I love salt!

MandyH1991
MandyH1991 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I seriously over salt everything. Doesn't matter what it is! I am eating lemon pepper salted green beans right now. Any suggestions on healthier options?

Replies

  • gostumpy
    gostumpy Posts: 156 Member
    Lower it gradually... cutting it out cold turkey will end up in fail, usually...

    My only advice is to cut it out a little at a time :)
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Cut back some, use garlic salt (I think it has less sodium) and drink LOTS of water.

    I'm there with you. Love salt on my apples, watermelon.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I love salt too! And we need salt - I live in a hot climate and I work out 6 days a week - that's a lot of sweating, and that salt is important. I used to track it, but finally stopped - it doesn't even show on my daily diary any more, and it hasn't set me back on progress at all. I drink plenty of water, so it's all good (of course I don't have any health issues that warrant me watching my salt intake, either).

    If you tend to over-salt things, try using half the usual amount and see how things taste. You can always add a little more, but you can't take it back out. :tongue:
  • MandyH1991
    MandyH1991 Posts: 65 Member
    I'll try :) it's so bad that I sometimes just put some garlic salt in my hand and lick it! Haha, no joke.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,150 Member
    Do you have a medical condition, such as high blood pressure, where you have to watch/limit your sodium? If not, I wouldn't bother with it. If I didn't have to keep my sodium <2000, I'd be a much happier person.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    Ditto! I currently use Morton's lite salt. It's just one of my bad habits and it's not causing me any health issues currently so I'm not too concerned about it.
  • AmandaLY17
    AmandaLY17 Posts: 184 Member
    You are not alone! I'll pour a little in the palm of my hand and eat it too. There is so much conflicting science out there about salt, but I figure if you dont have a medical reason to lower the sodium you dont need to go crazy with cutting it out. Maybe do like someone else suggested and start by putting only half the amount of salt on stuff and see how that goes. Reevaluate and adjust after a couple weeks :)
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    I'll try :) it's so bad that I sometimes just put some garlic salt in my hand and lick it! Haha, no joke.

    LOL OMG I do this too. My husband has to stop me from doing it but I do it with just regular salt. I was putting salt on absolutely everything as well but I have been working faithfully to reduce it. I know a new study came out that said the recommended sodium intake is probably set lower than it needs to be, but it's up for debate.

    I have started using salt as a "treat" and will not otherwise add extra salt to things. I've replaced my salt and cucumber snack with cucumber and hot sauce. I use garlic and onion powder instead of salt on my salad. And some things I just omit the salt completely now and don't have any substitutions. if I'm really craving it, when I slice my cucumbers I might load a ton on to one slice and get that salty enjoyment and then not salt the rest of them.

    I do worry about the effects it has on water retention and bloating as well as more serious and potential long term effects - i.e. high blood pressure etc
  • MandyH1991
    MandyH1991 Posts: 65 Member
    Oh good! I try to be sneaky about it like I am doing drugs or something! I thought I was the only one & no.. no condition that limits my salt intake.
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
    Nothing really wrong with salt unless you have a medical issue and then you might have to be careful. I lowered my blood pressure from 142/96 (ish) to normal levels through losing weight and exercising. I am routinely at around 4000 mg sodium. (btw I dont advise ppl with high blood pressure to ignore sodium, I was just dumb and reckless. The higher your blood pressure, the more effect lowering your sodium will have)

    Here is an interesting meta-anlysis of sodium studies:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24651634 (full text not available free :( )

    The conclusion (well one part of it) was that there is a U shaped relation between sodium and health related issues. What this means is too low or too high sodium intake are both potentially dangerous.

    Also from that study - the range of healthy intakes are far more generous than MFP (or FDA) guidelines: 2,645 mg to 4,945 mg
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    It's not exactly the same, but I'm trying to cut down my sugar intake (family history of diabetes). The main problem is that I loveee my espresso, but it needs some sugar. I've been working gradually. I used to put probably around 1.5-2 tsp in. A month ago I started measuring 1tsp, and it tasted quite bitter, but I stuck with it and got used to it. Once it tasted normal, I cut down to 3/4 tsp. It tasted bitter and gross again, until I got used to it and it tasted normal. Repeating this, I'm now down to 1/2 tsp and it tastes normal to me.

    Maybe try an approach like this to cutting salt?
  • MandyH1991
    MandyH1991 Posts: 65 Member
    It's not exactly the same, but I'm trying to cut down my sugar intake (family history of diabetes). The main problem is that I loveee my espresso, but it needs some sugar. I've been working gradually. I used to put probably around 1.5-2 tsp in. A month ago I started measuring 1tsp, and it tasted quite bitter, but I stuck with it and got used to it. Once it tasted normal, I cut down to 3/4 tsp. It tasted bitter and gross again, until I got used to it and it tasted normal. Repeating this, I'm now down to 1/2 tsp and it tastes normal to me.

    Maybe try an approach like this to cutting salt?


    Acutally, I used to have the same problem with my coffee! I barely ever put sugar in mine now. I realized that I didn't loooovee coffee, I loved the sugar =p
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    It's not exactly the same, but I'm trying to cut down my sugar intake (family history of diabetes). The main problem is that I loveee my espresso, but it needs some sugar. I've been working gradually. I used to put probably around 1.5-2 tsp in. A month ago I started measuring 1tsp, and it tasted quite bitter, but I stuck with it and got used to it. Once it tasted normal, I cut down to 3/4 tsp. It tasted bitter and gross again, until I got used to it and it tasted normal. Repeating this, I'm now down to 1/2 tsp and it tastes normal to me.

    Maybe try an approach like this to cutting salt?


    Acutally, I used to have the same problem with my coffee! I barely ever put sugar in mine now. I realized that I didn't loooovee coffee, I loved the sugar =p

    Very common! But one can't really drink espresso unless you actually like the coffee taste. :P
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,077 Member
    Do you have a medical condition, such as high blood pressure, where you have to watch/limit your sodium? If not, I wouldn't bother with it. If I didn't have to keep my sodium <2000, I'd be a much happier person.
    This. I don't bother counting sodium. And neither do millions of other Asians who put soy sauce and MSG on everything they cook and eat.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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