Salt on your food

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Chris
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Just interested to know what people use instead of standard table salt. I find food really bland without so although I’ve tried I hate food without.
However with blood pressure high enough to pop my head I really need to find an alternative. I’ve tried Lo salt but find it has a metallic taste.
Does anyone know a realistic alternative to standard chippy style salt ?
 
Not sure what to say.................I very rarely add salt to my food, the one exception is a small grind of the mill on my chips :)

FWIW I have treated salt like that all my life and high BP has come to me in the past couple of years (and I am older than you ~ though only by a few years ;) ). Have you checked what might be suggested on the British Heart Foundation website about such salt substitutes???
 
@Box Brownie

Will be doing, thanks for the pointer.

My Grandad was a salty by the bucket load like myself so maybe its just a family trait. Need to lose a ton of weight too but that's something I've done before so I've got idea for that.
 
Interestingly, apart from the 'Lo Salt' type of product a lot of suggestions are more to do with 're-training' the taste buds

Healthy Eating Tip: Use These Instead of Salt
  • Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (I always keep lemons in the fridge)
  • Chopped fresh herbs, such as rosemary, cilantro, oregano, and basil.
  • Fresh ground pepper or red pepper flakes.
  • Finely chopped onion.
  • Finely chopped fresh ginger.
  • Minced or powdered garlic (not garlic salt)
  • Balsamic or apple cider vinegar.
  • Salt substitutes.
I can see what they are getting at in the above list but like all such things it/they might not suit all palettes. It is very much the "hidden salt" ~ almost every everyday item has some salt in it e.g. bread (actually AFAIK all baked products?), breakfast cereal (maybe with the exception of Porridge Oats and Shredded Wheat?), bacon, ham, biscuits....................apart from fresh foods everything seems to have some salt! So dietary needs wise there should be no need to add anything at the table...........or in many recipes ~ see above seasoning suggestions.

Sorry I did not mean that to come across as a food evangalist (which I am not) but it annoys me that so many manufactured foods have too much salt in them :(
 
Can't give you an answer because I am the exact opposite, low blood pressure !
I only found out when I had an op to repair a shattered elbow a few years ago,
waiting in recovery to be discharged, doctor came in and explained that my blood
pressure was just below normal and looked set to stay there along with a slow heart rate,
he'd been off to check my records and found it was normal for me
Asked if was aproblem, he said an advantage as I didn't have to worry about my salt
intake
 
I can't be of any help. I don't add salt to any of my food. I just rely on the natural amount of salt in fresh foods, which pretty much amounts to almost nothing. I would suggest herbs, as above, if finding the taste bland.
 
The only credible alternative is chilli sauce, which works on almost everything and gets very addictive.

But frankly, I love salt so use plenty :D that said, I use decent salt, not the free-flow table salt as it tastes more so you need less.
 
Try doing without if it's a real risk for you? You'll get used to it eventually, but it will probably be a bit tough at first...

We both dislike salty food and have never added it during cooking or at the table.
 
Can't give you an answer because I am the exact opposite, low blood pressure !
I only found out when I had an op to repair a shattered elbow a few years ago,
waiting in recovery to be discharged, doctor came in and explained that my blood
pressure was just below normal and looked set to stay there along with a slow heart rate,
he'd been off to check my records and found it was normal for me
Asked if was aproblem, he said an advantage as I didn't have to worry about my salt
intake

I'm exactly the same, my heart rate and blood pressure have always been low.
Nothing wrong, just the way my body works, never realised it had any bearing with regard to salt intake.
Check my weight and b/p monthly on a machine in the surgery, yesterday it was 107/64 and heart rate was 62.
Even when I get a bit fired up it doesn't change much, nothing to do with being fit or athletic though :)
Bit of luck considering I have always had salt in vegetables and on things too
 
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It is like sugar in tea, i used to take 3, then 2, then 1 and eventually none. Now if I have a quarter of a tea spoon in a cuppa it tastes sickly sweet and is undrinkable to me.

