3. Try other ways to “salt” your food
Besides low-sodium or “light” salts, which are mixtures of salt and potassium chloride, there are other ways to enhance the flavor of a dish. Experiment using garlic, citrus juice, condiments without salt or other spices.
In the meantime, avoid sauces, mixes, and instant items like flavored rice that can be loaded with added sodium. Opt for the most basic or least processed forms of rice, beans, and other dry goods and season them yourself.
Top 10 Sodium Sources
- bread and buns
- Pizza
- sandwiches
- Sausages and sausages
- soups
- burritos and tacos
- Salty snacks like chips, popcorn, pretzels
- Chicken
- Cheese
- eggs and omelettes
For example, when preparing a tabbouleh salad, Lendway used orange juice instead of lemon juice and added a bit of dried fruit so as not to rely on salt.
“I was absolutely in awe. He didn’t need any salt,” he said. “So focusing a little more on a sweet and sour sauce, and less on the salt, is another strategy. You are balancing sweet, spicy and acid flavors.”
4. Look for sodium-free or low-sodium recipes
Use the Internet and specialty cookbooks to find low-sodium recipes. The AHA has a Low Salt Cookbook with some free recipes online.
5. Swap your salty staples for healthier options
If you don’t like low-sodium products, try switching to a similar product.
“If you’ve ever had low-sodium tomato juice, it sucks. If you take a product and modify it, by virtue alone, that product will be second best. It never tastes so good,” Lendway said. “Why don’t you switch to something like orange juice, which is usually sodium-free?”
6. Ask to hold the salt when you go out to eat
About a third of the calories in our food come from outside the home, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Depending on the level of home cooking a restaurant offers, you can ask which menu items are already salty and request if items like French fries or vegetables can be plated without added salt.
7. Increase potassium in your diet
If you have high blood pressure, eating more potassium can help lower it to a healthy level. Good sources of potassium include bananas, oranges, melons, cooked spinach, broccoli, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Find a complete list of foods rich in potassium here.
Aaron Kassraie writes about issues important to military veterans and their families for AARP. He also serves as a general assignment reporter. Kassraie previously covered US foreign policy as a Washington bureau correspondent for the Kuwait News Agency and worked on news gathering for USA Today and Al Jazeera English.
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