Sucker for sodium!!!

improvstitute
improvstitute Posts: 45
edited September 24 in Food and Nutrition
I confess. I am a sucker for sodium. I am addicted to salt and I need to cut it out of my diet. I know that it is horrible for me and it is inhibiting my weight loss. However, my brain craves it and when it doesn't get what it wants, it devises evil plans to wreck my weight loss efforts. I try to go w/o but food just tastes lifeless, to me, without it. I love to cook, but I am a bit of a picky eater...esp with veggies. I can't stomach most of them with salt.

What I need is a REALLY GOOD SUBSTITUTE. I have tried salt substitute but it tasted "chemically" and I have tried some Ms. Dash varieties but they don't taste salty. So...I am tapping into the infinite wisdom of the MFP community to provide me with a viable option. Please help!!! :-)

Replies

  • cindy4mica
    cindy4mica Posts: 777 Member
    sorry, can't help - if it were possible i'd keep a salt lick in my purse. let me know what you find out. good luck!
  • amylary
    amylary Posts: 46 Member
    sea salt is better than regular salt at least . i have swiched to that and am just trying to be carefull and slowy get better about it and have noticed a change in water retention since changing things . already in the past month its gotten easier to not have to have it
  • darwintheboxer
    darwintheboxer Posts: 51
    I don't have a suggestion for a substitute unfortunately. For me, cutting sodium has mostly been accomplished by reducing the amount of processed foods I consume. What I can tell you is that I have heard numerous times that your taste buds will eventually adjust after lowering your salt intake. Essentially you have become desensitized to salt but as you use less of it, you will become sensitive to it again, and should find a little salt goes a long way.
  • oshmom
    oshmom Posts: 78 Member
    Try Fox Point Seasoning, but Penzey's spices. We have a store here, but it is available on their web site. I put it on all veggies, scrambled eggs, homemade soups, chicken, everything!

    http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysfoxpoint.html
  • TankGirl1985
    TankGirl1985 Posts: 3
    Most salt substitutes aren't that much better than salt. Generally they are just replacing the sodium with potassium chloride which may decrease your sodium intake but heavily increasing the amount of potassium you take in. It may not seem like a big deal but if you use it a lot it can increase you potassium level to the point where you may have cradiac issues. Sea salt is a better option than regular salt but still relativly high in sodium.

    So i guess I dont really have an answer for you. :(
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
    Hey I grew up in a high fat, high salt diet back from my home province, as a culture we probably had the worse diet know to man lol, anyhow I was hooked on salt I had it with every meal and I still love salty snacks here is what I did to get off the salt train;
    1) eat nuts, funny as it sounds unsalted almonds, peanuts, and pumpkin seeds help here.
    2) day by day start cutting down on the salt with each meal, it weans you off of it.
    3) drink more water especially ice water.
    4) switch to foods that have less salt content once you are off the salt shaker.

    if you are exercising then you will need to add a little salt to your diet, I usually add a small amount to my eggs when I make my monring powerhouse omelette. As an added bit I created a mens group where we offer eachother support and diet/exercise advice feel free to add me and check out my blog about things for men and my own personal experiences.
  • missymomof4
    missymomof4 Posts: 2
    I carry a salt shaker in my lunch bag and my car. Food just doesnt taste right without salt. I have light salt and I use sea salt some. I hope there are some good answers on here because I don't have one. Sorry. My dad raises cattle and I told him when I was little I wish I could have a salt block like the cattle did. I have heard it might be a defiency in my diet but I don't really know.
  • missymomof4
    missymomof4 Posts: 2
    I carry a salt shaker in my lunch bag and my car. Food just doesnt taste right without salt. I have light salt and I use sea salt some. I hope there are some good answers on here because I don't have one. Sorry. My dad raises cattle and I told him when I was little I wish I could have a salt block like the cattle did. I have heard it might be a defiency in my diet but I don't really know.
  • dave_in_delaware
    dave_in_delaware Posts: 49 Member
    I'm a huge salt-o-holic myself. I love salt on so many things, even things that already have some salt (sodium) in them. It's a sickness for me. My wife picks on me and tells people "he salts his salt" which is probably true to some degree...

    I have no idea what a decent substitute for salt is.

    I'm sure I'd get used to less salt on things if I put my mind to it, but being a Super Taster I'm not sure my taste buds want me to. For me, there's almost no such thing as "too salty."
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
    http://www.healthandnutritiontips.net/salt_cravings/salt_cravings.html good link for the salt lovers like myself.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,330 Member
    As someone who cut salt out, I pretty much had to, I can confirm that eventually you don't miss it. In fact, I have started to enjoy many foods without salt that I used to think had to have salt. I do use LOTS of spices now. I seek to not use any salt if I can avoid it, or minimize it if I can't avoid it completely.
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