Tuesday, April 26, 2011

How to Reduce Your High Intake of Salt

Salt in moderation is good for you, but when you consume it in excess amounts, it can have many negative effects on your body. If you are on the Standard American Diet (SAD), then you are mostly likely consuming it in high amounts, and thus you should reduce your high intake of salt so that you can remain healthy and fight off health problems.

Reducing your high intake of salt should be a gradual process, as your taste buds need time to adjust to less salt in your food. And remember that salt is an essential mineral, therefore, you should not cut salt out completely.

Avoid Man-Made Foods

The best way that you can avoid overdosing on salt, is to avoid man-made foods. These are foods that have been highly processed such as fast foods, canned and boxed foods, as well as all junk foods and most baked goods.

That may leave you with the question: “If I eliminate all those foods, what do I eat?” And the answer to that is a raw plant-based diet. Foods such as fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds as well as herbs and spices are excellent foods to add to the diet, and you’ll never have to worry about overdosing on salt.

In addition, all plant-based foods contain a minimum amount of salt, and when they become your primary source for food, then they will be able to provide you with all the salt that you need. Thus you can get rid of the salt shaker, which will also help you to reduce your intake of salt.

Cook From Scratch

Chances are that you will not be able to stick with an all raw food diet, and thus it is important that you learn how to cook from scratch. All the addictive flavors that are found in processed seasonings can be mimicked by using fresh herbs and spices.

Some of the spices that will help you to reduce your processed seasonings and salt are garlic, ginger, onions, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, mint, lemon juice and other fruit juices.

Switch to Unrefined Sea Salt

If you are going to add salt to your food, then switch to unrefined sea salt, as it not only contains less sodium, but it also contains many essential minerals that your body needs. In addition, sea salt does not contain any of the harmful ingredients that table salt contains. Thus sea salt is natural, and can even provide you with many health benefits when taken in moderation.

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