Reducing the amount of salt, fat and sugar in the typical American diet can help reduce all sorts of negative health effects brought on by the way most American eat. For me, getting out the salt, fat and sugar became a must after having an angioplasty in 2012. I wrote in the early days of this blog about cleaning out my pantry of high-salt, high-fat, high-sugar offerings.
More than three years into the process of redefining how I shop, cook and eat, I thought it would be a good time for an update on what a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar pantry can look like. Here’s a look at mine today.
Reviewing it from left to right, the canned tomatoes are all no-salt-added. Always check the labels, far too many brands adds tons of salt to mask the fact they use low-quality, poor-tasting tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes from Italy usually have no salt added, but always check the labels to be sure.
Next is a can of spray-on olive oil which I use for cooking fish. Coat your frying pan with it instead of butter or something worse like lard. Nutritionists call olive oil a good fat. That’s always subject to change since nutritionists keep changing their recommendations, but for now, enjoy it.
Next come all the low-salt, low-sugar condiments I now use, including a low-salt, low-sugar ketchup and low-salt, low-sugar dressings and marinades. Last is a bottle of Italian olive oil which I use on salads with balsamic vinegar (not pictured). Also not visible are some salt-free chicken stock boxes.
All this shows you can get the sat, fat and sugar out of the products you use to add flavor to your home-cooked recipes. Enjoy.
John
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 