's motd Friday May 20, 2011 - Salt

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SALTY

Friday, 20 May 2011

A nice-looking restaurant

opened in my neighborhood recently and I couldn't wait

to try it. I picked up one of their menus, looked it

over and saw a couple of items I wanted to try. They

had one dish that sound really good. It was a chicken

dish made with Dijon mustard and the second dish I

wanted to try was their sauteed spring vegetables.

(Sounds yummy, huh?) So I bought an order of both,

brought them back to the house and got ready to dig in.

As I removed my food from

the bag, it all smelled so good! I set a little place

setting for myself at the table and got ready to sink my

fork in. I must say, the vegetables really did look

amazing, their color was excellent. But after I put my

fork into the dish and lifted that first bite to my

mouth...OH! They were the saltiest

vegetables I'd ever eaten in my life. The zucchini, the

squash, the carrots, the green beans, the broccoli...I'm

telling you, they were all loaded with salt. In fact,

they were so salty, I couldn't take another bite!

I was hoping for better luck with the Chicken Dijon but

nope, no such luck. The chicken dish was full of salt,

too! How salty was it? Well, let me put it to you this

way, I ended up throwing the entire meal down the

disposal. Hey, I don't like the taste of that much salt

and I certainly didn't want all of that salt in my body!

Now way back in the days of my childhood, I was a

regular...salt freak! Boy, I salted everything

from tomatoes to corn on the cob to mashed potatoes to

fried chicken. I just loved seeing those little white

granules sprinkling all over my food. By the way, back

in the South, we used to put rice in our salt shakers

because it was so humid there. (The rice kept the salt

from clumping.) So when you shook the salt shaker, it

made this cute little noise, you know, like a baby's

rattle as I shook that salt on one ear of corn after

another.

Today, we know a lot more

about salt than we did when I was younger. We now know

that too much salt can actually lead to health problems

for you. Whether you use Morton's table salt or one of

those fancy sea salts, remember...salt is salt.

And you need to limit your salt or sodium

intake to less than 2300 mg a day.

Now with that said, the next time you're in the

supermarket, I want you to check out the sodium content

of some of the frozen or canned foods you buy. I mean

it, really study those labels. You'll be shocked at the

amount of sodium some of those foods contain. An

important point to remember is that the more

processed the food is, the more sodium

it's likely to contain.

Too much sodium in the body can elevate your blood

pressure and, if you have cardiovascular issues, your

doctor has probably already warned you to limit your

sodium intake.

There're a number of salt substitutes on the market. If

you try one of them, don't taste it using your finger.

(You won't like it that way.) What you'll want to do is

sprinkle just a little on your food, mix it in well,

then try it.

Now that I hardly use much

salt at all, I've discovered how great herbs and spices

are. They can really liven-up the taste of your foods.

For instance, I love black pepper and white pepper. I

love hot chili flakes and of course, gimme my fresh

parsley! And get this, I don't even keep a salt shaker

on my kitchen table anymore. Hey, I've come a long way

baby, since my salt-shaking days in New Orleans! LOL.

Hey, do your body a favor and don't be such a

"salty" person, okay?

And remember, the next time you're in the supermarket,

start reading those labels more carefully. I want you

to pay a lot closer attention to how much sodium is in

the foods you bring home.

Love,