Most of us eat way too much salt. Yet there are so many alternatives that are far healthier (and tastier). You should try this salt substitute.
Are you one of those who add salt to everything? A pinch of curry here, sprinkled on avocado bread there? This is quite common, it is no coincidence that there is a salt shaker on every table in restaurants.
However, too much salt is definitely not healthy, as studies show, and can even harm your health in the long run. Even if you don’t want to do without salt completely, there are enough alternatives for seasoning that provide at least as much flavor.
The fact is: Without salt, nothing would run smoothly in your body. Table salt consists of sodium and chloride, two essential minerals that regulate the water balance. But very few people have to worry about eating too little salt. With a recommended amount of 6 grams of salt per day, which is about one teaspoon, the average salt intake is significantly higher for most. The average daily salt intake is 8.4 grams for women and 10 grams for men. 50 percent of men and 38.5 percent of women even consume more than 10 grams of salt daily.
If you eat too much salt permanently, it can have a negative effect on your health. Among other things, excessive salt consumption promotes high blood pressure, according to studies.
Does too much salt make you sick?
Salt removes water from the body, which in turn tries to compensate. As a result, you’ll be thirstier after salty food. More fluid also means a higher amount of blood and greater pressure on the blood vessels, which can cause high blood pressure. In the long term, all organs can be damaged. No wonder high blood pressure is considered one of the biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Even if you think that this may not (yet) affect you, there are even more reasons to keep an eye on salt consumption and use a salt substitute more often. High-salt food can also ….
weaken the immune system
adversely affect the intestinal flora
Promote water retention
stimulate the appetite / cause cravings
change / dull your sense of taste
It’s a good thing that there are enough salt substitutes to spice things up in a healthy way.
How to reduce salt intake?
The fact that you eat too much salt is not only due to the loose salt that you add to the pasta water or with which you season your dressing. Salt is found in almost every processed food you buy and consume. So it’s not necessarily about the obvious salt consumption, but about everything you unconsciously consume, for example through sausage, frozen pizza, plant-based substitutes or other processed foods.
Since fresh and home-cooked is best anyway, you should only consume all these ready-made products in moderation. By the way, all natural foods are naturally low in salt, such as meat, eggs, me, cereals, fruits and vegetables. And when it comes to cooking, it’s better to use other seasoning alternatives.
Salt substitutes: 10 healthy seasoning alternatives
If you reduce salt in your food, you should not do without taste. To ensure that your food does not become bland, you should try it with salt substitutes. These healthy seasoning alternatives are top:
1. Spices
There’s a lot more to the spice rack than just salt. paprika, curry, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon or black pepper. The choice is huge. At the same time, the different spices provide very different flavors with which you can season vegetables, rice, sauces and the like.
Paprika powder goes well with meat and Mediterranean dishes, curry adds an Asian or Indian touch, cumin is typical of Arabic-Oriental dishes and a pinch of nutmeg rounds off purees, stews or fine leaf spinach.
2. Herbs
Fresh herbs are a real game changer. Similar to spices, the simplest dishes can be upgraded with a few fresh herbs and simply replace salt. Tomatoes with basil, baked potatoes with rosemary, fried mushrooms with thyme, eggplant with a load of parsley, zucchini with dill and mint or all together in a colorful salad. Feel free to try your way through the whole range. Less typical herbs such as Thai basil or coriander also provide a lot of flavor. Instead of fresh herbs, you can also use the frozen version.
3. Garlic and chili
How to take any dish to a new level in seconds? A little garlic and a pinch of chili. It doesn’t have to be much, but it makes a big difference in terms of taste. You can use both fresh and dried. If you are sensitive to spiciness, you should dose chili carefully, as you can’t tell from the small pods how hot they really are.
4. Tomato paste
For the production of tomato paste, tomatoes are boiled down, extremely concentrated and preserved, so that the full load of flavor remains. The fruity and at the same time spicy aroma refines sauces, pastes, stews and soups without you having to reach for the salt shaker. This also works with rice or other cereals by simply cooking a teaspoon of tomato paste in it. To flavor a colorful vegetable stir-fry, add some tomato paste and deglaze everything with water.
5. Vinegar and lemon juice
In order to balance the taste of a dish, it really needs salt in very few cases. Acidity in particular is often underestimated. You should therefore not only use vinegar in salad dressing in the future. A small splash provides the right amount of spice in many dishes. As a salt substitute, it can be used to season soups, refine lentil dishes, spice up vegetables or round off sauces and marinades. Exactly the same applies to lemon juice. A few drops over potatoes or fish bring much more flavor than just salt.
6. Celery
Celery naturally has a salty note. Even if many turn up their noses when eaten raw, it is worthwhile to use the crunchy vegetables finely chopped for sauces or salads. If you can’t make friends with fresh celery, you should try dried celery powder as an alternative. After all, salt substitutes are not about feeding pure celery, but about providing spice in a very targeted manner.
7. Ginger
The healthy ginger tuber is a real all-round talent, especially in Asian cuisine. Instead of salt, it is used almost everywhere, as it provides spiciness and spice at the same time. It’s best to rub ginger fresh into curries, sauces and also use it for marinades. This not only gives taste, but is also extremely healthy, as ginger contains many health-promoting substances.
8. Olive, walnut or pumpkin seed oil
Fat, like salt, is a flavor carrier that is just as unhealthy in excess and can promote obesity. Nevertheless, it can be used as a good salt substitute. At least if you reach for the “good ones”. Olive, walnut, sesame or peanut oil provide plenty of essential fatty acids and enhance the taste of vegetables, salads, soups and the like even in small quantities.
Particularly delicious: The intense taste of pumpkin seed oil, either for dipping or as a soup topping. Be sure to pay attention to the quality, because you can taste it especially with oils.
9. Yeast extract and yeast flakes
Yeast is considered a natural flavor enhancer that has long been labeled as the new glutamate. However, since yeast products are extracted from nature, it is now known that they are completely harmless and are perfect as a salt substitute. While yeast extract is really nice and spicy, yeast flakes have a light cheese aroma and are therefore often used in a plant-based diet. When buying, it’s worth taking a quick look at the ingredient list to make sure it doesn’t contain any extra salt.
10. Salt-reduced vegetable broth and soy sauce
Vegetable broth and soy sauce contain salt. That’s the only reason why they taste salty. Nevertheless, there are more and more products that are reduced in salt but still provide the full load of spice. In the case of soy sauce, this is usually written thick on the packaging, as is the case with KIKKOMAN. In the case of vegetable broth, it is worth reading. It is particularly important that it consists mostly of vegetables, does not contain sugar, palm fat or other flavor enhancers. Nevertheless, you can’t do without salt here. Therefore: Everything in moderation.
