Hey, I Don’t Use the Salt Shaker!
“Oh, I stopped putting salt on any food.”
I have heard this said so many times from people over the years. “Ok, so you may have done that, but what about the amount of salt that was already in the food you are eating?” I respond.
I’m pretty sure that we all had to learn the basics regarding Nutrition during a Health class in high school or college, but tend to forget about it after the class is over and we’ve managed to memorize enough to get an A or B in the class and thought, “that was an easy A.” What happens to us? We forget about what we memorized because we actually didn’t have to learn and live it everyday.
I have found that studying about the the effects of what you put in your body is very interesting and I that now that I’m an adult and it really matters at this point in my life, that’s why it is making a lot more sense. Hopefully, I can help you understand it better too. Throughout this post you will find it sprinkled with images to help retain what you are relearning about salt/sodium. I am a visual learner myself.
The amount of sodium that is recommend for normal, healthy people is 2,300 or less and 1,500 for people with heart issues and high blood pressure . I’m in that category. Most Americans consume over 3,500 a day without really knowing it!
I researched the question, “Is salt the same as sodium?” and found an article on a the Canadian Liver Foundation website that addresses this question.
No. Table salt (sodium chloride) is the most common form of sodium. Others include: sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), sodium benzoate (preservative), sodium cyclamate (sweetener) and sodium nitrate (preservative), which goes into all our processed foods.
Table salt is about 40% sodium. One teaspoon of salt contains approximately 2300 milligrams (mg) of sodium.
Salt is sodium chloride and you need a certain balance of sodium and water in your body at all times to work properly. Too much salt or too much water in your system will upset the balance. Sodium attracts water like a sponge, so it increases fluid in the body, straining the heart and kidneys and increasing blood pressure. High sodium intake can increase body weight.* Lots of people who are trying to lose weight cut back on calories only. However, losing weight would happen by just decreasing the amount of your sodium intake because the water will be removed from your body too which adds a lot of excess weight. I lost 10 pounds and probably got rid of about 4 liters of fluid.
According to an article written by Nancy Hearn (www.waterbenefitshealth.com/water-and-salt.html), she confirms that water itself helps regulate the water content inside our cells which helps deliver the needed nutrients to the cells to remove toxins from those cells. After the water is inside the cells, potassium’s job is to hold it there. Remember, potassium comes from lots of fruits and vegetables.
Salt’s main role in the regulation of water is to keep some water outside the cells. Dr. Batmanghelidj, author of Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, offered an easy analogy when he wrote: “Basically, there are two oceans of water in the body: One ocean is held inside the cells of the body and the other ocean is held outside the cells. Good health depends on a delicate balance between the volumes of these two oceans.”
Therefore, maintaining a balance of the two oceans in our body is achieved by (1) drinking enough water daily, (2) adding a moderate amount of natural salt to our diet, and (3) eating a variety of potassium-rich fruits and vegetables.
“Okay, so we know that adding salt to our food is not good and that drinking water is essential, but then where else could I be getting so much sodium from?” you ask.
From what I have learned in doing my research, approximately 77% of our sodium comes in processed foods. Remember from above, sodium nitrate is a preservative. High levels of sodium may seem “hidden” in packaged food, particularly when a food doesn’t “taste” salty – but sodium is not hidden on the Nutrition Facts Label!
These images I found while Google Searching “sodium in food” images help illustrate the types of food that we see everyday and have in our pantries right now. Just look at the breakdown of how much sodium is in an item.
It seems like such bad news for us, doesn’t it? But there are lots of alternative choices at the grocery stores. Sometimes looking at the front of the label is a great place to start if you know what you are looking for.
Below are images that you should look for that the front of label can help to quickly identify foods that may contain less sodium.
There are many, many types of foods that I have found over the past several months that are salt free or low sodium alternatives and I continue to scour the grocery isles and internet looking for these items. Sometimes, they are honestly just not worth it. I have started quite a collection on Pinterest and have created my own variations of current recipes which I have enjoyed doing as well.
Good luck to you as you think or start about cutting back on your own intake of salt and please provide any comments or recipes you have found.
I am starting to compile a list of alternative Low Sodium choices on this website. 
Sources:
*http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-62298/How-salt-affects-body.html#ixzz3T9okwh1W
http://www.liver.ca/liver-disease/having-liver-disease/healthy-living-guidelines/sodium-guidelines.aspx