I would suggest reducing it over the course of a month. Maybe even weighing it out and rationing it daily, with less and less each day.

This gradual reduction should be less painful than cold turkey!!

T
 
My doctor said to put salt in your food (ie season it.) not on it.
I don't know if your doc is right, but I do that and use Sea Salt (because it does not have an added chemical to help it "run").
 
I don't know if your doc is right, but I do that and use Sea Salt (because it does not have an added chemical to help it "run").

Haven't used table salt for many years
 
I don't put salt on food at all. Virtually everything already contains it. When I did use it (even in moderation), I was often thirsty for hours afterward, so I stopped.
 
It's more about the salt content of your food than how much you use to season it.
 
Thanks folks, some interesting comments to mull over. I've always had loads of salt but my other half won't let me put it in the cooking as she doesn't like it.
 
It is like giving up sugar in tea or coffee. after a couple of weeks your taste adjusts.
I never put salt on food and do not have it on the table.
I steam my vegetables and sprinkle about a 1/4 tea spoon of salt over them and the potatoes in the steamer. By the times they are cooked even most of that has been washed off them. i do not add salt to anything else. But bought food can be full of the stuff, even breakfast cereals.

Read this ...... https://www.pritikin.com/your-health/healthy-living/eating-right/salt-substitutes-safe.html
and consider using MSG instead of salt. at least it will bring out the taste in your food.
 
For a long time now, I've not added salt to food at the table. The only exception is eggs (mainly boiled). I normally use black pepper, or red chilli flakes or nothing at all. It's amazing how many other flavours you can taste when you stop adding lots of salt to everything.

My sibling's in-laws add salt to everything. Including chips from the chippy. That already has salt and vineger added.
 
Years ago I worked with a guy who would go through a 750g plastic pot of salt on his own in a week.
Every day, he'd be up for ordering one of the batch bar breakfast fry-ups, then fish & chips for lunch, and bury it all under snow drifts of salt.

He was in his twenties, and admitted to having high blood pressure, but claimed food was too bland without salt.
 
I have HBP have had for 30+ years , never changed diet in that time I like my food and get arsy when hungry , all I can say is if you do have HBP you will have been put on BP reduction pills ,they are for your life span so keep taking them and live normally . Stop worrying about things as that adds to your hypertension
 
I stopped using salt 20 years ago. Food tasted bland for a few weeks but you get beyond that and start tasting what food acually tastes like.
It takes a bit of persistence and it comes as a bit of a revelation when you start really tasting the food.
I do use a lot of pepper now :)
We cook all our own food so we know there is no salt added to anything - we never eat ready meals, only use raw ingredients.
The only exception is bread so there is some salt in my diet.
 
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The one thing always staggers me is, on the few occasions, when I see families and even before tasting the food the parents liberally salt not only their own plates but also their young children's food!!!!

Talk about skewing youngsters pallets and setting habits but storing up potential damage to their future health :(
 
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An alternative to salt in food is Fish Sauce, the Romans used to use it in place of salt which was then very expensive.
 
Don't thinks like chilli sauce and fish sauce contain salt anyway?
 
An alternative to salt in food is Fish Sauce, the Romans used to use it in place of salt which was then very expensive.
Don't thinks like chilli sauce and fish sauce contain salt anyway?

AFAIK if Oriental fish sauce, surely it will have MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) so to be treated like adding table salt!
 
I found out the other day that your taste buds regenerate (every two weeks) so if you can survive without overly salting food for that long, you'll start to notice the natural salt in foods and it will help you cut down.

Like most other people, I'm guilty of being too liberal with the salt in the past, but this is quite an interesting read:

https://experiencelife.com/article/take-back-your-taste-buds/
 
An alternative to salt in food is Fish Sauce, the Romans used to use it in place of salt which was then very expensive.

Garum was generally produced by combining fish intestines with salt and allowing it to ferment...

