Armor Up, America – We’re in the Salt Battle of Our Lives

Recently, news concerning the nation’s salt intake brought some tough love to American consumers. Tough enough to prompt the author of the study, which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to be quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, “This is not good news”. True enough. It is in fact alarming news, proving that when it comes to salt, the term “silent killer” is no misnomer.

Adults, the study indicates, should eat less than one teaspoon of salt each day, while 70% of the population should eat less than 2/3 of a teaspoon. But in fact, only 1 in 18 people meet this goal. With heart disease and hypertension numbers on the climb, it looks like a true battle royale, with NaCl donning the armor.

It’s Not the Salt Shaker

This insidious mineral stepping into the gladiator arena is sodium chloride. Used traditionally for food preservation, it is something necessary for human life in small quantities and harmful – even deadly – in excess. It is a major player in the fight against high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.

Decades ago, putting down the salt shaker may have been solid advice for maintaining good health. But today, minding the shaker is old school. If you are a human being consuming food in 2010, you know your salt issues originate elsewhere:

  • Processed food: tomato sauce, soups, condiments, canned food, prepared mixes…
  • Restaurant foods
  • Cold cuts / meats
  • Baked goods
  • Grain-based products

In addition, some medications include sodium, and we can even be taking in a significant amount sodium from natural sources, such as well water. In fact, the Mayo Clinic determines that a mere 6% of salt originates from the shaker while 77% of salt intake comes from processed food. The rest comes from salt added while cooking and natural sources.

We could shake all day long and never reach the amount we get from processed of prepared food.

Salt is Part of the Golden Trinity

We have talked about David Kessler here in previous posts, and the recent salt news has catapulted him into the mainstream. Currently, more of the public is hearing about his mission to understand and expose the golden trinity of taste for what he feels it is: a concoction created by food companies to seduce the brain chemistry into making us eat and crave more. The recipe? Fat, sugar and salt that bathes food in startling amounts, in the most appealing and scientifically proven combination. Arguably, it’s the NaCl gladiator’s most powerful weapon.

It’s really no wonder that 1 in 3 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and the government estimates that 9 in 10 will develop it in their lifetime. We at risk, according to this study, are often eating twice their daily requirement of sodium.

Salt Reform

FDA’s anti-salt initiative begins later this year and would eventually lead to legal limits on the amount of sodium allowed in food. Its plan would be phased in over ten years and would not be voluntary. Restaurants are targets as well, and while some have said they will voluntarily reduce salt in items on the menu, they may also be required to visibly post amounts. Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg began a national campaign to cut salt levels, and food companies were recruited to comply. Starbucks and Heinz were one of 16 that agreed to cut salt levels in their products.

While regulation debates rage on, some eschew regulations and prefer to enter the gladiator ring for a one-on-one. For those, there’s one dagger of knowledge that can help us get medieval on salt starting now.

Sodium is an Acquired Taste

Your secret weapon is knowledge. We know, for instance, that salt is an acquired taste. It’s acquired by the processed and prepared foods we eat over our entire lifetime and the result is that low sodium foods taste bland.

But as we take steps to reduce sodium in our diets, our taste sensitivities will adapt. We will appreciate foods for their true flavor. The process of adapting takes about 8-12 weeks – that’s the amount of time it takes for a shift in taste preference to occur in most people.

Give yourself 8-12 weeks.

The American Heart Association offers these tips to get you started.

  • Choose fresh, frozen or canned food items without added salts.
  • Select unsalted nuts or seeds, dried beans, peas and lentils.
  • Limit salty snacks like chips and pretzels.
  • Avoid adding salt and canned vegetables to homemade dishes.
  • Select unsalted, lower sodium, fat-free broths, bouillons or soups.
  • Select fat-free or low-fat milk, low-sodium, low-fat cheeses and low-fat yogurt.
  • Learn to use spices and herbs to enhance the taste of your food.  Most spices naturally contain very small amounts of sodium.
  • Add fresh lemon juice instead of salt to fish and vegetables.
  • Specify how you want your food prepared when dining out. Ask for your dish to be prepared without salt.
  • Don’t use the salt shaker. Use the pepper shaker or mill.

Now that you are armed with tactics, remember that they must be combined with strategy. In the end, according to Kessler, we must change our relationship with food by understanding that hyperpalatable foods that use hyperportions of salt are not our friends. They should be understood as harmful and be duly replaced by healthier foods and their own positive associations – until we get to the point where the golden trinity of taste is no longer what we crave.

Best of luck, gladiators. Let the games begin.

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Don’t Overlook These 3 Green Leafies

When it comes to greens, the two adjectives to keep in mind are dark and leafy. Green leafies are the most concentrated source of nutrition compared head to head and calorie to calorie with most any food in your diet. It’s the dark color that provides the clues that phytonutrients called flavonoids are close by, and flavonoids have disease fighting properties in spades.

We know from many sources, including Dr. James Joseph’s The Color Code that eating a diet rich in vibrant colors offers outstanding protection against disease. Dark, leafy greens have cancer-protective properties, are found to lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and have great value for those with type 2 diabetes. Putting dark, leafy greens on your plate means not only are you getting important phytonutrients, you’ll be getting a wealth of beneficial nutrients such as vitamin K, iron, and calcium. Best of all, greens comes in a low calorie package.

If your goal is to eat like a caveman  consider this: our cave dwelling ancestors would graze all day on greens, regularly taking in six pounds of leaves per day! It makes getting our 3 cups a day seem a little more achievable. It’s especially easy if you seek out variety. Noticing lots of lettuce on your plate? Is broccoli a mainstay that’s a getting a little too reliable? Get some greens with more gusto! Start by giving these emerald envoys of excellent health a chance.

Broccoli Rabe

Broccoli rabe (rhymes with bob) may have the broccoli moniker but it’s really a turnip. Despite its clusters of broccoli-like flowers among its spiky leaves, it hails from the turnip family and has a flavor to prove it.  Broccoli rabe is an extremely nutritious vegetable that is high in phytochemicals that help the body defend itself against some cancers, and it has the deep green color that we look for when we eat across the colors of the rainbow.

Broccoli rabe is remarkably versatile, too. Its distinctive taste makes it perfect for certain pairings, particularly salty, sweet or acidic foods. Garlic is a popular pairing as is sausage, olives, and tangy veggies like tomatoes and vinegars. It makes a nice addition to many meat and seafood dishes, and even makes brings out the beauty of a pizza.

For truly ingratiating rabe, start here:
Broccoli Rabe And Mushroom Frittata With Grape Tomato Salsa
Broccoli Rabe, Fennel, And Hot Sausage Pizza

Beet Greens

Beet greens are a beloved veggie-top all by themselves, and as part of the beet, they provide a nutritious twofer: you’ll be extracting two dishes from one veggie, and get maximum economical benefit. Mild and sweet, thanks to their natural sugars, they appeal to almost everyone, including kids that may balk at more daring greens.

Beet greens pass the fabulous food test because they are nutritious, delicious, and can be part of your diet in many capacities, including a simple sauté in olive oil, or tossed in a fresh salad. Some beet greens found in grocery stores can be tough and fibrous, so blanching in hot water is required. For use uncooked, consider removing the center, tougher ribs of the leaves and just eat the outer leaves. At farmer’s markets or packaged especially for salads, every inch of the beet green is generally tender and lovely.

Enjoy beet greens with goat cheese, an early summer favorite.
Try them cooked as a side dish.
Delve into this unique beet green pasta.

Kale

When you hear the term “leafy greens”, think kale. Kale is a beloved green that may remind you of cabbage. In fact, kale is part of the cabbage family, and is sometimes even referred to as “black cabbage”.  You know what that dark hue means: it’s packed with vitamins, fiber, calcium and iron and it has huge antioxidant capacity. It’s also a low-calorie way to get big nutrients.

You may be familiar with the supermarket’s curly kale that features ruffled leaves, but you’ll enjoy seeking out some other possibilities at farmer’s markets in an array of blackish, plum-red and purplish colors. Flavors range from somewhat bitter to sweet, so find one you like. It will be worth it for punch of nutrition it packs.

Because this green can be a bit tougher than others, it’s not a good choice for tossing in a salad, but it’s perfect for a soup or a stir fry. Kale can also be simmered for long periods (yielding a delicious liquor for sipping or sopping with bread) or blanched and sautéed in olive oil. Try kale in omelets, or braised or sautéed with onions and garlic. And if you can’t put it on pizza (you can!), then hey, what’s the point?

Get started with Roasted Kale, and go green with Kale Pesto.

Happy Eating!

Is Salt, Sugar & Fat Your Dark Secret?

You know eating nutritious food is good for you. You know it can prevent, even reverse diseases of aging such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. You know it can thwart weight gain that leads to obesity and exacerbates these diseases. What’s more, you actually love healthy food: avocados, wild blueberries, wild salmon, dark chocolate, olive oil, fresh, delicious greens and fruits…. So, why do processed sugars and animal fats seem to linger in your mind?

We know that for most Americans, foods of all kinds are readily available. But why do feel we have to eat it? Is it poor self image? No willpower? Are we simply to weak to resist a little temptation? We make smart decisions everyday about our family, our finances, our work—why is this so different? It’s almost like an addiction.

If you think food might be mimicking addictive behavior, many experts say you’re right. Food provides a burst of pleasure. You think about food all the time. The pleasure is fleeting, not truly satisfying. It leaves you wanting more.

Last year, David Kessler wrote The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, a revealing book about what is responsible for our inability to resist certain food. In it, he explained that foods created with a magical recipe of high fat, high salt and high sugar alters the brain’s chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. These foods do the opposite of satiating us—they make us crave more.

In fact, many things are at work in the foods that surround us. First, some foods override the body’s signals that tell us we’re full. Artificial sugars, for instance, trigger cravings. Add to that Kessler’s sugar-fat-salt profile that has been honed by food engineers to deliver the high doses in the most irresistible combinations. Administered in intermittent doses, this combination can have a powerful affect on the brain. The brain, in some cases, is not able to curb its dopamine response, the same response researchers see in those who take cocaine.

Furthermore, food manufacturers make food easy to chew, so hundreds of calories slip into our mouths and into our bodies easily. (Compare the satisfying crunch of fresh carrots to an air filled, sugar encrusted donut.) They also cater to our brain’s desire for novelty with complex flavors and food combinations  like chewy nougat and milk chocolate, ice cream with chunks of nuts, chocolate or, yes, dough. These kinds of combinations stimulate our brain and make us desire more. Before we know it, we’re acting like addicts, and all the self-esteem and will power in the world can’t stop our hunger.

What’s the solution? Kessler says in the Guardian:
* Individually, we can practice eating in a controlled way.
* As a society, we can identify the forces that drive us to overeat, and diminish their power
* We can enact mandatory calorie counts for fast food and labeling food products, and monitor our food marketing in an effort to shift attitudes about unhealthy food.

We can also be a sponge for knowledge. We can understand the draw foods create and the physiological affects they have on our bodies, and start eating consciously. We can substitute wild blueberries for vending machine candy, and eat low glycemic index foods so we aren’t slaves to the artificial sugars that trigger our cravings. We can realize some burgers serve as entertainment, not nutrition. We can ask ourselves if a caveman would eat the food we have on our plate. We can begin to take control over the powerful forces that keep whisking us into the cycle of what might rightly be called food addiction.