Salt Intake

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Scottnichola
Scottnichola Posts: 23
in Food and Nutrition
Any suggestions for seasoning? I usually get too much salt in my diet even when I don't use it...but sometimes I do want to put alternative seasoning in the food. Lemon is good, as well as garlic. Any other ideas?

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  • Saezimmerman
    Saezimmerman Posts: 93 Member
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    Cumin will add a savory, latin flair to most dishes without adding sodium. Chopped onions, ginger (fresh or powdered), and citrus zest (the colored part of the peel) can add a lot of bright and wonderful flavor to meat or vegetable dishes.
  • Scottnichola
    Scottnichola Posts: 23
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    I actually use Cumin when I make Peruvian Ceviche... been a while though now that I am vegetarian... thanks for the reminder of good alternatives...
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Is there a reason you are concerned about salt? Any health concerns?
  • Scottnichola
    Scottnichola Posts: 23
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    The average american consumes about 3700 milligrams of salt daily. The body has issues eliminating salt and retains water to delete it. The water retention causes high blood pressure, or at least is a significant factor in high blood pressure. So I guess you can say yes I am concerned that too much salt isn't helping . Some people are hypersensitive and retain lots of water. I can go song free for about 3 days and lose lots of water weight.
  • Scottnichola
    Scottnichola Posts: 23
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    Sorry for the misspelling... my voice recognition software does not always work perfectly. thanks for the help.
  • rammsteinsoldier
    rammsteinsoldier Posts: 1,556 Member
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    I have kidney disease so I have to limit my salt. It can be tricky but I have gotten used to things with their natural flavorings. Mrs. Dash makes a lot of seasoning combinations that help and cumin is also a great suggestion. My only real downfall is I still like my butter popcorn with salt.
  • Reedern
    Reedern Posts: 525 Member
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    Any suggestions for seasoning? I usually get too much salt in my diet even when I don't use it...but sometimes I do want to put alternative seasoning in the food. Lemon is good, as well as garlic. Any other ideas?

    The Mrs. Dash seasonings add great flavor and are salt free. There is a good variety of them that you can choose from. Cumin is a good one too.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    I've gone from a salt junkie to not using it at all on my foods, just by being on MFP, the foods I eat now are tasty enough not to need seasoning x
  • JoniBologna
    JoniBologna Posts: 653 Member
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    That all depends on what you're making. I have found it kind of fun to replace all of those seasoning packets for things like tacos, beef stew, fajitas, etc, with actual seasonings. There are tons of fun recipes online you can try that are low sodium!
  • ljclose
    ljclose Posts: 2 Member
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    An avocado without salt, seriously ;) I'm trying to limit my salt intake too, not an easy task. I like the cumin idea, never think about putting it in anything but chili.
  • LuckyAng
    LuckyAng Posts: 1,173 Member
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    OH, I love salt! But it does not love me back *sigh*. Sometimes I use malt vinegar on veggies instead of salt. It's good :)
  • fatguyweightloss
    fatguyweightloss Posts: 145
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    Avoiding processed foods is a good start. I have no issues with salt, seems unless you have an existing medical condition doesn't really do much good or bad to average person. I put a little kosher salt on my meat and eggs but not much other than those and for that a small pinch at most.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    In addition to decreasing your salt, you should be looking at increasing your potassium intake. The two balance out in your body and the average person doesn't get near the 3500 mg which are recommended. I've been having a water retention issue lately so I've actually been trying to hit 3500 mg of potassium per day and I can tell you that it takes some definite planning and attention to do it. There are no OTC supplements over 99 mg so you can't get it from a pill.

    As far as seasonings, there are salt alternatives which are actually made of potassium. I've used one a few times on my veggies these past two weeks. I'll also recommend Mrs. Dash which has a lot of flavor options all salt free. Any fresh or dried herb is also worth trying: rosemary, dill, sage, basil, thyme, etc. Also granulated garlic and onion. Experiment until you find the ones you like.
  • Scottnichola
    Scottnichola Posts: 23
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    Malt vinegar... great idea. Lemon zest... like that one too... I do think I am hypersensitive to salt because I an severely restrict salt for about two days and I will drop about 10 lbs of water....

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