Try It Bite #8: Reducing Your Salt Intake

There are many aspects to healthy eating, but sodium intake, a major health concern due to the questionable diet of many Americans, is frequently dismissed as a problem limited to special groups with specific health issues, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Unfortunately, though, we are a society addicted to salt, but there are actually easy steps to take to reduce the salt intake of adults and children. 

Adults
1.  While you are stocking up on cooking supplies for Thanksgiving, pick up a box of Kosher Salt and use it in place of table salt (I prefer Diamond Crystal), like many professional chefs do, as it does not have the metallic taste of table salt and it is easier to handle due to its coarse grain. 

This course grain can also help you to use less salt, as illustrated by the following: imagine you are told to reach into a jar and pick up a handful of marbles and one of golf balls.  You can easily count that you are holding two to three golf balls, but who knows how many marbles are in your hand?  Kosher Salt's coarse grains are the golf balls; when you pick up kosher salt you pick up larger grains with more air in between, but you can make that salt go just as far as the densely packed table salt.  In fact, most recipes will tell you that to equal the saltiness of table salt, you have to use 2x the amount of kosher salt!  What many find, myself included, is that you can use the same amuont of kosher salt and still be satisfied with the saltiness of your food.
2.  Do not keep a salt shaker on the table.  By measuring while you cook, you know exactly how much salt you add, and food will become saltier the earlier the salt is applied and the longer it is allowed to sit with the salt.  Most people only apply salt at the table out of habit and, frequently without tasting food, but if they have to get up to get the shaker, most people are just lazy enough to try their food to see if they actually need to trek across the kitchen.  This simple step is also good for your children's health, as they are mimics, and if they see dad always reach for the salt shaker, they will do the same.

Children
The love of salt is acquired, so do not let your children acquire a taste for it.  If you make their baby food, simply do not salt it.  As they get older and taste salt, simply use less salt in your cooking, which may be a good trial for the whole family.  If you find that you want the salt and can use less by cooking with it, simply pull out your child's serving before salting to your adult preference (make sure to pull enough for leftovers for your child, if you are making enough for two meals.) 

These are quick, cheap, and easy solutions that actually stand to make you family healthier and food taste better.  Not a bad combination!