Less salt, more flavor: there are alternatives

Although sodium –constitutes 40% of table salt– is a necessary mineral for the proper functioning of our body, when we take it in excess it favors numerous health problems.

Why it is better to eat without salt or with little salt

The most frequent and well-known problem is the arterial hypertension. Salt causes arteries to stiffen, making them less able to respond properly to changes in blood flow.

But hypertension is not the only health problem with which its high consumption is related. High blood pressure itself increases the risk of stroke and heart attack.

It also increases the chances of heart failure, overloads the kidneys and increases calcium excretion, which favors the appearance of osteoporosis.

It is also related to a higher incidence of gastric ulcer, stomach canceroy worsens respiratory diseases such as asthma.

We take twice as much salt as we need

According to the WHO and our Ministry of Health, the maximum daily consumption of salt should not exceed 5 g, which is more or less a teaspoon of coffee. According to AECOSAN, the Spanish population consumes twice this amount on average daily.

In a packaged product, we generally consider that It has a lot of salt if it exceeds 1.25 g per 100 g, and that it has little salt below 0.25 g per 100 g.

3 healthy alternatives to salt so that your dishes are not bland

Turn to the “alternatives to salt” is a double-edged sword because you can fall into a false sense of security and end up consuming the same amount of sodium or more.

If we bathe the food in soy sauce or replace the salt with gomasio (which usually contains 50% salt) or “herb salt”, and add twice as much, we have not gained anything.

We can, of course, resort to the aromatic plants and to spices in all their variety, to condiments such as vinegar, lemon or spicy. They are great options to give more flavor to our dishes.

very tasty seasonings such as a good curry, chili or tabasco, garlic, paprika or a quality mustard, which, although it can contain a lot of salt, is used in very small quantities due to the power of its flavor, can be great allies.

Gradually reduce the amount of salt

To people very used to salty food, any alternative will seem little consolation. For them, the best is a gradual weaning.

Eliminating salt all at once does not usually give good results, because suddenly all the food seems bland and it is difficult to maintain the new cooking habits. But doing the process by reducing a little each week can inadvertently lead us to use almost no salt after a month and the food still seems pleasant to us.

Here are 3 options to reduce salt consumption without making your dishes bland.

1. Gomasio

You are not going to eliminate the use of salt but you are going to reduce it considerably.

Prepare your gomasio using 1 tablespoon of sea salt for every 20 of sesame. Preparation: toast salt and sesame separately and grind them in a suribachi (Japanese fluted mortar)

2. Herbal salt

It’s really easy to prepare. Mix to your liking: tarragon, oregano, savory, thyme, caraway, fennel, chives… Then add 5 g of sea salt for every 50 g of dried herbs.

3. Brewer’s yeast

Cheese contains salt. For substitute parmesan cheese In pasta dishes, substitute Parmesan using brewer’s yeast. It provides you with B vitamins (except B12), zinc and iron.

The salt that you do not see and that you do not notice

Our highest sodium intake does not come from the salt in the salt shaker that we consciously add to food, but from the salt that creeps in with our processed products without us noticing, unless we decide to read the labels very well or do without them.

Foods in their natural state, on the other hand, contain very little sodium.

It is estimated that of our total sodium intake, 8% comes from food; 20% of the salt that we add to the food and 72% of which is hidden in food products.

The best advice to reduce salt intake is to consume above all fresh unprocessed product: vegetables, fruits, legumes, raw or roasted nuts, whole grains, etc.

By doing without packaged and highly elaborated products by the industry, we will also stop taking additives and flavor enhancers that spoil our taste buds.

pickles and others preservesalthough they are handmade, they also provide salt, as well as most sauces and cheeses (the more cured, in general, the more salty).

Since 2009 the industry of the bakery has committed to no more than 1.8g of sodium per 100g of food. Anyway, it is better to choose the bread without salt.