Salt in Restaurant Food

[Amethyst]

It's a little OT, but it's OK...it's not too far from the theme, which could perhaps be expanded to Sugar in Restaurant Food (although we haven't found that to be bothersome). I started reducing sugar in recipes a long time ago. Nobody has ever complained, and my baked goods are as popular as ever. You do have to be judicious: cookie recipes are sensitive to the amount of white/brown sugar, since cookies are mainly sugar anyway. Reduce the sugar, and you get a mealy cookie.

I agree that the necessary bit of salt in homemade bread is insignificant. Yeast doughs simply don't behave without salt. Anyway, I never aimed to cut out salt; just to cut back.

Also, and a bit off topic, I have found that I can cut the sugar in many baked goods by 1/3 with good results. I do notice they are a bit less sweet, but the other flavors also seem to come through better.

 

[MRG]

I thought this was no longer accepted and that only 10% of the population is salt sensitive in that higher dietary sodium raises their blood pressure.

The rest of us don't need to worry about salt.

+1
I thought that as well.

We still watch our sodium, but I'm having to take meds so....

 

[harley]

I thought this was no longer accepted and that only 10% of the population is salt sensitive in that higher dietary sodium raises their blood pressure.

The rest of us don't need to worry about salt.

That's true. Here's a story with a lot of links to articles and studies that show the low salt fallacy. FDA Salt Guidance Could Kill More People Than It Saves - Hit & Run : Reason.com

I've got high-ish BP, and years ago I went pretty low salt. In my personal case it made no difference whatsoever in my BP. What has worked is weight loss and exercise, dropped it about 20/10 points.


Having said that, I do agree that restaurant foods can be pretty salty sometimes, although it seems to depend on the cook. Same restaurant, same dish, different day, significant difference in saltiness.

 

[athena53]

While profit is certainly the motive, I’m not as cynical about why. Restaurants give patrons what most patrons ultimately demand through actual ordering, and for most that’s what tastes good, not what’s best for their health. Restaurants offer what actually sells period.

I agree, but the cynical part of me thinks that more salt makes people thirsty and increases orders for drinks, which are generally a high-profit item.

I've been very fortunate as far as maintaining healthy BP. I do very little to limit my intake of sodium but my BP is at the low end of normal. I have to be careful when standing up after donating blood because if I don't wait long enough I end up on the floor and they get very excited about that. My mother, OTOH, struggled to maintain normal BP after menopause even though she was skinny, ran every day (walked 4 miles a day when running was too hard for her in her 80s) and didn't salt anything she made. She was always apologizing for how "terrible" her cooking tasted. It wasn't that bad, of course. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[scrabbler1]

While I was in the hospital 2 years ago being diagnosed with Diabetes and being treated for an unrelated ailment, I was also being treated for some kidney damage. One thing I was told was that I should reduce my sodium consumption. Not eliminate it, just reduce it where I could.


To do this, I went after the "low hanging fruit" of sodium. The first was to eliminate any use of adding salt from my salt shaker. I put the salt shaker away and have never touched it since. Same for any salt shakers at restaurants.


Next, I became more mindful of the sodium amounts on the nutrition labels of the foods I buy at the supermarket. Already checking those things out for carb amounts due to my diabetes, it isn't tough to see the sodium amount. The biggest way to reduce my sodium to avoid the higher amounts in the broths I buy. They always have brands of low-sodium and sodium-free broths.


Third, at some chain restaurants, I will ask the server to avoid adding the high-sodium seasonings to their French Fries. Applebee's is the common instance, as they have very salty fries when they add their seasonings.


These three things have significantly reduced my sodium intake in the last 2 years.

 

[ABQ2015]

I have high BP controlled by meds and seem to be sensitive to salt. A high sodium dinner can make me exhausted and foggy headed with puffy eyes from water retention the next day. I prepare most of my food at home and buy low sodium ingredients (e.g., low sodium canned tomatoes, salsa, chicken broth, soy sauce) as much as possible, use salt or lite salt sparingly in meal preparation, and avoid frozen dinners and entrees, pickles, soup, parmesan cheese, pizza, store bought salad dressings, and cold cuts. The worst I have experienced in restaurants was traveling in the south - I went to some nice restaurants while vacationing in Atlanta but the heavy salt practically ruined the meal for me. At steakhouses, it is safer to stick to a salad and baked potatoes as sides and use the salad dressing sparingly.

 

[Amethyst]

Well, if we lost any more weight we'd be skeletons, and if we exercised any more we'd have no time for anything else. So we had to try something. And our last BP readings at the doctor's office were 120/60 (him) and 110/70 (me). Whether this good result represents a blip or a trend, remains to be seen.

