Tag: salt

Fast food warnings from WedMD

WedMD recently sent out a newsletter devoted to eating away from home. Regular readers know I write extensively about the dilemma of trying to find anything that isn’t loaded with fat, salt and sugar on restaurant and fast-food menus. check my eating out page for some tips on how to survive eating away from home.

The Quizno's meatball sub, a salt bomb if ever there was one.
The Quizno’s meatball sub, a salt bomb if ever there was one.

So I was glad to see WebMD weigh in on the topic. My favorite item in the newsletter was this one on the worst sandwiches to get away from home.

 

The Quiznos meatball sub is a former favorite of mine, a favorite from before my angioplasty that is. Seeing it on the worst list was no surprise. It packs 3,580 mgs of salt, basically two days worth on my current diet.

Continue reading “Fast food warnings from WedMD” →

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My low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar pantry

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.

My low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar pantry.
My low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar pantry.

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.

Continue reading “My low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar pantry” →

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Salt and stomach cancer — one more reason to hold the salt

Salt is one of my food enemies, contributing to my high blood pressure and subsequent heart issues that led to my angioplasty in 2012.

I have worked mightily to get salt out of my diet by completely reinventing how I shop in supermarkets and other food stores and by carefully analyzing restaurant menus before eating out.

Salt can lead to stomach cancer, one more reason to get it out of your diet.
Salt can lead to stomach cancer, one more reason to get it out of your diet.

Recently, I came across another good reason to get the salt out of your diet, this article from India linking salt to stomach cancer. Continue reading “Salt and stomach cancer — one more reason to hold the salt” →

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The GMO food labeling battle is reaching fever pitch

The food industry continues to fight efforts to label foods that have genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) even as people across the country continue to push for such labeling. The battle is moving to Washington, D.C., these days as the industry tries to get Congress to do something to prevent a GMO labeling law from going into effect in Vermont.

Here's what food labels could look like in Vermont-- noting GMOs-- unless Congress moves to stop it.
Here’s what food labels could look like in Vermont– noting GMOs– unless Congress moves to stop it.

The latest is detailed in this Associated Press story I read earlier this week. Basically, food companies have to start saying on product labels whether they include GMOs starting in July under the Vermont law. The industry is lobbying Congress to pre-empt state laws on this issue, knowing that a Republican-controlled Congress would likely side with it, just as Republican generally did in coming out against new school lunch nutrition standards.

The U.S. secretary of agriculture has yet to take a position and has been trying to broker a compromise, so it’s not clear how the president would react to a Congressional move to essentially negate the Vermont law. Continue reading “The GMO food labeling battle is reaching fever pitch” →

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Let’s stop the sea salt nonsense

Sea salt has become a cooking darling in recent years, but unfortunately that has come with the myth that it is somehow less salty than salt mined from the ground. Salt is salt folks and if you have high blood pressure, or if you don’t want to get high blood pressure, cut the salt today, period.

Salt is salt, whether from the sea or underground. Cut it from your diet.
Salt is salt, whether from the sea or underground. Cut it from your diet.

I was glad to see this piece in Recordonline.com which tried to debunk the sea salt myths.

“Contrary to some popular belief, sea salt and table salt contain the same amount of sodium chloride. Switching won’t help you with your high blood pressure,” wrote Fred R Cicetti in his column, The Healthy Geezer.

Continue reading “Let’s stop the sea salt nonsense” →

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Here’s what to do with the salt you’re not eating

Cutting salt from your diet is a major part of what this blog is all about. Since trimming my salt intake after a 2012 angioplasty I’ve lost weight and gotten my blood pressure down.

Here are some salt uses that won;t hurt you -- they all involve cleaning.
Here are some salt uses that won’t hurt you — they all involve cleaning.

But we still have salt in the house, for when guests ask for it. It seems to get little use otherwise, just taking up space in my pantry. So I enjoyed this video a friend sent me called 7 Salt Life Hacks You Should Know. Continue reading “Here’s what to do with the salt you’re not eating” →

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New nutritional guidelines not tough enough on salt, target sugar instead

Anticipated U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines came out Thursday and, as I wrote last February, they let up a bit on salt concerns to focus on sugar as the worst of the evil three of salt, fat and sugar that we all eat too much of in the typical American diet.

“The average person eats 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, and the guidelines say everyone should lower that to 2,300, or about a teaspoon,” notes the New York Times report on the guidelines, which are issued every five years.

Salt gets off easy in the new dietary guidelines, too easy, I think.,
Salt gets off easy in the new dietary guidelines, too easy, I think.,

“Lowering sodium intake was the major push of the 2010 guidelines, and that document recommended that those most at risk of heart disease, or about half the population, lower their intake to 1,500 mg. The new guidelines delete that lower amount as part of the top recommendations. Later on, though, the report says those with high blood pressure and prehypertension could benefit from a steeper reduction,” the Times reports. Continue reading “New nutritional guidelines not tough enough on salt, target sugar instead” →

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A noble experiment to help shoppers find low-sodium options

Finding low-sodium products in supermarkets is a constant battle I’ve been fighting and writing about for more than three years now. Items labeled healthy or even low-sodium may still have too much salt depending on how much you’d normally eat in a meal (serving sizes on packages bare little resemblance to what actual servings are for most people).

So I was interested to see a Connecticut supermarket is teaming up with a local hospital in Norwich to help shoppers there find low-sodium options.

A ShopRite store is working with a local hospital to give consumers information on low-sodium offerings.
A ShopRite store is working with a local hospital to give consumers information on low-sodium offerings.

I also was encouraged to see that low-sodium is being defined there as less than 140 mgs or sodium per serving. That means double the serving size would mean 280 mgs of sodium, acceptable to someone like me who is trying to eat less than 1,500 mgs of sodium a day. Continue reading “A noble experiment to help shoppers find low-sodium options” →

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Sugar or salt, which is harder to kick?

I’ve often characterized sugar, salt and fat as the evil triangle of foods — a triangle I have struggled mightily to avoid since my 2012 angioplasty. Of sugar or salt, which is harder to drop from your diet?

For me, its long been sugar. I’ve cut massive amounts of salt from what I eat by eating out less and eating less processed foods as well as by checking for low-salt varieties of such everyday kitchen staples as ketchup, tomato sauce and even olives.

Cutting sugar, as found in treats like this, is extremely tough work, confirms a new study.
Cutting sugar, as found in treats like this, is extremely tough work, confirms a new study.

So I was happy, if that’s the right term for  sad situation, to see this video report from Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert about a new research that shows it is indeed harder to drop sugar from your diet than salt. Continue reading “Sugar or salt, which is harder to kick?” →

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Going salt-free: these substitute ingredients are all you need

You might not think it, but there’s a lot of salt that goes into the food we eat! I’m not just talking about the salt you put on your food at home. When you buy “packaged” foods, they often contain some added salt. For example, things like pasta sauces often contain lots of salt.

Most people will know by now the problems salt can bring to one’s body. Examples include kidney stones, raised blood pressure, obesity and even cancer. The shocking truth is that’s just a small subset of conditions caused by a high salt intake.

saltFlickr

If you want to eat more healthily, one thing you can do is reduce or even eradicate salt from your diet. Now, you might be thinking that salt adds flavor to the foods you eat. But here’s the thing: there are plenty of substitute ingredients out there you can use. Continue reading “Going salt-free: these substitute ingredients are all you need” →

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