Irwin
Well-known Member
- Location
- Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
My wife isn't supposed to eat any salt, or to at least limit her salt intake. But food is so bland without salt. Are salt substitutes any good?
Salt substitute
- Thread starter Irwin
- Start date
terry123
Well-known Member
- Location
- Houston, Tx.
Not to me . I would rather use less salt than cut it out completely. Some of the seasoning blends are okay but I would rather have a smaller amount of the real thing.
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
I agree !
Nathan
SF VIP
- Location
- High Desert- Calif.
I totally cut out salt in order to save my life, and haven't looked back. Exception: Nuts...unsalted peanuts or cashews are just yukky.
fmdog44
Well-known Member
- Location
- Houston, Texas
"No Salt" I have used it for decades. There are others, just go online to see. I just ordered some from Walmart.
Last edited:
Oris Borloff
Member
Acidic things like vinegar, or citrus juice. Freshly ground pepper, of all varieties as well as ground chilis and even granulated garlic.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
Unsalted almonds, Brazil nuts and walnuts are really good, though. Those are what I eat. They don't even need a *little* salt.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
Yes, I agree. For me, vinager and citrus juice have too much of a punch on/in some foods, but cayenne pepper has a salty quality, especially if you use a little garlic powder with it.
officerripley
Well-known Member
- Location
- Porlock, Calif
For years, I used a salt substitute called Nu-Salt, this one:
But developed an allergy to it, I guess; extreme fatigue, so bad I could hardly move, have checked a few times, going on and off it and this product (100 percent potassium chloride) was what was doing it. So now I just use real salt sparingly.
But developed an allergy to it, I guess; extreme fatigue, so bad I could hardly move, have checked a few times, going on and off it and this product (100 percent potassium chloride) was what was doing it. So now I just use real salt sparingly.
OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
Devi
Well-known Member
- Location
- East WA USA
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
Yep, there's just no good substitute for salt. Just use less, or start seasoning your food without it; try different combinations of lively seasonings until you find a combination you like.
Irwin
Well-known Member
- Location
- Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I was just reading the Amazon reviews for that and most people rated it favorably, but there were a few who complained of an aftertaste and some who got an upset stomach.
Maybe I'll just cut down on salt for me and eliminate it for my wife, since I'm doing all the cooking these days.
Unfortunately there are no really good single resources for cutting out sodium. Lots of people will tell you how to cook without, or with little, sodium, but that takes time and effort. But what about bread? Peanut butter? What I've learned is that it's a process, learning what has sodium and what doesn't. And what tastes ok and what doesn't.
Example: Wheat Thins have 200mg of salt in 15 crackers. Hint of Salt Wheat Thins have 55mg and taste absolutely as good.
By the way, you *do not* eliminate all salt. You need 500mg a day of sodium, just like you need some potassium, etc.
So here is a brain dump of stuff that I've learned.
First the good news. You can eat almost all vegetables and fruits. They have little to no sodium. However, for salads you're pretty much going to run with oil and vinegar. Most other salad dressings are packed with sodium.
More good news. You can eat almost all the desert you want. A one ounce Hershey bar has about 30mg of sodium.
Now the bad news: Forget any prepared soup. Even the 'low sodium' ones have massive amounts. If you want soup you have to make you own.
Bread: Ezekiel makes a bread that they call low sodium, but it's actually no sodium. It's bland, but if you're putting jelly on it it won't matter much. Another surprising one is Kings Hawaiian Bread. It's not no sodium, but has less than 1/2 the sodium of almost all other breads. The good news they also make rolls, hamburger and hot dog buns.
Peanut butter: Low Sodium 'Natural' Jif. Comes in crunchy and smooth.
Cheese is very difficult. But Swiss has about 70% less sodium than almost any other kind.
Corn tortillas have little or no sodium. There are no sodium tortilla chips available, but you'll have to look for them. A little Gringo Green Mountain salsa for dipping and this is a very cheap (i.e. low sodium) snack.
Rice has almost no sodium. But forget soy sauce, even the low sodium ones are in the hundreds of milligrams. You'll need to come up with your own flavorings.
Restaurants:
Restaurants are tough. Many of them have massive amounts of sodium in their food. If you're used to eating out, that's something you'll have to cut back on. But there are work arounds. If you go to a steak restaurant you can ask them to cook the steak without salt. You can then put all the pepper you want on it at the table. Add a baked potato with sour cream and a salad without croutons or cheese and oil and vinegar dressing and the whole meal is very reasonable.
I've thought seriously of putting together a website about stuff you can buy at the store, buy at the fast food restaurant that are lower in sodium. It's all fine and good to cook delicious meals without sodium. There are several cookbooks out there. But if everyone wanted to cook for an hour every night, McDonald's wouldn't exist.
Example: Wheat Thins have 200mg of salt in 15 crackers. Hint of Salt Wheat Thins have 55mg and taste absolutely as good.
By the way, you *do not* eliminate all salt. You need 500mg a day of sodium, just like you need some potassium, etc.
So here is a brain dump of stuff that I've learned.
First the good news. You can eat almost all vegetables and fruits. They have little to no sodium. However, for salads you're pretty much going to run with oil and vinegar. Most other salad dressings are packed with sodium.
More good news. You can eat almost all the desert you want. A one ounce Hershey bar has about 30mg of sodium.
Now the bad news: Forget any prepared soup. Even the 'low sodium' ones have massive amounts. If you want soup you have to make you own.
Bread: Ezekiel makes a bread that they call low sodium, but it's actually no sodium. It's bland, but if you're putting jelly on it it won't matter much. Another surprising one is Kings Hawaiian Bread. It's not no sodium, but has less than 1/2 the sodium of almost all other breads. The good news they also make rolls, hamburger and hot dog buns.
Peanut butter: Low Sodium 'Natural' Jif. Comes in crunchy and smooth.
Cheese is very difficult. But Swiss has about 70% less sodium than almost any other kind.
Corn tortillas have little or no sodium. There are no sodium tortilla chips available, but you'll have to look for them. A little Gringo Green Mountain salsa for dipping and this is a very cheap (i.e. low sodium) snack.
Rice has almost no sodium. But forget soy sauce, even the low sodium ones are in the hundreds of milligrams. You'll need to come up with your own flavorings.
Restaurants:
Restaurants are tough. Many of them have massive amounts of sodium in their food. If you're used to eating out, that's something you'll have to cut back on. But there are work arounds. If you go to a steak restaurant you can ask them to cook the steak without salt. You can then put all the pepper you want on it at the table. Add a baked potato with sour cream and a salad without croutons or cheese and oil and vinegar dressing and the whole meal is very reasonable.
I've thought seriously of putting together a website about stuff you can buy at the store, buy at the fast food restaurant that are lower in sodium. It's all fine and good to cook delicious meals without sodium. There are several cookbooks out there. But if everyone wanted to cook for an hour every night, McDonald's wouldn't exist.
