can lead to kidney disease, heart disease and stroke.

Yet Americans typically eat about 4,000 mg of sodium per day. That’s nearly double what we should eat. A recent study by Stanford University found that if we simply reduced the country’s salt intake by 10 percent, it would prevent half a million strokes and heart attacks a year—and save more than $32 billion in national medical costs!

That’s why the government has stepped in. The National Salt Reduction Initiative is working with food companies and restaurants, educating them on the dangers of sodium, and asking them to voluntarily commit to reducing salt in their products. So far, sixteen companies, including H.J. Heinz Co., Kraft Foods Inc. and Starbucks, plan to cut the amount of sodium in their food. Subway has cut their sodium levels by almost 30 percent in their European stores and plans to cut them here in the U.S., too.

The Initiative’s goal is to cut the amount of salt in over 60 types of packaged food and 25 categories of restaurant food by 25 percent over the next five years. But don’t rely on the government or food manufacturers to solve the salt problem for you. Reprogramming your taste buds to want less salt is hard, but it’s worth doing. Remember: We’ve been trained to desire salt in our foods. Eat natural, fresh foods, and use herbs and spices well, and you will go a long way toward reducing your sodium intake, with no sacrifice at all in flavor.

Taken from 'Reverse Diabetes newsletter'

wilkypoo

Thanks for this post. I am a diabetic and found this very informative.

seczneyd

Thank you for posting this. I don't know that I used that much salt to begin with, but I notice other changes like... craving less sweet - probably because I'm not taking in as much salt!

cobygrey

WOW. How knew?

pfenixa

I'd heard inklings that the government was going to work on reducing sodium in processed foods, thanks for the article with some more info on the subject. I think it's great. :drinker:

Becka77

I quit adding salt to my food a few years ago. It took a while to get used to it and at first the food did taste bland, but eventually the food will start to taste even better because it's not masked by salt. Eventually packaged food will start to taste too salty too and you won't want to eat it anymore.

questionablemethods

I refuse to stop cooking with salt because it really does help boost and meld flavors so much. I use lots of other herbs and spices, but salt and pepper are a necessity. Granted, it is just a PINCH.

I doubt any serious chef would ever cut it out entirely (not that I am a serious chef -- but I do love to cook). With only a couple exceptions, I eat pretty cleanly. I buy ingredients for meals at the grocery store, not the meals themselves. I find it pretty easy to stay under the recommended amount. I guess I've always figured that excess sodium in the American diet was coming from packaged foods and not from the tiny pinch of salt that I add while I am over the stove.

Behavior_Modification

Thanks for the post Becca. I have found this true of sugar as well. Things are so much sweeter now than they were 4 months ago.

Ileanak

Eliminating salt makes the world taste better. Trying to convince loved ones that they can salt to taste AFTER they have had their first bite at the dinner table is frustrating, to say the least!

I follow a mostly raw food diet, and I cook 90% of my meals from scratch. Doing this keeps all of my bad foods down to a level that has kept my cholesterol in the 120's. And although I don't track my sodium (because I don't eat naturally salty foods and I don't add it to my cooking) on a regular basis, I added it to my food log here... historically, I stay comfortably under 900g of sodium per day.

I will say, I love to cook, and if I see a chef prepares a recipe/or find one online, I will remake it without salt. If it really doesn't work, I will add a third of what is called for in the recipe. If it still doesn't work, I drop the recipe...lol

Doing my part now to help my loved ones see the salt free world!

Best of luck to you all!

ileana

HealthyChanges2010

Thanks for this post. I am a diabetic and found this very informative.

I too found that part interesting, I didn't realize 1800-ish was a safer number for us. But reading it did make sense when they explained more in detail.

I think when you already have health issues it makes a much bigger difference if you stay toward the lower amount, least that's what I got out of the article.

Becca:flowerforyou: