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The Best Ways to Cut Back on Salt

December 22, 2016 By Chef Michelle Hauser MD 1 Comment

I realize that the sexiest thing to talk about around the holidays is not how to cut back on salt. However, I can’t count the number of people that I’ve seen admitted to the hospital around the holidays due to “dietary indiscretions,” namely eating too much salt. Before you chock this up as the worst holiday blog post ever, please read on!

BottomLine Health interview:

I have had several interview requests lately on how to limit salt in the diet without sacrificing flavor. The latest was with BottomLine Health (click the link to read the full article).

Salting food

Photo credit: BottomLine Health

People always seem surprised when I explain that if you limit ultra-processed foods in your diet and replace them with whole or minimally-processed foods, you can use herbs, acid, and a little salt to make dishes at least as flavorful–and often more flavorful–than the high sodium foods you may be used to. Most salt in the average American diet comes from processed and prepared foods–not the salt you add at the table. Therefore, if your diet is made up mainly of fresh, whole foods, you can add a little salt during cooking and still consume far less than if you ate processed or prepared foods!

For maximum flavor, eat a varied diet rich in plant foods (like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds) in every color of the rainbow, and utilize flavor-boosting cooking techniques like roasting, searing, caramelizing, reducing, dehydrating, and grilling. Fill your spice cabinet with interesting seasonings from around the world. Experiment with them and find your “go to” flavor boosters to add to homemade dishes.

If you don’t want to drop a paycheck buying spices, choose a region of the world whose flavors appeal to you and get only those flavors to begin with. In our home, Latin flavors often win out, so we always have dried garlic, chilies, cumin, coriander, and smoky paprika. To add fresh flavors that pair with these, keep limes, cilantro, and scallions handy.

Pro tip:

When I do use salt, I opt for Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because the shape of the flakes makes the salt “fluffier.” This means that for each teaspoon of regular table salt that you replace with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, you will cut your sodium intake in half!

Learn more:

To learn more about salt in your diet and how to cut back without sacrificing flavor, check out Salt, Blood Pressure, and the Diet.

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy holiday season ~ Michelle

Filed Under: Health, Media, Tutorials

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  1. Milagro says

    May 10, 2020 at 9:02 am

    Greetings! I've been following your blog for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Austin Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the excellent work!
    Reply

