Everyone knows that cutting down on salt is advisable. Men’s Fitness has a good article on the subject with 5 helpful tips. Here’s two of them:

– Always ask for the sauce on the side: For example, 1 tablespoon of Teriyaki sauce contains 1/3 of the daily recommended amount (1 tsp of salt). One portion of Chinese takeout often has over five times this amount

– Stay away from frozen meals: One Lean Cuisine has about 500 mg of sodium (about 1/3 of the daily recommended amount)

Check out the rest of the article for more, along with previous posts on low sodium diets.

Check out this article from Nutritiondata.com and see if you are a “sweet” or “salty”.

We may be predisposed to like salt in our genes which can help gives us clues to our health and fitness.

Love of salt is in your genes

Monday, June 21, 2010 at 4:53 PM | posted by Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N

In the debate over whether to force manufacturers to reduce sodium in processed foods, I’ve observed that some will benefit more than others. It appears that some will also suffer more than others.

Although we know that people who eat a lot of salt develop a tolerance and preference for saltier foods, Penn State researchers find that genetics also plays a role in how salty you like your food. While some are happy with (or can at least adjust to) food with less salt, others will always find low-sodium foods especially unpalatable.

Interestingly, it seems as if those with hyper-sensitive taste buds (super-tasters) tend to choose saltier foods. Although they experience salt as super-salty, they appear to need more salt in order to block or balance bitter tastes that they experience as super-bitter. (See this summary from Medical News Today.)

This study used healthy volunteers. What I’d like to see now is an investigation into whether the super-taster trait is more or less likely in those with salt-sensitive hypertension!