I've got high-ish BP, and years ago I went pretty low salt. In my personal case it made no difference whatsoever in my BP. What has worked is weight loss and exercise, dropped it about 20/10 points.

.

 

[Amethyst]

These are very good, "easy" steps to take! Instead of hiding our salt shaker, though, we simply switched to Kosher salt. It seems you need far less of the salt in flake form than regular crystal table salt.

I hope you are feeling better!

While I was in the hospital 2 years ago being diagnosed with Diabetes and being treated for an unrelated ailment, I was also being treated for some kidney damage. One thing I was told was that I should reduce my sodium consumption. Not eliminate it, just reduce it where I could.


To do this, I went after the "low hanging fruit" of sodium. The first was to eliminate any use of adding salt from my salt shaker. I put the salt shaker away and have never touched it since. Same for any salt shakers at restaurants.


Next, I became more mindful of the sodium amounts on the nutrition labels of the foods I buy at the supermarket. Already checking those things out for carb amounts due to my diabetes, it isn't tough to see the sodium amount. The biggest way to reduce my sodium to avoid the higher amounts in the broths I buy. They always have brands of low-sodium and sodium-free broths.


Third, at some chain restaurants, I will ask the server to avoid adding the high-sodium seasonings to their French Fries. Applebee's is the common instance, as they have very salty fries when they add their seasonings.


These three things have significantly reduced my sodium intake in the last 2 years.

 

[harley]

Well, if we lost any more weight we'd be skeletons, and if we exercised any more we'd have no time for anything else. So we had to try something. And our last BP readings at the doctor's office were 120/60 (him) and 110/70 (me). Whether this good result represents a blip or a trend, remains to be seen.

Those are excellent numbers, and depending on your age could even be heading toward low. After age 60 the acceptable numbers go up by 10 or so. As far as salt, I think it's like almost everything else. It depends on you and your personal reaction. ABQ2015 tracked it for him/herself, and found a significant impact. I tracked it myself for a couple of years and found almost no impact. The only thing that really works is to set a baseline, then try changing things (one at a time if possible) and see how it effects you. And that only works with things you can measure, like BP, blood sugar, etc. I suspect I will run out of years before I run out of variables, so mostly I'm just going to eat, drink, be merry, and hope when I do go it's fast and painless.

 

[harley]

These are very good, "easy" steps to take! Instead of hiding our salt shaker, though, we simply switched to Kosher salt. It seems you need far less of the salt in flake form than regular crystal table salt.

That's interesting/funny. I Googled it to see if there's a reason, and what I found shows the exact opposite - The Difference Between Kosher Salt, Sea Salt, & Table Salt? - HealthNut Nation

Kosher salt can be made by compacting smaller granular flakes into larger irregular platelet shaped flakes or grown this way via the evaporation process. Minimally refined and sourced from either underground deposits or evaporated seawater, kosher salt tastes “less salty” than table or sea salt.

Of course, I found it on the internet so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[braumeister]

After age 60 the acceptable numbers go up by 10 or so.

The current AMA guideline calls for no treatment in people over age 60 until their BP reaches 150/90.

But my doc, despite being a card-carrying AMA member, wants it even lower so I take my meds.

 

[athena53]

The current AMA guideline calls for no treatment in people over age 60 until their BP reaches 150/90.

But my doc, despite being a card-carrying AMA member, wants it even lower so I take my meds.

I just checked my history- the blood bank stores it on-line.

In April, May and June it was around 95/55.

The last few months it's been 105/65 although it was at that level in March, too. Oh, well- I guess I'm OK regardless. I'll get another reading with my donation tomorrow.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm routinely sub 110 at home. 102/70 is typical. I monitor weekly, because sometimes I'm high at my doctor's office. It can be all over the map.

My BP was creeping a bit higher a couple of years ago, but all it took to bring it down and even lower, was losing 5 pounds.

 

[Amethyst]

Mr. A's was in that region, and mine was getting into the 130's regularly.

We weigh the same as ever, have the same exercise habits, so the only thing that has really changed is the reduced salt intake. Works for us, if not for everyone. Either way, restaurant food is too darned salty; that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The current AMA guideline calls for no treatment in people over age 60 until their BP reaches 150/90.

.

 

[scrabbler1]

These are very good, "easy" steps to take! Instead of hiding our salt shaker, though, we simply switched to Kosher salt. It seems you need far less of the salt in flake form than regular crystal table salt.

I hope you are feeling better!

