I don't know! I hear conflicting information about salt. Some say salt to taste is okay others say eliminate it all from your diet. Still others say just use kohser salt or sea salt only. What is it? Is salt bad ? friend ? foe?

I don't want to say that salt is entirely bad. But, I have tried to eliminate as much possible because of high blood pressure.

I now use sea salt and other seasoninings like Mrs. Dash - and honestly I did not notice a difference until I went to a restaurant and order a bowl of soup -OMG - was it salty to me!

I would suggest considering trying to swap it out and see if you notice any changes.

I am on prescription medication for high blood pressure. My doctor said that even with mild to moderate high blood pressure there's some controversy as to how much of a villain salt is. He said I didn't have to restrict salt, but to avoid outrageously salty stuff, and recommend that I drank extra water when I did eat foods with more salt. Water to a large degree compensates for salt, flushing it from the body.

I'm not that much of a salt fan, though. I can't even eat most canned soups because they taste way too salty for me. I also tend to watch my salt intake when dieting, because it's sometimes anti-motivational. I love the WW zero-point soup for example, but the salt content in the soup tends to make me retain water for a day or too. It isn't permanent and a little extra water-drinking and it's gone in 48 hours or so, but it's still frustrating to get on the scale and see a gain even if I know it isn't "real."

Sea salt is definitely the way to go if you have to have salt. I have read numerous articles/books on this, and there is no controversy that regularly iodized table salt is NOT good for us. However, you can read Dr Langre's book Seasalt's Hidden Power and get more info - or just Google the term "the best sea salt" as not all sea salts are created equal! Sea salt should have nutrients in it, but some that you buy from the store have been stripped just like regular salt and thus is no better for you. I personally use Real Salt. Check out their web site and see if you think this is for you.

the best way is add it to receipes and don't add more when you eat it
glen

I generally avoid salt in most of my cooking. Its not really that I think it is bad for us but it really isn't something we need and we tend to add more salt than necessary. I do add a little salt to items I put in my rice cooker just because sometimes it will boil a bit too much but that is pretty much it.

The AMA is trying to remove salt from the FDA's "generally considered safe" list.

That being said, I do use a fair amount of salt (although I dont like the taste of overly salty prepackaged goods like soups or frozen dinners). I like salty foods better than sweet. Cheese, hummus, turkey bacon, pickles thats the kind of cravings I get. I like salt on my eggbeaters. I use salsa like mad - I put it on eggs and use it for salad dressing.

For me it comes down to...I dont eat saturated fat much, I eat a ton of healthy produce. I dont drink much alcohol, I dont use too much caffeine. I limit my sugar intake

DONT TAKE AWAY MY SALT!!!!!!!

(Oh and my BP is 95/55 so I figure I have a bit of leeway there )

On the other hand, there was an article in one mag I was reading at the gym that talked about the worst offenders. I do buy frozen dinners occasionally and I usually get horrified if the sodium is above ~700 or so. Swansons has several frozen dinners where the sodium is OVER 4000 mg. Holy crap.

I am a salt addict. I've given up everything - junk food, fast food, drinking, sex,.. but don't touch my salt or my caffeine!! I have been very lucky thusfar that my BP is wonderful. I try and cut back by using seasonings blends with salt in them instead of straight salt but I don't know how well it is working.... Mrs. Dash just doesn't cut it on a lot of things. IMHO

I try to avoid processed foods with a lot of added salt--tomato based products are terrible for whatever reason. But beyond that I really don't worry about it, and use salt any time I think it is called for. My blood pressure is somewhere in the fantastic range, so my eating approximately 100x times my daily allowance (joking, sort of) obviously isn't impacting that.

My understanding is that some people are salt sensitive and have to watch it very closely. High blood pressure is nothing to mess around with, having seen the fallout from my mother's stroke at age 55. If I was the least bit salt-sensitive, it'd be a completely different story for me. Lesson, get your blood pressure checked regularly and often, especially around menopause when things can change up pretty drastically (this is my family history, anyway).

Anne

im sorry... i dont understand... tomato based products are terrible?

I hope you don't mind my jumping in here, but what I think was meant by that is that tomato based products (I'm assuming canned) are typically high in salt. I try to buy salt free canned tomatoes whenever possible, but they tend to be hard to find.

I think that, when it comes to salt, we still don't have enough information. Science hasn't figured everything out yet. I do believe, however, that some people are salt sensitive and therefore should limit their intake. And monitoring your BP is always a good idea. It can't hurt right?

I just used some Mrs Dash Lemon Pepper tonight and it was really good. Almost salty-tasting, due to the lemon. I'm a saltaholic and it scratches the itch for me.