A healthy diet requires some sacrifice. We all know to cut down on calories and fats, but salt is just as detrimental to your health, and it’s much more common. Salt is everywhere, even in diet options. It may take some forethought, but it is possible to cut out the vast majority of excess sodium from your diet.
Say Goodbye to Lunch Meat
Nothing says healthy like a lean turkey sandwich with lots of veggies, right? This is healthy eating. Well, although turkey is a great part of healthy habits, your sandwich may be undermining your goals, and it’s not because of the bread. Processed meats, even lean options like turkey, have tons of sodium. Natural choice brands are no exception. Salt is, technically, a natural substance, but in order to preserve lunch meat, it has to be processed with incredible amounts of sodium. It tastes great, but it’s a secret villain.
The best way to get meat for your sandwich is to pre-cook raw meats and keep them in your refrigerator or freezer. This also allows you to season your lunch meat to suit your own tastes. By roasting a turkey breast, cooking a roast, or just pan-searing some chicken, you can cut out all the sodium used to season and preserve meat without giving up your lunch time sandwiches.
Healthy Snacking is Fresh Snacking
The problem with prepackaged diet snacks is that they focus exclusively on fat and calorie content. Since the food industry relies on simple, addictive things like sugar and fat to make their products taste good, this means they have to find an alternative flavoring. Pretty much any snack that comes in a bag or a box has more sodium than you should be consuming.
By choosing fresh snacks, you can cut your sodium intake dramatically. Fruits and vegetables are the obvious choice, but nuts and granola are still options. Make sure you choose nuts that are not salted, and always read the back of a snack bar box. Roasting your own nuts or seeds and making home-made granola is hands-down the best way to make sure you snacks have low sodium content.
Keep Salt Off the Table
It’s really easy to undo all your good prep work by dumping salt on your meal once you reach the table. Herb blends, pepper, and even certain brands of artificial spray butter have essentially no sodium. They are full of flavor, and while you may have to gradually wean yourself off table salt, any of the above options are healthier and, ultimately, tastier. If you absolutely can’t go without salt on your food, get a sea salt grinder. The grinder will help you stay aware of how much salt you’re putting on your food, and sea salt has fewer side effects than iodized options.
Controlling your sodium intake is about more than banning salt from the dinner table. Healthy eating starts in the choices you make in the supermarket. By making healthy snacking choices and learning to spot the salt-rich warning signs, you can take control.