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Chef Michelle Hauser, MD

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chefinmedicine

Michelle Hauser
Stanford Scope covering the culinary med course #c Stanford Scope covering the culinary med course #culinarymedicine #stanford #nutrition https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2022/05/27/nutrition-meets-health-through-culinary-medicine/
Made in a cooking class with my patients today: Ch Made in a cooking class with my patients today: Chana masala and roasted cauliflower with cumin & coriander; fruit chaat #IndianFood #culinarymedicine #chefinmedicine #chanamasala #fruit chaat #foodismedicine
Mise en place for chana masala with my patients to Mise en place for chana masala with my patients today— Clockwise from the top: garam masala, turmeric, asafoetida, ground cumin, salt, cloves, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, bay leaf, whole cumin seeds, red chili powder (rashampatti) is in the center. #foodismedicine #culinarymedicine #chefinmedicine #indianfood #chanamasala
Gorgeous Buddha Bowls and Steel Cut Oats from toda Gorgeous Buddha Bowls and Steel Cut Oats from today’s Teaching Kitchen course for MD & PA students-photo by the talented @soulfoodsalon (who frequently joins the course as volunteer faculty-thank you!) @stanford.med @chefinmedicine #culinarymedicine
Stanford MD & PA students graduate from the teachi Stanford MD & PA students graduate from the teaching kitchen with honors-so much delicious food shared at the final potluck tonight. Everything had a story, showcased a lesson from the course and students reflected on what they learned that would most help them counsel patients on dietary changes. #culinarymedicine #stanfordmedicine @stanford.med #meded #teachingkitchen @soulfoodsalon #worldflavors #unapologeticallydelicious #healthycooking
Fruit forward desserts prepared by Stanford MD & P Fruit forward desserts prepared by Stanford MD & PA students-SURG 244 The Doctor is In (the Kitchen)—teaching kitchen elective. So delicious 😋-thanks to Drs. Elizabeth Shepard, Sue Kim, and Christopher Gardner along with Lindsay Kennedy, PA and for volunteering to share the overlap of their work and culinary medicine with the students! #CulinaryMedicine #FoodIsMedicine #Dessert #TeachingKitchen #FruitForward #DessertFlip #Nutrition #MedicalEducation #MedEd #stanfordmedicine
The Dietary Spectrum: When Food Becomes Medicine-- The Dietary Spectrum: When Food Becomes Medicine--Keynote presentation filled with tips on guiding patients to make dietary behavior changes. #LM2021 #nutrition #foodasmedicine #behaviorchange #obesitymedicine #culinarymedicine lmconference.org/2021/LM21/index.asp
Just finished a fantastic session with @spiceboxtr Just finished a fantastic session with @spiceboxtravels on implementing culinary medicine in clinical practice! Check out the rest of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine 2021 Annual Conference for a recording and other lifestyle medicine CME opportunities. #LM2021 @aclifemed #CulinaryMedicine #LifestyleMedicine #ObesityMedicine
Eat More Plants bite-sized chat today 10AM PST/12 Eat More Plants bite-sized chat today 10AM PST/12 CST for Lifestyle Medicine Week #ACLifeMed #lifestylemedicine #foodismedicine
Ready to record a bite-sized chat on the WHAT, WHY Ready to record a bite-sized chat on the WHAT, WHY, and HOW to Eat More Plants for #LMWEEK. Register at the link above for this and other chats on Lifestyle Medicine topics throughout the week (5/31-6/4) #ACLM #lifestylemedicine #eatmoreplants #foodismedicine
Gorgeous salad from @spiceboxtravels new book, Spi Gorgeous salad from @spiceboxtravels new book, Spicebox Kitchen. Highly recommend! My patients really enjoyed this as well. Orange & Olive Salad with Almonds #chefinmedicine #bloodoranges #salad #spiceboxkitchen #mediterraneanfood #eattherainbow #plantbased #wholefood #vegan #glutenfree
So excited to receive my copy of Spicebox Kitchen So excited to receive my copy of Spicebox Kitchen written by my super talented friend, and doctor-chef, @spiceboxtravels ! I made the Gado Gado tonight and it was enjoyed by all. Can’t wait to try more of her delicious recipes. Do yourself a favor and get this book! #spiceboxkitchen #flavor #spice #culinarymedicine #chefinmedicine
The next adventure—I am officially joining the D The next adventure—I am officially joining the Dept of Surgery as Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford! I am looking forward to working with new colleagues to build a medical/lifestyle weight loss program at Stanford that brings together the best of weight management, internal medicine, lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, and other specialties to provide multidisciplinary care for patients with overweight and obesity. (I will remain in my other positions as well.) #stanfordmedicine  #obesitymedicine #lifestylemedicine #culinarymedicine #stanfordgensurg #stanfordsurgery #stanfordhealthcare
Second COVID-19 vaccination ✅ So thankful to be Second COVID-19 vaccination ✅ So thankful to be fully vaccinated! #chefinmedicine #covid_19 #vaccine #covidvaccine #pandemic #protectingmeprotectingyou #protectingmyfamily
Excellent Ramen on a chilly day. This was from a h Excellent Ramen on a chilly day. This was from a highly adapted version of Easy Vegan Ramen from @minimalistbaker , but if you follow the recipe it’s sure to turn out delicious 😋 I plan to adapt the broth for Pho next time #chefinmedicine #vegan #plantbased #ramen #eatmoreplants #tofu #soup
Thankful for our little family, our health, having Thankful for our little family, our health, having a roof over our head and food on our plates. Really missing family, too. It has been a year since I’ve seen my parents and siblings, grandparents, and so on. Hoping 2021 brings us together again. Thankful for FaceTime and Zoom in the meantime.
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