I think Seneca wrote something pretty scathing about it, but I wasn't very good at Latin when I was at school and I haven't improved since then. It was a long time ago!
 
It's more about the salt content of your food than how much you use to season it.

I found out the other day that your taste buds regenerate (every two weeks) so if you can survive without overly salting food for that long, you'll start to notice the natural salt in foods and it will help you cut down.

Like most other people, I'm guilty of being too liberal with the salt in the past, but this is quite an interesting read:

https://experiencelife.com/article/take-back-your-taste-buds/


I don’t think most people are aware that food labels often show salt content as ‘sodium’. This is very misleading. To know the salt content, that sodium figure has to be multiplied by 2.5..a lot. Why isn’t it mandatory to list the actual salt content ? The answer, I believe, is the same as for the ‘voluntary’ rather than mandatory, traffic light system for labelling regarding salt,sugar and fat content....ie...the influence of lobbying by the powerful Food & Drink industry.

We don’t eat many ready-made foods but I do check the label and I think too much salt is added to food at the table. I sprinkle very little over my food,infact,one day I measured out the recommended (for adults) 6gms per day . I’ve just done it again for this post and the 6gms is described in articles on health as a teaspoonful but it’s almost two ‘level’ teaspoonsful. I made the 6 gms last over several days and as Kell points out, you do get used to less the less you add. However.. I have a weakness ..lol...when we buy fish ‘n chips which isn’t often. I recall my dad sprinkling salt over his meals so it looked like a covering of frost..He got to 87. I wince when I see my wife being somewhat liberal with it too.

Sodium v salt. https://www.sharecare.com/health/sodium/salt-sodium-same-thing
 
I remember eating the little bag of salt that you used to get in ready salted crisps.
In my defence it was during a power cut.
How times change, bought a ponced up cheese and tomato roll at St Pancras last week.
Asked if they had any salt, looked at me like I had asked for the moon on a stick.
 
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I remember eating the little bag of salt that you used to get in ready salted crisps.

Bag! when I was young the salt was in a twist wrap of blue paper.............you could salt to taste ;)

I recall a story that when Smiths Crisps wanted to re-introduce the 'salt your own' they discovered that someone in their wisdom had scrapped the "salt in the twist of paper" machine so had to revert to new fangled 'bags' (sachets).
 
Bag! when I was young the salt was in a twist wrap of blue paper.............you could salt to taste ;)

I recall a story that when Smiths Crisps wanted to re-introduce the 'salt your own' they discovered that someone in their wisdom had scrapped the "salt in the twist of paper" machine so had to revert to new fangled 'bags' (sachets).

That was what I ate, didn't think anyone would understand what I meant if I said twist of blue paper.
When the lights came back on the colour had come out on my tongue
 
It may yet turn up again in the estate of some sentimental crisp fan.

I did a quick Google and all I could find (for now ~ if I am bothered to dig deeper???) was ref the the "Salt 'n Shake" bags (sachet bag of salt inside) coming back with no mention of the original paper twist.

Shades of Ford disowning the original UK Ford Capri.......................yes there was a Mk1 that pre-dated the model most folk recall as the original Capri ;)

However, the vague memory was that when they (Smiths or Walkers?) wanted to go all nostalgia and insert salt in paper twists, all the company records showed that the machine had been destroyed and would be too expensive to recreate.>>> hence the modern sachet was adopted???
 
Salt'n'shake are my favourite crisps ... and I throw the salt away!

.... just love the taste of potato crisps, unadulterated! :)
 
.
Shades of Ford disowning the original UK Ford Capri.......................yes there was a Mk1 that pre-dated the model most folk recall as the original Capri ;)
I seem to remember it was called a Classic Capri? did it have 5 stars on the grille too.
Anyway, I use a little sea salt on some food but loads of black or freshly milled pepper, fried eggs turn black before I'm ready to eat, oops.
 
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