This is for all you salt fiends. You know who you are.
You won’t take a second look at a cupcake but you’re all over the fries, sunflower seeds, and dessert works best when there’s a salted caramel flavor. Maybe you’ve recently been told you’ve got high blood pressure and so now it’s really real. You’ve got to figure out how to eat less salt, no questions asked.
This is your jump-start to eating less salt because you are going to reset the way you taste salt.
There are a lot of ways to cut down the amount of salt you eat every day. A lot of foods to watch out for, a lot of ways to change the way you season and salt your foods. A lot of ways to overhaul your diet and bring down the amount of salt you eat.
This way is different. This is like a salt cleanse for your tongue.
You’re giving your body a chance to taste salt almost like it’s tasting it for the first time. Your sensitivity to salt will go through the roof and you’ll suddenly realize how salty the taste of salt actually is.
HOW TO RESET YOUR TASTE BUDS (and eat less salt)
You stop eating salt in all added forms, for one week.
Simple, but not easy.
One full week of dedication and commitment. One week of agreeing to go free of added salt, eating out or cooking with salt. You don’t have to obsess over nutrition facts sodium content. If you cut out the top offenders, all the other sodium you’ll get in your diet will be what your body needs to fully function.
What to avoid:
- Table salt
- Seasoning salts – Like garlic salt, Lawry’s, Goya Sazon or Adobo.
- Soy sauce – Even the less sodium kind has a ton of salt in it.
- Fast food – ALL of it, even the ones you think are OK or the salad you though was fine. If you can’t tell the chef to make it without salt, it’s not on the menu this week.
- Any food that comes from a can or a package that you can’t rinse off really well – Soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ramen noodles, fish sticks. You get the point.
- Olives – Some folks love them. If you’re one of those people, you’ll have to love them next week.
- Broth and bullion – It’s got to be unsalted.
What to use instead:
- Herb and spices – All of them. Any of them. Black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic and onion (fresh or powdered), paprika. Thyme, rosemary, mint, sage, basil. Cumin, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon. Mrs. Dash is a tried and true fan favorite with about 300 flavor combos you can pick and choose from.
- Lemon – A squeeze of lemon can go a long way.
- Pat of unsalted butter – Please use responsibly! A bit of butter can round out flavors in a wonderful way in a pinch.
- Vinegar – Like lemon, vinegars are acids that can brighten up your meal (especially a salad or homemade dressing).
Things might taste wrong at first. Things might seem like they have no flavor. Your cooking might go from bold to boring. People will probably complain. Ignore them all.
By the end of the week, a pinch of salt will be worth its weight in gold.
Things you never knew had any salt in them will suddenly taste like they were rolled in it. Salting your food before you even taste it will be crazy talk.
Your blood pressure will thank you. You’ll probably even feel less bloated and retain less water. And you’ll have some good habits that will take you into a healthy old age.