Salt in Restaurant Food

[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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst 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!

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister 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...ng=UTF8&btkr=1

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

_B

[Amethyst]

Or just as a special occasion now and then, which is how we see it.

Of course when traveling, it is kind of hard to avoid restaurants unless you stay in one place...and that place has a kitchen,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beldar Try taking a look at this book (Calorie King)... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019PUAUUK...ng=UTF8&btkr=1 You'll never eat out again (like me ). _B

[Koolau]

We took the salt shaker off the table 30 years ago. The food was bland for a week and then suddenly tasted just like normal. My conclusion is that "added salt" can be easily lowered. When you are at the mercy of a restaurant, it's a crap shoot. There are a couple of steak houses we no longer frequent because they use so much salt that the steaks are unpalatable (to us.) I assume this is one of the things that's very personal and very much depends upon what you are used to. YMMV

[Bestwifeever]

I have always had low blood pressure but had a voracious “salt tooth” (vs sweet tooth). A couple of years ago I gave up the salt shaker for Lent. Now I rarely add salt at the table to a prepared dish although I use it in cooking if I am following a recipe that calls for it. It’s great to enjoy so many flavors that salt used to overwhelm for me, such as eggs and potatoes. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed restaurant food tasting particularly salty.

My blood pressure remains the same, low normal. DD has extremely low blood pressure that occasionally causes her to faint. She uses a lot of salt without worry.

[jollystomper]

I have borderline HBP but because it runs in my family I take low dose meds. The doctor recommended I moderate my salt intake. When I was younger I used to be the type that if you could not see the salt on your meal then it did not have enough salt. Now I just do not add it to any food other than home-popped popcorn. DW uses a minimal amount to cook with (and usually kosher salt) and the food still tastes great.

I think in restaurants the portion danger is greater than the salt danger. We take the attitude of 1 restaurant meal = at least 2 home cooked meals. I cannot remember that last time we ate out that we did not end up bringing close to half our meals back home with use.

[tmm99]

I like salt, and I haven't noticed restaurant food having too much salt, but almost all ready-made sausages and some bacon have way too much salt in them for my taste.

[RAE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader I suggest hanging out at different restaurants early in the morning. You will see Sysco trucks delivering the same ingredients and partially prepared foods to almost all of them.

Yep, very true. And a lot of those partially prepared foods from Sysco contain stuff that I don't want to eat, like soybean/corn oil, trans fats, too much sugar, too much salt, etc.. As a result, we don't go out very often either.

[W2R]

I am on a low dose of BP medication. I measure and record my BP first thing in the morning every Saturday morning, and my average for the past 6+ months has been 108 systolic, 70 diastolic so I think I am doing OK. Later in the day it goes up a little but not much.

My BP doesn't change at all in response to salt or lack of salt. It never has. I have tried both a low salt diet, and excessive salt, and it just has no effect. The low salt diet is awful IMO so I am glad that I don't have to follow it.

Places like Ruth's Chris and Outback really DO salt their food a lot, or so it seems to me. But, we don't eat at places like that when we eat out. Still, I think we probably have more salt than we might at home.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAE Yep, very true. And a lot of those partially prepared foods from Sysco contain stuff that I don't want to eat, like soybean/corn oil, trans fats, too much sugar, too much salt, etc.. As a result, we don't go out very often either.

We have a Sysco warehouse relatively nearby, and for some reason a while back I decided we should go in and look through their warehouse store. Usually DW is the shopper/spender and I'm the anchor drag saying "we don't need that". But I have to admit she had a difficult time getting me out of there without that 20 lb. bag of breaded calamari. We never went back.

[Elbata]

This is my understanding and I may be wrong:

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends no more than 2300 mg of salt/day. When a label is read and it says one portion contains 25% of the RDA (recommended daily allowance), they get that number by using the high end of the RDA for salt which is 2300 mg.

For example: Let's say one serving contains 575 mg of sodium. On the can it would say that's 25% of the RDA, while it's actually over 33% of what the IOM recommends.

The actual RDA for sodium is 1500 mg/day. But statistically, only 1 out of 200 people consume 1500 mg/day or less.

The salt shaker is not the primary cause of too much salt. Restaurant food and canned/processed products are the main culprits.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elbata This is my understanding and I may be wrong: The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends no more than 2300 mg of salt/day. When a label is read and it says one portion contains 25% of the RDA (recommended daily allowance), they get that number by using the high end of the RDA for salt which is 2300 mg. For example: Let's say one serving contains 575 mg of sodium. On the can it would say that's 25% of the RDA, while it's actually over 33% of what the IOM recommends. The actual RDA for sodium is 1500 mg/day. But statistically, only 1 out of 200 people consume 1500 mg/day or less. The salt shaker is not the primary cause of too much salt. Restaurant food and canned/processed products are the main culprits.

I wouldn't argue that most people get the majority of their salt from processed foods, and maybe restaurant foods. It sort of depends on where you eat. If you cook most of your meals at home (not from cans), then the sea salt grinder is probably the major culprit.

However, the assumption here is that the RDA for salt is medically correct, and I've seen plenty of evidence that it's not. From the Reason Magazine article I linked farther up in the thread:

Quote:

For example, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study in August 2014 finding that people who consume less 1,500 milligrams of sodium (about 3/4ths of a teaspoon of salt) are more likely to die than people who eat between 3,000 to 6,000 milligrams of sodium per day (1.5 and 3 teaspoons of salt).

Where ever you get your salt from, be it restaurants, shakers, processed foods, salt licks, etc., you should probably try to determine how it effects you. If you've got high BP, try lowering the salt in your diet, see if it makes a difference. There doesn't seem to be any good science as to how it effects the population in general.