BS: Salt substitutes?

Subject: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 03:37 PM

So, what do you use instead of salt?

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 03:47 PM

I use salt. Lots less of it. I've tasted many of the substitutes and they taste like substitutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 03:50 PM

Yeah, me, too. We do use Mrs. Dash, Mrs. Bragg's vinegar, lemon juice, and a pinch only of sea salt once in awhile. My tastes buds have changed so much, i cannot eat any of the processed foods and/or fast food...it's all way too salty!

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 04:13 PM

Powdered seaweed can be used as a salt sunstitute, AND, it's good for you

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 04:48 PM

I've never tried an actual salt substitute, but I cook without any salt. My husband's taste is so sensitive, I wouldn't even try potassium chloride. We tasted that in geology lab. They say it's bitter; I say it's worse than that.

We do need some salt. I could name you three people I know who had to go to the hospital because they naively cut all salt from their diet. You need a little over 1/2 teaspoon a day to survive. We came from seawater, and salt is part of our existence.

The best way to cut down on salt is to do your own cooking. I like spices, herbs and rich flavors - onions, garlic, citrus, a little wine. Then I sprinkle on a few grains of salt at the table. Salt on the outside of the food is much more noticeable and enjoyable.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 05:07 PM

John... would dulse do/be the same?

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 05:42 PM

I think so g, check it out.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: Janie
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 07:59 PM

I don't use salt substitutes but I do otherwise season most of my recipes a lot more highly than I did before I stopped adding salt, almost 30 years ago.

Kelp, seaweed, tamari, etc. add some sodium but not nearly as much as adding "salt" and seaweed and kelp both also contain some iodine.

You will find your tastebuds will soon adjust.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Jul 12 - 09:00 PM

There is no substitute for salt- but intake should be limited to 2300 mg/day, or 1500 mg/day if you are over 51 (diet guidelines reproduced at Mayo Clinic website).
Most foods already include salt in their makeup, so added salt is often too much. Most Americans get about 3400 mg/day.

Dulse analysis
Protein- 21.5g/100g
Carbohydrate- 44.6g/100g
Sodium- 1740mg/100g
Potassium- 7820mg/100g
Iodine- 5.2mg/100g

See table for other content
http://www.grandmanannb.com/dulse.htm

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 Jul 12 - 09:11 AM

dulse (d ls). n. An edible red alga (Palmaria palmata) that grows on rocky shores on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

==========
Another way I control salt is by making bread at home in the bread machne. Our first machine was free; the second cost $5 in a thrift shop. The bread is less salty and tastes better.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 11 Jul 12 - 07:19 PM

When we use salt, we use Salt-Sense (33% less sodium by volume; it's a flake-shaped crystal that is less dense than common salt).

But mostly, we don't use salt. After cutting back to a reasonable and healthy amount, almost everything tastes too salty. I still require salt on popcorn, corn on the cob (or frozen corn) and around the rim of my margarita. But prepared foods and a lot of cheeses are all way too salty tasting.

I use a sodium-free baking powder, too, in all my baking.

Tom seldom eats pickles or olives (and the rest of what he eats is very low sodium), so he can get away with dill pickles in my tartar sauce or the occasional tapanade or Moroccan chicken with lemons and olives (no salt added other than the rinsed green olives). And he avoids the salted rim when he has a margarita.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 04:50 AM

The reason most processed foods are high in salt is that they use the cheapest possible ingredients they can get away with. In general, cheap equals flavourless. A heavy dose of salt masks the lack of flavour (to some extent). If you do your own cooking, as leeneia suggests, you can use use good-quality ingredients that actually taste of something and you don't need as much salt, especially if if you add some fresh herbs too.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:21 PM

If you do your own cooking, as leeneia suggests, you can use use good-quality ingredients

Assuming that you can afford them. Not all of us can.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:33 PM

Paul, I cook from scratch all the time, personally I find it far cheaper (albeit more time consuming) than using ready made food products.

Good quality IMO doesn't have to mean expensive, it can mean a sack of red potatoes, a sack of basmati rice, a sack of onions, a bulk bag of lentils, a bulk bag of brown rice.. and so-on. All of these items last us months and cost us peanuts.

I would suggest looking to where you source and rethinking what 'quality' means. For me it means simple and decent food stuffs, as natural and unprocessed as dammit - then you can go crazy with the herbs and spices at home.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:36 PM

There is no substitute for salt that isn't salty. Not necessarily the same salt as common or garden salt, but that's another matter.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:54 PM

Well said, CS.

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:58 PM

Nothing replaces salt. Like others we use less and we also use Himalayan sea salt whicch does have a stronger taste and more minerals.....and its red!


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Jul 12 - 05:36 PM

Well, you can use salt that is mostly or only potassium chloride rather than sodium chloride. It's still a salt,but arguably might avoid some of the risks that too much ordinary salt can cause. Tastes different, mind, but some people find it OK. (And too much potassium can still kill you...)

Subject: RE: BS: Salt substitutes?
From: Stu
Date: 14 Jul 12 - 06:57 AM

To me it's like sugar in tea, once you wean yourself of salt you wonder how you ever ate it. That said, I seem to have weaned myself back on salt, so perhaps it's time for me to start again.