Sodium, Schmodium

I must start out by stating how ridiculously pumped full of goo our food is. America? Are you on crack? Well, our food practically is. The last thing I want is to become one of those people who is handed a jar of food and turns immediately to the nutrition label to see what about it is going to kill me. But in some ways it seems necessary to consider the ridiculous nature of most of our food contents.

Readers of about this time last year (well, perhaps a month or so earlier) might recall a long blog post about my plans to avoid sugar and flour. I never followed up on its results either way via blog. But I can tell you that things went fairly well until a week-long trip to a cabin where meals were planned by a party of six. Not wanting to impose my strict "can't eat" rules talk on the group, four of them new to me, I decided to break out of the no-sugar/flour box and worry about it later. Ultimately, that "diet" didn't have staying power, but from it I learned just how enhanced our foods are.

So now, this year, after doing some quite possibly unnecessary research on the internets, I warmed to the idea of cutting sodium from my diet. As with the sugar/flour party, I am not removing it completely (I would die), just as much as I can. This has proved to be another eyeopener, although perhaps more so than last year. From fast food and fine dining, to many items at the grocery store, so much of what we eat has higher quantities of flour and sugar than seem necessary, and sodium is yet another factor.

To give some context, my quick and unprofessional research has given me the following guidelines: it is recommended that the average person's sodium intake nestles somewhere near 2300mg each day. This is the number the percentages on nutrition labels are based on. Extra-special sodium limiters place daily consumption goals at around 1500mg. But the average american's intake is well over 3000mg per day, often peaking around 8000mg (this is where cold hard facts come in handy, but who has the time to cite sources? Go to any "heart healthy/low sodium" website and they'll concur).

Sodium is a sneaky little ingredient that, based on its levels in items marked as healthy or lowfat, is conveniently being ignored and gets to scutter under the radar. Take Panera Bread Co. It's a healthy alternative to grabbing a burger or chicken fast-food meal, right? Pretty much wrong. Low-fat vegetarian black bean soup? 1590mg in a 13.25oz serving. Lovely! Smoked Turkey sandwich? 1650mg. What, what, what?!

I'm not blaming Panera specifically (although it does put a damper on their newly-opened location near our apartment). I'm blaming what seems to be our trend to compensate for lack of flavor by grabbing the salt and shaking it over everything.

The key is, of course, above all things, balance. As lovely as eating cake for breakfast, cheese and crackers for lunch, and meaty pizza for dinner would be (oh lord, yes), everyone knows it's probably a bad idea long term. But so would be eating nothing but unsalted rice cakes (which, thanks for asking, was indeed my lazy breakfast today. With saltless peanut butter! Wowza!) It is hard, however, to maintain balance when everyday foods are jam-packed with superfluous ingredients. If food companies making products such as meats and cheeses would lay off the salt or make their lower-sodium options more readily available, life for the no-salt consumer would be so much easier. And we might all be a bit better off.

Anyway, not meaning to be lecturey. It's a long answer to the question of why you may have publicly seen me lamenting the lack of flavor in my food lately. It's clear my tongue hasn't adjusted and I'm still not used to the slightly sweeter or blander taste that results when one takes an active stand against salt business. My goal is to start cooking fresher and more exquisite meals that don't require salt to make them taste satisfying. Wish me luck!

x Andrle x

{P.S. Salt! Just thought I'd throw one more mention of salt in for good measure. You know, in case you weren't already driven mad by the every-other-second mentions of it. Salt salt salt. Alright, now I'm done.}