Cutting back on salt in my cooking has ruined my abiltiy to salt my cooking. hahah

[boomchakabowwow]

i think i was eating too much salt. my BP was creeping up on me, and i figured that was a good catalyst to take a swing at it.

now, i am all over the place. i seem to oversalt and undersalt. i rarely stick the landing, so to speak. hahha. bear in my mind, by oversalting i mean it is perfect for most people. my tastebuds have recalibrated and restaurant food is too salty for me now. now i am "that guy" that asks for them to reduce the salt.

yesterday i took my elderly neighbor some food i cooked. she called me and ask, "hey, are you running out of salt?". hahah..funny lady. it was very undersalted.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Are you salt sensitive? Not everyone with high blood pressure is sensitive to salt. I have high blood pressure, but salt really does not seem to play much of a role in it.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Are you salt sensitive? Not everyone with high blood pressure is sensitive to salt. I have high blood pressure, but salt really does not seem to play much of a role in it.

Agreed. Cutting back on salt made almost zero impact on my BP.

 

[Kgp]

Not just blood pressure but fluid retention. I had bypass surgery in 2019 and have really cut my salt intake. I weigh myself every morning and it’s not uncommon for it to fluctuate 2-5 lbs because of what I ate the day before. The amount of salt in processed foods is quite high. Even canned veggies have high levels unless you search out the low salt varieties. Most people get 3,000-5,000 mg daily. I try to stay at no more than 1,500. A teaspoon of salt is 2,325 mg. A tablespoon of soy sauce is 1,000 mg. can of Diet Coke is 40, ketchup has 150 in a tablespoon. As you can see, it sneaks up on you.

 

[JASinIL2006]

That makes sense. I was actually in the unusual position of having high blood pressure and having my doctor told me I needed to increase my salt! Both my sodium and chloride were lower than normal. I really try to limit my amount of processed foods. I think they are just bad for you in so many ways.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

It is quite common for people to find the bulk of their sodium coming from processed food and by greatly reducing it, being able to continue using it their own cooking.

 

[MrHiggins]

This is one reason I'm in love with finishing salts like Maldon. You can use a bit less salt during cooking and then add a pinch of Maldon at the table. Those who want less salt in their diet can skip the Maldon.

 

[Polycentric]

Kind of a similar situation, but from a different start. I visited my parents for a bit and they use much less salt in their cooking. I went back home and started using less salt in my cooking and now feel like I've lost my sense of how much salt to put in things. I used to almost never think something was too salty unless it was egregious, but now I find less salt preferable

 

[Dan-]

I’m the opposite. With kosher salt, a “pinch” is closer to a half a tablespoon.

 

[Jovidah]

It is quite common for people to find the bulk of their sodium coming from processed food and by greatly reducing it, being able to continue using it their own cooking.

Exactly this. If you don't eat processed junk you can pretty much salt your food however you feel like and actually come in on the low side. Ever since I had to start eating differently because my bowels went to crap my problem has actually been that I struggle to get enough salt...especially since salt content in most products (even simple stuff like cheese) has been getting lowered to appease health institutions making wide-reaching recommendations based on limited science... People often accuse me of seasoning on the salty side yet my BP always came in on the low side whenever it was checked.
You could also look into the special diet salts that are a mix of potasium/sodium.
Generally speaking when I'm doing bigger things that are tricky to judge (big meatloafs, larger hunks of meat) I tend to do it by percentage/weight.