Lower Your Sodium and Still Enjoy Food.

(ThyBlackMan.com) This article is intended for an average reader intending to improve their health. If you are a health practitioner, please feel free to offer your comments as well.

If you are accustomed to sprinkling salt on your food, you might be surprised to learn that the salt cravings that so many of us have learned are not innate. While it is possible to retrain your taste buds to desire less salty foods rather than being compelled to add more salt to uncover hidden flavors in natural foods, there is one more potent, taste hiding factor at play in most processed foods: sodium. Much of the sodium in our diet comes from processed foods like bread, canned soups, pizzas, and cold cuts, affecting heart health, kidney function and blood pressure negatively with each passing day. Here’s what you need to know about salt and sodium and how to enjoy your food with less of both.

Table salt or sodium chloride is what most people refer to when talking about salt. It is made up of approximately 40% sodium and 60% of chloride. It is the sodium found in salt that can have detrimental effects on the body including elevating blood pressure and putting additional strain on the kidneys. In extreme cases the body can even begin to pull calcium from the bones. According to the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, the average American consumes more than 7 times the amount of sodium that the human body requires for proper function of the body (3,400mg versus 500mg).

Sodium in diets is found in processed foods that have been made in a factory before they even get transported to the grocery store and on to your plate. In addition, many restaurant meals are also salty and are commonly served in restaurants. That bread you had for lunch, how about can of soup, that deli turkey that you had in your sandwich — none of them taste salty. But each of them is contributing to your daily total of sodium.

Salt Is an Acquired Taste — and That’s Good News

Here’s the thing about salt: our preference for it is not fixed. In fact, it can be learned. In a series of studies, participants slowly reduced their intake of sodium over the course of several weeks. In as little as a few weeks, participants reported that they could no longer taste the excess sodium that they were used to. Within a few weeks, for example, people found that bland food tasted lovely and became aware of the amount of salt in foods that they once thought to be well seasoned.

If you have ever switched from whole milk to skim milk for example, the first glass of skim milk tasted watery. A month later, whole milk tasted too rich. The same thing happens with salt. Within a few short weeks the palate will have adapted to the reduction in sodium intake. You will get used to not tasting the extra sodium within 4-8 weeks.

Eating flavorless food is a habit and most herbs, citrus, vinegar, garlic, black pepper, smoked paprika and fresh ginger add lots of flavor to food without any sodium.

What Too Much Sodium Actually Does to Your Body

Eating too much sodium puts a strain on the kidneys. It can only excrete what it can, and the excess is left in the blood. The body responds to excess sodium by holding on to water in order to dilute the sodium. Blood vessels are then forced to face more pressure. The blood pressure increases because the heart has to pump blood of greater volume at higher pressure. Eventually the blood vessels can become rigid, leading to heart attacks, strokes and heart failure.

The DASH study is one of the largest diet studies ever conducted. In the study, participants from many different backgrounds were on either a high sodium diet or a reduced-sodium diet and were monitored for blood pressure. People on a reduced-sodium diet were found to have lower blood pressure when they were compared to people that remained on their normal diet. Furthermore, those who followed a reduced-sodium diet in combination with a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products had the greatest decrease in blood pressure. Those who continued to eat a low-sodium diet for 10-15 years were 25% less likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

It does not stop at the heart. A diet of high sodium also can lead to the loss of calcium in your bones, accelerating the development of bone thinning or osteoporosis. Salty foods can also increase the chance of getting stomach cancer, according to The World Cancer Research Fund. People with kidney and liver disease and those who experience other kinds of illness also can suffer more seriously from excessive intake of sodium.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists the typical American’s sources of sodium in the graph below, noting that the salt shaker on your table is not the main contributor of sodium to your diet.

You will also notice that this list does not include fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unseasoned meats and legumes – all unprocessed foods that are naturally low in sodium. A large amount of packaged snacks such as chips, pretzels and crackers are specifically designed to trigger our salt cravings. The more food you cook from scratch will most certainly give you more control over what you eat.

The Potassium Counterbalance You Probably Don’t Know About

The other side of sodium is potassium. Potassium has the reverse effect of sodium. It can decrease blood pressure and create healthy blood vessels. People with the highest sodium to potassium ratios have twice the heart attack mortality as those with the lowest sodium to potassium ratios according to a study published by the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Eating more fruits and vegetables can lower blood pressure. Most of these foods are high in potassium and low in sodium. Here is a list of fruits high in potassium and a list of the high potassium containing vegetables: Sweet Potatoes, Spinach, Beets, Broccoli, Carrots. Other examples of foods high in potassium include white beans, salmon and almond milk.

You don’t have to quit sodium dramatically overnight but rather can start lowering sodium slowly. Start with a few minor changes to your routine and allow time for your taste buds to acclimate to the newer flavors before proceeding to the next change. And trust, it does compound quickly.

Cook more frequently at home. Instead of salt, use lemon juice, fresh herbs or spices to add flavor to your food. Salt is acceptable in small quantities at the end of cooking but use less than the recipe calls for. Look for low-sodium or no-salt versions of canned foods. Most canned and cooked beans are high in sodium. Often 40% or more of the sodium can be removed by rinsing the beans before cooking them.

Ask your server to hold the dressing or sauces in a separate bowl when you are at a restaurant. Compare products of similar kinds when you are at the grocery store to see how much sodium there is in each of them. Some brands of the same soup can differ by as much as 400 mg per serving.

The Payoff: Food That Actually Tastes Like Something

Food tastes better with less sodium. Once your taste buds have adjusted to not needing salt so much, you can taste other flavors too. A roasted carrot tastes sweet. Fresh, raw tomatoes are so bright and wonderful. The whole grain tastes nutty. These flavors are natural and always there. The salt just must be out of the way.

You can enjoy the taste of all kinds of flavors of your favorite foods without over-salting. As Harvard’s Nutrition Source puts it, sodium is not a nutrient that you need to seek out – it finds you. Limiting foods with high amounts of sodium can be healthy for your heart, kidneys and bones. You will even start to enjoy and appreciate the more subtle flavors of many whole foods. For those of you that would like to know more about the challenges of cooking tasty dishes with less salt please consider this writers new book; Lower Your Sodium and Still Enjoy Food; written expressly for those of us cutting back on salt for all the right reasons. This wonderful publication is now available at Amazon.com; Bon appetite.

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