Ask a Dietitian: Salt
Sharon Nicholson, M.S, R.D, LDN, with over 40 years experience as senior clinical dietitian at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, writes about diet and nutrition for seniors.
Question: Why are we less sensitive to the taste of salt as we age and how can we keep food flavorful?
Answer:
With age, the number and size of taste buds decrease and we become less responsive to many flavors. While it’s natural to reach for the salt shaker to improve bland food, this isn’t advised for individuals who should restrict salt/sodium for health reasons. Medical recommendation is limiting intake to no more that 2300milligrams (mg)/day, equal to only one teaspoon of salt.
While beer and wine are also fermented, current medical recommendations advise cautious and limited alcohol consumption.
How to keep food tasty and still meet this goal?
Experiment with spices and herbs (fresh or dried), all kinds of pepper, lemon and lime juice, vinegar. Be generous with onion and garlic. Try toasted sesame oil and commercial Italian Seasoning.
Do more home cooking. Packaged and preprepared foods, many canned items like soup, and restaurant meals are often very salty. Buy a cookbook, borrow one from the library, or go online to expand your culinary horizons. If time or skills are limited, carefully choose premade solo entrees, adding a starch and vegetable for a complete meal. Entrée should contain no more than 500mg of salt. Note serving size to keep within this limit.
Fresh vegetables always work, though frozen or canned may better fit a budget and are equally nutritious.
Canned low sodium vegetables are obvious choices. Reduce salt content of standard ones by running under water for three TIMED minutes (a quick rinse won’t do). The same applies to canned beans. Organics are often low sodium, or prepare dried beans from scratch.
Navigating Hidden Sodium
Deli meats and hot dogs are very salty and qualify as occasional treats. Sadly, cheese is also on the high salt list, except for Swiss.
Sodium in bread can add up. Limit to 3-4 slices/day. Alternatives include matzoh, unsalted rice cakes, low salt varieties of Triscuits and wheat thins.
Check the label on that favorite breakfast cereal. If you are wedded to it, note the sodium content per serving and use a measuring cup to portion out an amount that provides no more than 300mg of salt. Shredded wheat and plain instant oatmeal are good substitutes.
Request your restaurant meal be prepared without salt. Choose an entrée as baked or broiled, select baked potato over rice. Avoid soup, sauces and gravy, keep salad dressing on the side.
A low sodium diet takes getting used to, but over time, the salty foods you loved will taste too salty.