I am feeling well now. I should add that I use replacements to add taste to my foods instead of salt. One is the extra use of garlic powder and onion powder, spices I already use. Another is the added use of Worcestershire sauce instead of steak sauce, as the Heinz brand has nearly zero carbs and zero sodium.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

A few years ago, my manager took the team out on a team building exercise. It was a cooking class and demo with a chef from one of the regional steakhouse groups and we made stuff like steak tartare, mashed potatoes, and steak of course. What blew everyone away was the amount of salt he added to the water to boil the potatoes and the amount of butter added afterwards. It was delicious but you'd likely drop dead after eating it every day for a week.

 

[devans0]

One culprit in over salting food is the quest for cheap ingredients. Go through the labels on the spice rack blends. Invariably, the big jars are loaded with salt as a major ingredient. The more expensive, smaller spice jars are salt free.

We cannot eat out without having a salt diluting dish alongside. Fortunately, we like cooking. Even meats have to be inspected for injected 'flavorings' added. Salt brine is a cheap weight filler item that is marketed as a feature.

We do like Mrs Dash Garlic and herb mix.

 

[DrRoy]

It hasn't happened too much at restaurants where I can't eat the food, although one does notice the difference. What really gets me is that I have taken to the Hint of Salt Triscuit crackers, and now the regular ones taste like a straight salt shaker.

 

[Katsmeow]

Some people are salt sensitive and others are not. I don't think that DH and I are particularly salt sensitive.

DH had really high blood pressure a few years ago and was taking a couple of different medications. We did watch the salt we used at home but eating out we knew we got plenty of salt. And, processed foods often have a lot of salt in them and we didn't really watch those very carefully.

But -- what really made the difference for DH was losing weight. I know that isn't the OP's situation. But, it amazes me sometimes when I see people being careful about sodium but who aren't trying to see if losing weight would help.

DH lost about 80 pounds. When he had lost about half of it he moved down to 1 blood pressure medication. When he got close to normal weight he was able to drop the other one. He now has normal blood pressure.

I have always had normal blood pressure, even when overweight and was never sensitive to salt. But, a few years ago I noticed my blood pressure was starting to creep up. Not a lot. 118/72 was like 126 over whatever. But, then I also lost weight and got to a normal weight. Now, I am more likely to be 115/70.

 

[Lsbcal]

I thought this was no longer accepted and that only 10% of the population is salt sensitive in that higher dietary sodium raises their blood pressure.

The rest of us don't need to worry about salt.

This makes me feel better.

The Mayo Clinic has said that if you are over 60 and healthy, your goal should be under 150/90. I have do a monthly check at home and go by the 12 month averages. The Doc's office check is too widely variable for me. A slight creep up in BP is apparently normal as we age.

I do a lot of exercise including running. It seems I might be loosing salt as I can still get hydration symptoms after drinking water. Rather then take sports drinks, I enjoy some pretzels or something like that.

As to restaurant food, best to not eat out too often. For us the portions are too large and overeating is a greater risk then just the salt. But note that I am agnostic on gluten, sugar, salt, etc.

 

[Amethyst]

You know, I read this all the time "Restaurant portions are too big." Yet, except for chain restaurants like Olive Garden, that are heavy on pasta dishes, I always wonder where these restaurants are that have these fabled too-big portions?

We have eaten at several very good restaurants this year, and the entrees were never as big as i would serve at home. And the vegetables are strictly garnishes, to my eyes.

In fact, I left a bad review on the best-known restaurant in my county because we were still hungry after finishing our appetizer and entree (a satisfying meal should not require dessert). Same for another one that brags about the entrees all being under 450 calories...it's because they are tiny!

If it's ever too much, we just leave the excess or take it home.

T

As to restaurant food, best to not eat out too often. For us the portions are too large and overeating is a greater risk then just the salt. )

 

[braumeister]

We have eaten at several very good restaurants this year, and the entrees were never as big as i would serve at home.

There's the problem right there. The "very good" or higher end restaurants are mostly pretty reasonable in terms of portion size. It's the average or typical restaurants that often have the huge portions.

 

[Amethyst]

As a LBYM person, I want more of the good stuff!

There's the problem right there. The "very good" or higher end restaurants are mostly pretty reasonable in terms of portion size. It's the average or typical restaurants that often have the huge portions.

 

[Lsbcal]

Portion size is, of course, going to be dependent on the individuals needs. I'm 140 weight male and have always been a disappointment to host's that might expect me to go big for seconds. But I've only gained a few pounds in the last decade.

The restaurants we go to are probably in the middle of the pack. Typical cost for 2 runs $35 to $60. Around home we go to mostly ethnic restaurants like Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mexican, East Indian. We rarely order desserts as we are just too full. When I get a pizza for take out, it is generally a small with 6 pieces and we each eat 2 with a home made salad. So we are probably very small eaters ... abnormal in America.

 

[Beldar]

Try taking a look at this book (Calorie King)...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019PUAUUK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

You'll never eat out again (like me ).

_B