Tengrain’s Little Cooking School: NYTimes and Salt
NYTimesSeveral Scissorheads have emailed me today asking about the NYTimes article on salt, The Hard Sell on Salt . I think I need to say a word here, so forgive me if you already know where I’m going to or coming from.
You need salt to survive, just as you do fat. You will die, and rather quickly and painfully without salt (and without fat). Getting rid of all salt in your diet is a bad idea. The point of the article, and it was really buried, is that you should remove processed foods from your diet. Processed foods contain a lot of salt, too much salt.
Here’s the deal — and again, the Times article did not stress it enough: The average american gets 80% of their salt intake from processed foods and restaurants (and this is defined loosely, but I’ll take the bold step here and say Fast Food), and this is a damn shame.
Salt is a cheap ingredient, and so manufacturers of food use a lot of it. Fast Food companies use a lot of it. We are wired for it, we crave it, we require a certain amount of it. If a manufacturer cuts back on salt, you would notice it. Herbs, on the other hand, are a much more expensive ingredient, they do not have the keeping power of salt, and it is doubtful that anyone would really notice a lack of herbs.
So let me stress this again: if you eat fast food and processed foods, you probably have too much salt in your diet. If you mostly eat at home with fresh or raw ingredients (not packaged foods), you probably have a lot less salt in your diet and don’t need to worry about this (as much, if at all).
You will never, ever hurt yourself by quitting process foods and fast foods. And for Pete’s sake, stop with the sodas. High Fructose Corn Syrup will kill you (and the diet stuff will kill you faster and we’re talking cancer, a horrible and painful death); if you have to have a Coke, seek out the so-called Mexican Coke, which still uses real sugar.
If you are worried enough about salt that you would ask me about it, then please make an appointment and see your doctor. Be honest with your doctor about your eating habits, and see what recommendations you get. Listen to your doctor, not to me. I’m just a gross blogger.
Thanks for posting this. Salt, like most things in life is not simply either/or!
One can and use salt wisely – as you say. And as you know, buy good salt for cooking. It is good and can be used to enhance your food and your life. There is expensive Celtic salt that actually adds minerals to your diet. But use it sparingly!
The sodium counts on food make me faint – perhaps the article should have been about that and not about salt!
Plus, I never listen to what Cargill says!! Tengrain – I always (well almost always) listen to what Tengrain has to say!
Couldn’t agree more, TG, I found a study a while back, and not like a USA Today/Good Morning America ‘study’, that showed a slightly higher incidence of heart disease in vegans than vegetarians or omnivores w/ low processed food intake, because they had a lower intake of sodium and this lead to heart problems, because the heart needs sodium to work. I love touting that one all over Seattlistan.
I do not like overly salty food. Never have. So I’m guessing I get the right amount (my low blood pressure is proof–and consistently low blood pressure is a good thing (if the bottom number is at least 60)). That said, I only cook when I visit my brother’s and a friend gave me a big jar of sea salt that I brought down for my brother to use. They (friend and brother) both swear that it tastes better and you can use less.
Sweet Baby Jeebus on a French Fry – we really are conjoined twins that were separated, Pissed. My doctor now and then begs me to use more salt because my blood pressure is normal-to-low (low is also DANGEROUS).
I only use kosher or sea salt. You can taste the difference, and you don’t really need much to bring out the flavor of food. I have a little bag of French sea salt someone gave me for Christmas years ago (seriously like 5 years ago, probably more) that I rarely use, but I love.
Rgds,
TG
Willa -
It is true. My parents went on a salt scare when I was in high school, and started using all sorts of salt substitutes after that, and it didn’t take long before they were given a prescription to raise their blood pressure. It’s insane, isn’t it?
Wouldn’t you think that being in their 60s when I was in high school would have kept their blood pressure up? Sheesh, where did I go wrong?
Rgds,
TG
I add a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt to every quart of water I drink. It’s my poor man’s gatorade. Every year, some amatuer marathon runner dies from water toxicity. they drink lots of water to stay hydrated, but neglect to consume the proper balance of salt.
Usually lots o cooking going on in my parts. Made plum jam today and have pulled pork in the smoker for dinner. Don’t use a whole lot of salt, and my very favorite is Maldon Sea Salt. Nice flakes of salt, good clean flavor. It’s nice to use as a finishing touch on things, and it is great on top of caramels.
I found a place where I can buy the Maldon by the case…..(12 boxes)…..and it is great to just keep it on hand. I also give boxes of it away to my cooking friends since I have a freaking case of it sitting around. Anyway, the price is right and it does make a nice gift to your cooky kind of friends.
gotta go check the pork…..
Abo Gato -
I’m on day two of the first batch of strawberry jam (Oh! My! God! – it’s gonna be good; I found a French recipe), tomorrow it gets finished and processed. Tonight, however, strawberrys and whipped cream will be dessert. My favorite vendor at the Farmers’ Market yesterday had Chandler strawberries; they are an heirloom variety that have an intense wine flavor behind the sweet berry flavor, and they are small to medium sized.
The pork shoulder is in the smoker, too, so tonight’s BBQ Dinner is well underway. I gotta make dressing for the potato salad, and figure out how I want to serve the arugula. I’m leaning towards coco nibs and a rasberry vinegrette.
Sounds like we are both on the same track again.
Regards,
TG
TG, I made a two day strawberry jam a month or so ago…..there’s a small town south of SA called Poteet….every year they have their Strawberry Festival. This year the berries were out of this world! I was given a half flat of them and started the jam that afternoon. Those berries were the darkest red I have ever seen and had the biggest, boldest strawberry flavor I’ve ever had. Amazing. The jam is rocking. The plums were grown by a guy I know at work. They too were very sweet and plummy. Last year we had a horrible drought around here…..wonder if that had any affect on the fruits and made them so intense this year? If that’s the case, my pear tree and tangerine tree will have some wonderful fruit later this year.
What is this “processed food” of which you speak? I make 98% of our food from scratch – including chicken broth! I do keep diced – low sodium – tomatoes in the pantry though – is that a processed food?
Raceynora -
I keep Organic canned tomatoes on hand, too. Just read the ingredients – if there is something listed that your grandmother would not recognize, switch brands. If there is something listed that you cannot pronounce, switch brands. But generally, canned produce is not the same category as processed foods.
(And I’ve had your soup once, it is delish!)
Rgds,
TG